I agree - our stairs to our attic are awful, but to make any modifcations requires serious loss of space and interferes with radiators and electric. It is a bummer but just not worth it. Current stair codes are insane and take up so much room (I do understand why, but the mind boggles that people got by with sketchy stairs for thousands of years :p )

I empathize with your problem. The stairs in my house have a couple of insanely steep stairs that I would love to bring closer to code, but it just isn’t feasible to do so.

From just an aesthetic standpoint, I think it looks charming. The radiator bothers me more than the stairway and it would improve the look a lot more if it was removed.

Agree with the above poster. Those steps are lovely as is

I'd add a railing for the bottom portion, after the turn. I could see someone taking a tumble there and a railing would help.

I am in agreement with most answers here. That's a lovely set of stairs.

Assuming your main rises and runs are to code, it looks to me like at the turn you would need a proper landing and then headroom above for the next step down, which means losing floor space upstairs and having to possibly add a post to support the new load-path if you have to head off a couple of joists...

Then your remaining stairs are going to lead you dead into your fireplace by the time they meet code for tread depth.

Why do you need to bring them up to code? Messing with stairs is almost always really expensive.

I look at those stairs and think of all the trauma patients I've seen, who died due to a fall on stairs. Stairs are dangerous!

Had old narrow winding stairs, a great architect provided 3 options for redesign, including one I'd never thought of. Redesign and rebuild was expensive but worth it.

Please, at least, add railings.

Okay there is no way for us to advise how to fix this you need an architect or just learn to live with a quirky staircase. In Europe this in pretty normal and honestly not tah many people ar einjured anymore than on to code stairs. We had a 1905 1 1/2 storey house we renovated and to change the steep stairs would have been astronomical and we left them and not one isse with home inspection when we sold. I think waht you have is probaly a good use of space for the house and I find the stirs attractive .

Keep the stairs add hand rail. I would not bring up to code. I would make sure to have fire escape window drop latter in attic if used for living space and same for basement. The stairs r charming.

Thank you all for your suggestions and shared experiences! No doubt the stairs have lots of charm, but my fiance took a slip on the way down today (thankfully fine), but reinforces our wish for a more standard stair. As you can see, narrow width at the top and steep turn at the bottom.

We will most likely learn to love and live with them, since we don't have a big renovation budget. Railing and, possibly, stair tread carpets, are definitely in our future.

Those are actually great steps for an old house- not extremely narrow and not a very abrupt turn. You will get used to them. Agree bringing them up to code extremely expensive and not worth it.

Definitely add a railing on any wall. As a senior citizen, I feel much safer if I can grab on to a railing especially as I go down.

Yes, I can see how those are slippery, especially if you don't wear shoes in the house. Adding a handrail definitely would help. If you go with any kind of carpet tread, make sure it's well-affixed and doesn't become an added hazard.

This is a 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of post, but we have similar stairs outside. The beautiful finish I applied is super slick when we get any kind of snow/sleet and I've really struggled with what to do to them. It is really tough to find a product that is aesthetically appealing and does no harm to the underlying wood surface. Ugh.

A handrail is a MUST for those stairs. Unfortunately, you don’t really have enough space for a handrail on both sides. Not sure carpet would make traction better or worse. We put gripper strips (like you would use for outdoors) on our steepest stairs. But they are not in a public area. With railings on both sides. Those stairs have a rise of 9 with an 8 1/2 tread.

Have you considered a stair runner? It will make steep steps less easy to slip and fall on and will help deaden the sound echo. Tons of options to match your decor and it will look nice with the wood treads.

It appears from the photos that the winders are necessary in order to provide head room, If you got rid of the winder treads, the new full landing would be 15" to 16" higher and you would need to remove that much of the second floor. The purpose of the winder treads is to maximize the floor area of the house. You're gonna need a bigger house.

You call those winders? Ha. These are a set of winders. Key West Fl.

I always loved House Hunters Int'l where they were in the Netherlands and had the most insane stairs. And you'd see a 75-year old traipsing up like it was no big deal.

If the treads of the steps (the depth of the steps) are short then adding carpeting will only make them shorter and less safe. You might want to consider some alternative methods. https://prudentreviews.com/how-to-make-stairs-less-slippery/

The traction strips in the photo @joseph Corlett posted are what we used. I will correct that our tread depth is about 7” (nosing to nosing) with an 8” rise.

I wish I had radiators.

A continuous railing, top to bottom, would improve the safety a lot. It would probably make your staircase fairly narrow in spots, but you can always unscrew it temporarily if you need to take wide furniture up the stairs.

I suggest that you look for an experienced finish carpenter, because that's the kind of carpenter who has probably installed a lot of stairs and railings. Not a handyman for this one.

It isn't just the elderly who fall on stairs. I remember holding the stair rails very carefully when my balance was off in late pregnancy.

Respectfully disagree with stax. Those stairs are NOT safe. Have cared for hundreds of patients of all ages who have fallen on stairs. It is not just old people. Two friends (one a pediatrician, the other a paramedic), both in their 30's, died due to head and spinal injuries from a fall on stairs.

Adding carpeting MAY increase the risk of falls, but absolutely decreases the injury due to the fall.

Railings are needed, especially at the top where the fall distance is greatest.

Removing the winders requires the removal of a portion of the second floor for the necessary headroom so its not possible to draw a solution without a dimensioned plan of both floors and the floor to floor and ceiling heights.

I have to say the "fear of stairs" contingent is a bit over the top. Millions of homes across the world have stairs. In certain geographic areas, stairs are the norm. Afraid of stairs? Build or buy a ranch. But disparaging someone for living in a historic home with stairs is not helpful. If you are mobility impaired or elderly you probably would not be purchasing this home. If you have small children, safety gates are in order. Common sense prevails here.

OP, there seems (from the pictures at least) not enough of a "run" to get these stairs "up to code." Further I think they look adorable. Lots of ideas to paint or make them stand out. We have a back staircase in our home that is similar to this.Handrails and treads can make these safer. I see no reason to rip them out or change them.

Generations lived with stairs like these and did just fine. My grandmother had an extreme staircase in her rowhouse in Copenhagen. She lived until 98 and never had a stair injury. I don't discount that people can fall down stairs, but the more we fear them and whistleblow on the danger of an extremely common home element, the less people use them or get used to how to navigate them safely. Physicians have even commented that stair climbing can increase mobility into the later years.

Hmm, I didn't see any remarks that I thought were disparaging, and I didn't see anyone whistleblow on stairs in general.

I think it's only common sense to acknowledge that this particular staircase with its uneven treads should have a non-slippery surface and a continuous railing so that anyone using it (including a guest) is safer.

I don't see this as fear of stairs. Giving one example of a person who never fell on stairs isn't really helpful to the original poster. When I was a child there was no such thing as seat belts, much less car seats, but I don't recommend driving with children loose in the car, even though I and many others lived to tell the tale.

Like the stairs as is. Know that if you make changes, that may require bringing them up to code.

If you are you wanting to change the looks but not the structure, paint or other decoration on the verticals could be the answer.

Another idea might be to create a focal point out of the small window. One idea might be to add color:

https://www.amazon.com/Yogoart-Horizontal-Transom-Stained-Hanging/dp/B07PDWBNYS

Some use a nautical rope hand rail on the wall.

I'd start by looking up the standard size for stairs and seeing how that works on your stairs. Can you just replace the odd stair sizes with standard ones? If the answer is no, then look at your headroom on the stairs going to the basement and see if you can put a landing where the stairs bend. Or you could just talk to a contractor to see what they think.

Residential Stair Codes: Rise, Run, Handrails Explained

4 year old post