Please post pictures

You should probably rebuild them with a better rise to run ratio.

Yes, photos would be helpful.

I have been trying, but can't seem to get the pictures off of Windows Live photo gallery onto this sight?

I'm sorry I just don't know how to transfer the pictures onto this sight? or any other one for that matter? If anyone has a easy way to do this, let me know please, and I will try again?

After you begin to type a comment, do you see where it says attach image? If you click on that, what do you see? It should say choose file.

Ok I think the picture is on my projects site now. Can anyone see it? Don't ask how I managed that, I have no clue....LoL!

Are all the risers the same height? Pay close attention to the top and bottom. The middle ones should be good.

ooh yeah, brought your picture over.

you need some finish risers and treads.
they're not horribly expensive, and you can buy them at either HD or Lowe's. i know HD stocks oak, which will take stain or paint very well.
the stairs needn't be rebuilt for a different rise/run. 6/9 isn't bad, and having a full tread will add a small amount to the 9" run.
before you put them on, you want to make sure the structure is sound, but other than that, screw them on and fill with wood putty.

you can either remove the 2x10 run pieces and screw the treads directly to the structure, or you can attach the risers and treads right over the existing structure.

put the drywall up first, though. those stairs are what would be called "rough in" stairs. the "finish" stairs are put in after the drywall. that's why they don't currently go all the way to the walls. you slip the drywall between the stair and the studs.

Majority are 6", but some on one side or the other is 6 1/4 " I also noticed when I jiggle on them they move a "tiny" bit side to side? Might need to tighten down the screws to make them exactly 6" overall. It is the first couple that are off, then just before the bottom. Don't know if possible, but though maybe turning the stairway 2/3 of the way down might make them more assessable? Oh well, right now just need to get them finished so I can keep them clean. Everyone who comes in either the basement, or the back entry tromp down the stairs to shed outside clothes, and muddy boots. We have someone coming in a couple weeks, hopefully to get the bathroom down there up and running, so that will help with all the mud on the stairs. The 2x on chipped, on some of the edges too. Do you know if I can just remove the top board that you step on, and replace it with a "real stair" board? Then I could varnish it, and paint the back?

@ yobo you know just enough to be very dangerous here. You CANNOT do as you suggested. The top and bottom risers need to be the same as the rest of the stairs.

to YOBOSEIYO...These stairs have a couple supports nailed to them about half way up under the stairway. Since where they hook on top, and those two supports, that seems to be what is holding them up. Should I attach them to the 2x6 somehow after putting on the drywall for added support? We sit under the stairs when there has been a tornado warning a couple times, but have to wonder just how safe it really is with so little support. Anxious to get started on this project, but I am a female 70 year old lady, so I am a bit slower with my DIY projects these days. Just want to make sure I'm doing things right, and get something on those stairs so when you open the entry door, you don't see ugly dirty 2x. I bought a solar tube I hope to find someone to install over the stairway, as it is quite dark. No lights, just at the bottom, and that is behind a joist so doesn't shine up the stairway. Were second owners of this house, and so it still half finished from our moving it 16 miles, and what drywall is on there, is a dark green. I plan to paint it yellow to help bounce some light around. Also, don't want the stairs slippery. Has anyone used that paint for decks that is rough finish on stairs?

Fred, a rough carpenter built our basement, and replaced these stairs as the original ones were steep, and the basement we took it off of, was not as deep as this one. We have 8 foot ceilings in our basement over here. Sounds like your saying I need to make "sure" that all the stairs are exactly alike? I assume to avoid falling? I have a hand rail on one side, I would not be able to manage it without one. Also, my laundry is down in the basement so run up and down those stairs several times a day. Were working on getting our basement finished, so will be using it much more as time goes on.

@ ndfarm the reason I am asking about the rise on the first and last steps is to determine if those boards were meant to be temporary. A finish board can be either 1" thick or 1 1/4 thick. Your 2x is 1 1/2 thick. This difference is enough to make you stumble and break a hip. Now do you see what measurements I am after? To keep the risers consistent.

You should be able to do closer to a 7 / 10 1/4 ratio. With a 1" noseing that is a full standard tread.

I think I may be getting lost here? If your saying make the stairs 7 inches high, no we don't want that, was too difficult in the last house we had to manage the stairs with so high a step. Six makes allot more stairs but surprisingly much easier to navigate for us "old" people. We had the stairs coming up to the deck the same height as the basement, as we have a 92 year old aunt and uncle who visit often, and have to also be able to navigate all our stairs. The only difference outside we have a landing half way up, then on one, it turns. I wish I had asked back in 03 if they could have done that with these stairs? Now, the 10 1/4, does that mean from the back of the step to the edge of the nose? I am still trying to figure out how I got that one picture on, so can post a couple more that are closer up so you all can see what exactly I'm dealing with.

