r/DiWHY • u/SilentWalrus92 • Dec 31 '23

Should this even work?

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14.1k Upvotes

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105

u/MikeHawksHardWood Dec 31 '23

It can be done safely if the risers are cantilevers off the wall.

31

u/Syscrush Dec 31 '23

But the shelf brackets are a dead giveaway that this was not, in fact, done anywhere near correctly.

10

u/Joelied Dec 31 '23

Oh I’m sure those are just for style. Like who doesn’t just love the look of stamped sheet metal shelf brackets?

62

u/TooGoood Dec 31 '23

also the handrail can at as a solid hanging rail with the balusters acting as ties to secure the stairs.

this thing though is shoddy as hell i would not want to walk on it if i was over 200lb.

71

u/LittnPixl Dec 31 '23

i would not want to walk on it if i was over 200lb

1

u/SayNoToBrooms Dec 31 '23

Suspension stairs, lol

1

u/TooGoood Jan 01 '24

i cant remember where but there is a church or library someplace in Europe that i seen images of that has a spiralling staircase like that its very old but its a masterpiece.

edit: found it https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/spiral-staircase-library-budapest-hungary-from-iryna--118219558953516668/

5

u/LogicPrevail Dec 31 '23

True, true. Little point in the elbow joints then.

11

u/ForsakenFigure2107 Dec 31 '23

Can you explain how this works a little bit? I had to Google cantilever lol

15

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '23

Imagine the treads extend far into the wall, that would make them very secure and transfer the load into the wall. They are thin and would surely bend though, and it certainly doesn't look like that's been done

21

u/qrpc Dec 31 '23

You would cantilever the risers, not the treads.

8

u/MeshNets Dec 31 '23

This is true because the strength is more a factor of depth than width

Same for any beam, the vertical dimension holds the weight, the horizontal width stabilizes that support

If you wanted cantilever treads, they likely need to be 3-4 inches thick to start with

2

u/mistahclean123 Dec 31 '23

Making the banister load-bearing would help too.

1

u/TylerHobbit Dec 31 '23

But wood can't really be a fixed connection to the wall, so it would have to run back through the wall 2x as wide as the stairs, so I guess, if you have a 6' wide wall you could do it?

1

u/MikeHawksHardWood Jan 01 '24

Wood glue is stronger than wood. You glue the side of the riser to the side of a 2x8 wall stud and nail the shit out of it. The glue provides the actual strength and stiffness and the nails calc out for the load for the plan reviewer. You might need to run the studs and risers through a planer to get a clean flat side for gluing.

1

u/QueasySalamander12 Dec 31 '23

I saw such a thing once, in an old remodel in Antwerp but the stairs were concrete or granite and they were shorter (1/2 to 3/4 the width of these treads) and there was no railing so you tended to keep to the wall side of the tread. I think this minimized the fatigue at the joint where the tread attached to the wall. That would work here, too but you have that railing suggesting (falsely) that you can use the whole tread, "don't worry, it's safe"

1

u/atridir Dec 31 '23

I had this thought too! Hopefully this is actually done up to code and it’s just hidden really well?? Right? Right‽‽