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Your tiny house may have an iconic ladder with the loft combination. But if you are living with more people in the tiny house, it won’t be a perfect solution for you to use a ladder. Particularly if you live with pets and children or elderly relatives. In that case, using a ladder with the stairs is inviolable. The point is to search for a build that will work perfectly for your little house. You may try to experiment with various plans to notice which one will be the best for the tiny house. So, you may be wondering about how to build tiny house stairs?
In the traditional way to build the stairs, you begin with measuring the riser dimensions and treads. We will discuss more in this article and you can apply these formulas. Therefore, if you want to build your stairs for your little sweet house, you should stick with us about how to optimize different designs and switch it to the next level.
Why to select the staircase instead of the Ladder?
We all know that in tiny houses, there are always space problems. So you have to choose options which are perfect to allow you to get most of the spaces. There are lots of design plans for the ladder but it is overlooked. Hence, if you are a dweller of the tiny house with mobility issues, for you the ladder will never be any suitable solution. A ladder won’t be able to provide you with enough support to comfort you and your family members in the long term basis living. In these situations, a ladder will give you more disadvantages rather than benefits. For this, simply you should replace it by a staircase.
And we have added some other reasons why you should select a staircase over a ladder for your little house:
Getting additional storage space:
A staircase for the tiny house does not need all the spaces of the house. So, if you add a staircase to your tiny house, it can provide you with the additional storage space that you want desperately. Additionally, it will give you extra space for keeping the storage if you can design it properly.
Safe for Children or Pets:
Ladders are very dangerous for children or pets. On the other hand, a staircase will provide comfortable access for children and pets in your tiny house. Thus it will reduce the threat of injuries.
Staircase for tiny house- building regulations:
If you want to build anything in your tiny house, you have to follow the revised 2018 International Residential Code. So, staircases are not away from that rule. It instructs an updated appendix which is written for tiny houses that includes the requirements for various portions of a tiny house like the staircase.
Width:
According to the International Residential Code, the minimum stride would be roughly 20 inches minus 4/3 of height. Other recommendations for lengths to build tiny house stairs areas-
Headroom:
The headroom is a space that is situated above the head while you enter the loft. The code recommends height for it is at least 6 feet and 2 inches. Yet, this calculation is not easy to pull off. Only professional builders will be able to make it accurately acceptable according to the codes.
Riser Height:
The height of each riser step should be at least 7 inches and not exceeding more than 12 inches in height. But to get these proportions of the risers is very pivotal in building a functional staircase.
Handrails:
If you want the stairs of your tiny house to be totally according to the code, you should use handrails. This is also essential for safety purposes. The guidelines for building the Handrails are the same as the guidelines for other homes.
Are you confused about Ladders and Stairs! then read our another comprehensive article about Tiny House Stairs VS Ladders
How Much Space Do You Require For Building A Tiny House Staircase?
It will be depending on the size of the tiny house. Some house stairs may require up to 20 to 25 square feet. On the other hand, others need to be calculative about the space by keeping the limit of the space during building the tiny house.
How About Spiral Staircases In Your Tiny House?
Building spiral staircases for your tiny houses is not an easy thing to do with the design of traditional stairs. According to the International Residential Code, these are some requirements when you want to build spiral stairs for the tiny house:
Headroom: It should be at least 6 feet and 5 inches.
Riser height: It should be not less than 9 feet and 5 inches.
Tread depth: It should have at least 6 feet depth at the walking with a width of 26 inches.
How To Paint and Decorate Tiny House Stairs?
Calculating the right dimensions of the staircase is challenging. Fortunately, you will find some perfect but easy methods you may use to construct a set of stairs of your tiny house.
How to calculate the number of steps?
Tiny house build provides you a simple guideline about measuring your staircase by grinding the numbers occupying your needed riser height and tread depth. This formula is effective if you are determined about the length and the height of the steps.
You should take the measurement of the height that is appropriate for the staircase. This means measuring from the first floor onwards to the loft floor. If you use floor coverings which have significant thicknesses, you should include these factors into the measurement. And it is called the rise. You have to take the measurement of the space which is used by stairs. This means taking the calculation from the wall exactly from where your stairs are going to be attached onwards the base from where the landing is. You have complete freedom to do the calculation but you should keep in mind one thing, a longer staircase will allow you a more comfortable ride. Conversely, a shorter staircase will allow higher risers which are not knee pain-friendly at all. This is called the run.
Convenient Staircase Designs For Tiny Houses:
Tiny house dwellers tend to go away from the staircase idea because it is seemingly a waste of space. But the truth is completely different from this idea. As we discussed earlier more about this, now we will focus on the design plans. There are lots of designs for the stairs. From hidden stairs to smart storage, you may choose the best design according to your need. Therefore, we have listed four designs for your interest:
1) Retractable Staircase:
If you love getting a retractable ladder but do have limited mobility, the best solution is a retractable staircase. The design is perfectly customizable according to space. And you can easily hide it when you do not have to use it. Therefore, it should be built of heavy-duty wood along with having a suitable stainless steel railing. You can get more information about it from different websites.
2) Storage Stairs:
This stylish design is inspired from Japan by the tansu design principle. It is basically based on the ancient cabinet style. Plus you will get additional space for adding more storage in your tiny house. It will be a good way to get more space by utilizing this design plan. There are various designs for a tiny house staircase which is suitable for solving space problems. If you can prioritize the design process, you can easily get plenty of room for storage.
3) Pull Out Stairs:
If you want to keep the tiny house as basic as possible, then you can get inspiration from this barely-there staircase for the tiny house. This incomparable innovative build disappears onwards to the wall by providing perfect access to the loft. Thus, it is the best way to implement a stair design without the elimination of existing storage and space. Besides all of these benefits, you can install a railing with it.
4) Makeshift Stairs:
It is not necessary to show your stairs. One smart way to make the position of a staircase without taking extra space is using makeshift stairs. You should utilize furniture pieces that are strong enough to carry heavyweights.
If you want an elaborate guide book on the tiny house construction, then you can follow the below guide books from Amazon.
Above this reading, we hope you realize storage will not be any problem if you can use stairs based on design plans. Selecting between ladder and stairs will be tough. But if you are able to make a firm decision to select stairs, it will solve your space issues. Moreover, you have to keep in mind the mobility of your little house. If so, then the stairs will be an essential part of the house. It will allow easier access to your family and friends. So, folks! This is all about how to build tiny house stairs. We hope this was an interesting article for you to fulfill your needs of proper knowledge in building the stairs of the tiny house.
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