So if your bottom step is 1/2" too tall and your top step is 1/2" too short, THEN you can replace the 2x with a tread.

More pictures are not necessary. A six inch rise is not good if it sacrifices a place to put your feet. I would have to know how much room you have in order to give you a truely proper stair design. My guess is the old stairs had an 8 1/4 rise.6 1/2 to 7 is not the same. Steepness of a stairs is not dependant on the rise alone. That is the mistake most carpenters make.

The 9 inch tread does not meet most codes because it is dangerous.

just measured top step, it is exactly 6" high, and the bottom step is 6 2/8" high. I have to admit I am totally confused right at this minute. I was hoping to just finish them with something, get some drywall up on the rest of the stairway, and be done. At the same token, I want to make sure they are safe for us both, as neither one of us wants to fall down those stairs. As it is now, we always keep one hand on the rail. I feel like I am going to fall forward if I don't have something to hang onto. Maybe that is because the stairs are not make correctly?

What do you mean by room? The new stairs are right where the old ones came out off. We live on a farm, and living in the county we didn't need a building permit to do any of our basement, or stairs. Having come from WA state, we had all those things, I just assumed my husbands friend knew what he was doing, as he has been a handyman carpenter all his life. He built our two decks as well as our entire "wood" basement. I have found out he did not seal it correctly on the outside, so guess I shouldn't be too surprised he may have made a mistake on the stairs too. Now I am not sure what to do? Should we start over, and try to get stairs made correctly, or can these be salvaged? Later I will go down, and measure each step to make sure they are all 9", and some are not some other size. I also noticed that they are not secured to the concrete floor at the bottom either, they are just hooked at the top of the stairs to the floor joist, and supported by two 2 x 6 on each side about halfway up on the underside. Those too are not attached to the floor in any way. Since we use under the stairs as a storm shelter, making me nervous now. The stingers (that is what those long notched out things the steps attach too are right? should be how wide to make the stairs the correct height, and width? I haven't measured them yet, just thought they were ok?

Due to the oil activity out here, it is impossible to find anyone to do anything. They don't want to be bothered with small jobs, too busy building apartments, houses, and hotels. We do have a young guy coming from Idaho sometime next month to put on some siding for us, maybe I can have him help me if he happens to know anything about stairs? I do now that I can't do something that heavy by myself, and my husbands health doesn't allow him to do any lifting at all. Also, he is NOT a carpenter of any kind. LoL! If we just put a 10 1/4 " top on it would hang over, and doubt be safe either? If didn't break off going down, would most likely trip over it going up? Such an easy job I thought this would be, sounds like it will be a bit more then I anticipated? Still, want to do it right so we don't have to ever do it again, or have an accident on them.

Stairs are a hard thing to grasp. I would not necessarily blame it on the guy who did it. I once was hired for a week to go show two experienced framing crews how to make stairs work in a poorly planned condo development. By room, I am referring to how long the landing area is at the bottom of the stairs and the headroom clearance about 3 steps up from the bottom. Also some other tricks I have. I would not put a lot of money into the current stairs, at least not until all other possibilities are exhausted. The tread of these stairs are probably fairly consistent. It is the difference in step height at top and bottom of stairs that I am concerned with. Could you also go outside to the deck and measure the tread and risers , and tell me how they feel, so we could have a good baseline to talk about as to what could be most appropriate here?

I have thought about going over there, but then think about the living conditions and cold winters. I prefer the Montana banana belt I am in now.

We have allot of family in Kalispell, and surrounding area, love it over there. My husband is from here, that is why we retired from WA to ND in 2001. The last couple winters we have spend several months away in WA, and Las Vegas with family to get away from the cold.

I'm not sure what you mean by landing area? I did measure the 1st step to the upstairs floor joist is 87". The 3rd step up to the cut out of the joist is 78". 4th step to cut out joist is 75", and then the 6th step to ceiling is really high. To high to reach to measure. The top step to the ceiling is 95 1/2" . I don't know if those cut outs on the joists were done before we got the house, or if the carpenter did it for head room going down the stairs? The bottom of the stairs come out just before the hallway too your left that goes into the bedroom, bath, and mechanical room. If we went straight we would just walk into what will one day be the family room. Just a big open area.

