Building Regs - Staircases - HELP!!!

babyangel10

Hi there,

Does anyone have any idea about regs for staircases?

I'll try to explain what I need to find out - my friend is considering having an additional reception room (lounge to me, but I'm not posh! ) put onto the side of her 9 year old house, but where she is wanting it to go would be parallel to the lower part of the existing staircase, therefore the side of the bottom 3 stair treads are where she would need the door to this room to be.

Basically, as you come in her front door you currently turn right into the door that leads to the whole of the downstairs, the staircase is facing you as you come in the front door, with just a bog standard straight run 13 tread staircase, with no spindles except for the landing and a handrail going up the left side (which could be fitted to the right side if ness)

She is wanting to add to the left of the property where her driveway is now, but with the stairs being where she wants the door of the room to go, she wasn't sure if a builder would be allowed to knock through the wall where the stairs are at the mo and somehow access the new room off what is currently the 1st 3 treads? The door to the new room would open into it and then there would be a set of 2 or 3 steps into that.

The actual stairs don't need taking out, but I would presume that you would have to somehow alter them, as I suppose you couldn't just leave them as they are for safety reasons because when you come out of the room you would potentially have 2 or 3 different levels?

Maybe something like the first tread being as wide as 2 treads for example? - Like a square?

Am I making sense?! Thanks very much for any help - I have googled Building Regs for stairs but it's all very complex

ormus

if im reading this right, you could put a mini landing there. say 3x3 ft.
but then have you enough space to put the 2 or 3 steps required up to the new landing?
will the new steps be in the front doorway area?

babyangel10

Ooh Blimey, Ormus, you've got me confused now!

The distance between the front door and where the current first stair tread starts is 7ft long(i.e a 7ft hallway), but is only 2' 9" wide, which is as wide as the stairs. So there is room to make the current 1st step longer, but surely there is still a need to make the 2nd step wider too, which then in turn would 'throw' the whole staircase out so to speak?

The stairs are fully enclosed by walls either side, so no room for turns etc, but I can't see how the 1st 3 stairs can be altered without having to change the whole staircase, because of the pitch (if that's the right word?) i.e. if you were to make the existing 2nd step wider for example, then the 3rd step would have to be taken out in order to do this, thus leaving the 4th step too high to safely climb up. (IYSWIM?)

The left hand side of the new internal door frame would be where the current edge of the 1st tread starts and the right side would be more or less where the edge of the 3rd tread ends (i.e about 32")

Basically, to access the new room as if you haven't altered any stairs, you would have your left leg on the 1st tread and your right leg on the 2nd, possibly 3rd tread in order to open the door to get in!

Ooh dear - have I made it worse?!

babyangel10

BTW, I started that reply about 7.30pm! Taken me nearly 2 4king hours to make it sound half sensible! :rotfl:

silvercar

I think I understand what you are saying.

How about making the second stair much bigger by bringing it forward, towards the front door. The first step comes even nearer the front door. So you will only have a very small entrance hall.

The only other way I can think of is to take some of the area that was going to be part of the new room and make it part of the hall. So when you go into the house, you either walk a few steps to the stairs or you turn again towards the new door.

star1_2

Building regulations state that there needs to be a landing of 1m square when a door opens up onto a landing before it goes down a staircase or down more than one step. I'm not sure if there are any requlations concerning a specific requirement for the space at the bottom of a staircase.

The only regulations that you may need to comply with regarding the entrance to a house are the part M (mobility), introduced to ensure there is suitable disabled access in new properties (although I don't this think will apply in this case).

From a personal prospective I would ensure there is sufficient space to open the door(s) etc. It might be worth considering in this case if there is space to build a portch, and have a new entrance to the new room from this? (without plans and dimensions - it's hard to tell!)

Not sure if that helps, but I would suggest talking to your planning officer and discuss the proposal with them!

ormus

how am i doing? dont laugh, my MS paint skills are the same as my ballroom dancing skills.

have i at least got the general idea now?
can you see the main problem? the space left for the front door to open?

fel free to modify and post back here. or redraw it!

jennifernil

Why can the door into the new room not be further forward? I think what she is proposing is rather odd and would be a bad feature if/when she wants to sell.

babyangel10

ormus wrote:

how am i doing? dont laugh, my MS paint skills are the same as my ballroom dancing skills.

have i at least got the general idea now?
can you see the main problem? the space left for the front door to open?

feel free to modify and post back here. or redraw it!

Oh Bless! how sweet! I wouldn't have had a clue how to do that so am def not laughing! (well, maybe a little! )

It's so hard to explain without drawing, so I might just have a go later with 'paint', so I can explain it better, but you (and Silvercar) are on the right lines. (Although for clarity, it's on the opposite side)

Oh how I wish my mate was P.C conversant then she could deal with this palaver! :rolleyes:

Thanks very much for now though!

babyangel10

jennifernil wrote:

Why can the door into the new room not be further forward? I think what she is proposing is rather odd and would be a bad feature if/when she wants to sell.

Hi Jennifernil,

Apparently (according to a Highways Dept friend) she has to have at least 4.8m space on her drive for a car to park, so that is why the door has to be put where stated - any further forward and it'll reduce the 4.8m requirement.

It's an unusual one, that's for sure! But I can see that it might look quite good TBH, as long as it's done properly, with like a little landing for either entry to the new room, or for continuation up the stairs.

She just wasn't sure whether or not B.Regs would even allow a room to be built off a stairway, even though it'll only encroach on the bottom 3 steps.

Anyone have info on that too please?

silvercar

Go through the front door, extend immediately to right so you can have a larger hall. Put the door to the new room level and next to the start of the stairs. The way into the new room is then parallel to the entrance to the new room.