Ok, went out and measured the steps to the deck. They are 11 1/4" deep. and step up 5". There are 7 steps up, then a four foot landing, then another 7 steps to the deck floor. The front is straight up with a landing in the middle, and the back is up seven, landing, they turn and go another seven to deck (little porch). These stairs are comfortable, and easy to come up, and down. I noticed that my foot hangs over the end of the steps going down to the basement. Must be why I feel out of balance, and have to hang on to the railing? Our basement is divided up with 2x6 we had left over from the basement walls, but there is no sheetrock on the walls. Just insulation, and in some places plastic over it. The floor is heated with hot water heat in the concrete so warm in the winter.

Landing area is just the area at the bottom of the stairs. Wanted to make sure it wasn't running into a wall. The place where the joist is cut out should be 80" from the nose of the tread, but not the biggest concern right now. If there was a way to take out more, that would be nice. Such as a closet above it that the floor could be raised in. The important thing is the "off balance, rail holding thing". When you say the stairs end just before the hall, is that 1" or 5" ? What is the total height from the concrete to the upper finished floor? And what is the total horizontal distance from the downstairs hall at the end of the stairs to the upstairs finished floor? And the distance from the upstairs finished floor to where they started cutting the floor joists. Hopefully, we can come up with a happy medium on the rise and run that will make it feel better and safer.

Edge of top stair horizontally down to top of bottom stair edge is 179". Concrete to bottom of unfinished floor joist is 93".Measuring from top of stairs along beam down the middle of the house to first spot where the panty hangs over the stairs is 107", then from the top edge to the first cutout is 122". When they built this basement they put a 2x6 wall down the middle. Part of the house sits on one side, and the other sits on it coming from the other side. We just left an opening at the bottom of the stairs when we put in the 2x6's to delineate where the rooms would be down there. We didn't cut out the 2x6 on the floor though, so can move that door anywhere we want. It just seemed like a good place for it at the time.I took some pictures of the cut outs, and close ups of the stairs, but just cannot figure out how to get them on here. I have always just e-mailed the pictures to my family directly from my photo gallery, but this site does not have an e-mail address that I know of for the forums? For now I am going to have to give this allot of thought, go over everything you said. Allot to take in all at once when you haven't a clue what your doing. Ha Ha Thanks so much for all the info today, really appreciate it.

I will piece together all these measurements and draw a picture. Did you say a pantry was above the bottom end of the stairs? Does it sound possible to raise part of that pantry floor?

Not sure, will take a look tomorrow to see if can see if it is on top of those joists that are cut out?

I am mostly asking about what it would do to the floor upstairs. The underneath can be fixed, but if raising the floor creates a trip hazard in the pantry upstairs is the issue.

Look at this when you have time, and tell me how accurate this is. also, how big the pantry is. Then we can figure out the best way to make it better.

ndfarmerswife - Here is a simple booklet issued by the Stairway Mfr's Assoc explaining stairs and how they should meet building codes. It will help you to understand the issues and terminology so when FredS offers information you can follow thru. Look at photos 10-12,15-20
http://www.abqstair.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SMAVisualInterpretationIRC2009ecopy_1__1_.pdf

Thank you.

I went on line, and bought the booklet, but cannot print it out. It down loaded to a place on my computer, but will not let me print? I need the visuals in front of me in order to follow how to do it?

Maybe Scott Designs can help with that and how to get your photos here. I am on a phone, and can't remember which buttons to push unless I am sitting in from of the computer. She is very good.

I had hoped to be able to print that out, take your information downstairs, and use her visuals, with your verbal, and maybe be able to get all the measurements absolutely accurate. The closet in question, was just that, a closet. When we purchased this house back in 2003, and had it moved over on to our land, I put shelves in the closet, and turned it into a pantry. The floor of the pantry is on top of the joists, but looks like the back part of it, is what is the lowest overhang over the stairs. That has not seemed to be a problem as we are not tall people. Those tall, have to duck to keep from hitting their head. My husband said, our nephew cut out those joists, as he was always hitting his head on the way down the stairs. I am currently printing out all of the above information from everyone, will put it in a folder so I don't lose it. I sure never realized how involved building stairs was. When we lived back here in the early 1960's the house we lived in had steep, narrow stairs, and even steeper going down to the cellar. A couple we lived in in WA also had very steep stairs, so I have to assume they were pre code way back then as they were old houses. This house was built in 1968, but seems to be solid. I remember the stairs we took out of it, they were steep, and high to step up. Undoutedly not code either when a "contractor" built them. Lots of changes over the years, and like I said before, since there are very few codes in our neck of the woods, unless you live in one of the small towns, I'm sure there are allot of these older homes not built to code. I take it that your mind is on too many things, I too sometimes push the wrong buttons, my mind says one thing, and my fingers something completely different. Same with working on the computer. LoL!

No rush needed, that is a pdf file, at least over here. I think there is a print right on the pdf screen, but I can't visualize it right now. Is the wall I drew at the bottom of the stairs the six inch wall that holds up the two sides of the house? And in the approximate right place?

There are six inch walls on both sides of the stairway. Going down, the one on the left is the load bearing wall, and it ends 3 1/4 inches before the stairs do. On the right side is a short wall, and the bottom of the stairs extend out 1 3/4 inches beyond it. Northing I can do about that wall, it was built in to replace the one that was in the basement originally. The one on the left if the one we left that wide opening to walk through. The width of the stairs are how they were built in the house originally, so those walls can't be moved up above to widen the stair well. I think our basement is a bit mickey moused, as family, and friends built it. Concrete is not level in floor, I doubt that the walls are plumb, as the house does not sit straight on the new basement. I'm hoping when we get the new siding on, they can put some shims in so the siding is straight on the house. Oh well we did what we could at the time. LoL! I tried to print out your drawings, but it is too small to see very well. I punched it bigger, but then it won't print at all? I swear if it is not one thing it is another. Ha Ha. Is it ok to send you my e-mail address so you can send it to that? I should be able to print it out larger from there? Hope your having a good day, it is stormy here today. My husband and nephew are out welding on nephews little trailer to haul the riding lawn mower. Too wet out for him to work on any of the well sites today. We had 3/4 inches of rain this morning early along with plenty of thunder and lighting. Where is spring/summer.

It is nice today, but not yesterday. Yes email is good.

We can get you the headroom for the stairs out of the closet. I will need some pictures to make sure. You could also just do the stairs for now, knowing that the rest is possible later.

sweetpea@nccray.com My nephew looked at the overhang, the bottom of it is the floor up above, so he doesn't think we can remove it? It is the same floor that is on top of the floor joists. He does think that we can remove those two floor joists all the way up as they will still be supported by that short wall on that one side. I looked, and see that their are two electric wires running behind that one, don't know if they can be moved, or not. Yes, I think just getting the stairs done will be a big enough project for me to tackle for now. I will e-mail you some more pictures that I have, leave it to me to try taking on something so involved.

The electrical wires can be moved. The floor up above is the closet, right? Many home are deliberately designed with a closet over the stairs, with a raised floor.

To ndfarmerswife 70 -- Here's how to attach photos: When you make a comment you have the opportunity to "Attach Images". Click on "Attach Images." You will then see "Browse" in a box. Click on that. A box will come up on your screen that allows you to select the photo file that is on your computer. Click on that photo file. It will then be transferred to Houzz in the "Browse" box as a file name. You have up to 4 images you can transfer. Once you click on "Submit", the file name turns into the photo.

Sorry about not being able to print the booklet. It's been a while since I downloaded it. I remember now that you have a choice...either downloading without printing capability or buying a booklet that they mail to you. I would only loose the booklet, so I always download. Basically, the photos I mentioned illustrate the following:

RISE: height of a step (7 ¾” max)
Riser heights can vary within a flight of stairs as long as the shortest riser is no less than 3/8” of the tallest riser.

RUN: depth of a tread (10” min PLUS an overhang of ¾” min to 1 ¼” max; 11” tread requires no overhang))
Tread depths can vary within a flight of stairs as long as the greatest tread depth does not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8”. NOTE: When calculating the amount of total run space you need for a set of stairs, do not include the tread overhang dimension. For example: The minimum run for 13 steps is 130" ...13 steps x10"=130"

HEADROOM: headroom clearance while walking down stairs and under platforms (80” min. measured vertically from tread nosing)

As you will see in going through your download, there is more to stair planning but this seems to be your sticking points right now.

Scott Design, Inc. Thanks so much for the information. I have to admit I am pretty confused right about now. I ordered that booklet, so maybe that will help me understand better?

Received the drawing Fred S, My measurements must be off? I will take the drawing down tomorrow when I can get someone to hold tape, and re-measure all of the areas you have on your drawing. I just went down, and had my husband hold the tape to the front of the first step, then went down to the over head in the ceiling over the stairs. It measured 105 1/8" along the main beam, and 126" horizontally. Then I measured from of first step to first cutout and got 79", and to 2nd cutout 84". Then I measured from the concrete floor up to the ceiling that the joists are under, at the 1st cut out and got 101 1/2", and to the second one from the concrete floor 102 1/8". Obviously I need to re-measure everything, or get someone else to do it for me. I can't remember having so much trouble as I seem to be having with this project. Right now I am more then a bit over whelmed. It sure would help too if I had the new solar tube installed over that stairwell so I could see. LoL! That is a project I will need to contract out when I find someone who has the time. I have had the solar tube for some time now out in the shop on a shelf. I think I might be scaring my husband just a bit, he says you are in over your head. MAYBE.............