0230 trivia question

[TarnishedPenny]

Out of idle curiosity, no particular reason..

Stairways in typical N American houses have 13 stairs. How many in are typical other areas?

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Every house I have lived in has 13 in the UK.

 

[Treeview]

Best to have odd number stairs

 

[TheLobster]

I’d imagine you have as many stairs as you need to cover every floor? Basically (floors-1)*2, unless the stairwell has some weird layout where the exits aren’t lined up vertically.

This is an odd question.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I see I may have tripped over regional lingo. I was referring to the number of steps in a typical stairway.

 

[StillStunned]

As I understand it, the height of each step is pretty much a set value. I used to live in a converted factory, and the steps were all about a centimetre higher than normal, and you definitely felt the difference.

Anyway, here in mainland Europe the standard is 13 steps too, I think. That said, there's a trend towards higher ceilings, so logically that would mean that newer houses will have more steps per staircase.

 

[TheLobster]

Okay, that makes a bit more sense

Anyway, here in mainland Europe the standard is 13 steps too,

In my parts of continental Europe, a stairway in an apartment bulding will usually have 9 steps, including the top platform but excluding the bottom one (i.e., you need to lift either leg nine times to scale it).

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oz houses (in suburbia at least) are typically single storey. In the last couple of decades we're seeing more urban infill, so two storey houses are becoming more common. No idea how many stairs, though. I lived in a two storey house for fifteen plus years, but it never occurred to me to count the stairs.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

13 is common in the UK - and in stations and public places, it's expected that after 13 steps there will be a flat area for people to rest. Houses built post-war generally comply with this.

Though the terraced 60s house I grew up in had 3 floors and 33 stairs (including the landing and top floor), and my Victorian house has 34, 17 per floor.

 

[StillStunned]

If I recall, this was a plot point in one of the movie versions of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" - the one with Robert Powell. Something along the lines of there being 13 steps in each stair case in the Clock Tower of Westminster Palace, and "the 39" are the steps leading up to Big Ben.

 

[SimonDoom]

I learned something new. I didn't know there was a standard.

I figured that this would never come up in a story, but of course I had to find out, so I did a search, and to my surprise there are 5 Literotica stories in which the phrase "13 steps" arises. One lives and learns.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

The number of stair riser and tread combinations varies with the floor-to-floor height. Maximum riser height in new homes in the United States is 7.75" according to the International Residential Code (model code) adopted by all states in some form. In commercial buildings, where higher volume is expected, the maximum according to the International Building Code (again, adopted by all states and a number of other countries) is limited to 7". I think there are some exceptions allowed in renovation of historic structures.

That means the number of treads (horizontal steps) and risers (vertical) will vary with floor-to-floor height. My house has 10' floor-to-floor heights so it has 16 risers and 15 treads (not including floor at top or bottom), so the the risers are 7.5". Many homes have 9' floor-to-floor heights so they have 14 risers/13 treads matching what TP originally noted for 7.71" risers.

 

[THBGato]

Currently on holiday in Spain: 16 stairs here. Just counted.

 

[MillieDynamite]

In one of Sherlock Holmes's stories, Holmes points out to Watson that there are 13 steps on the staircase. Watson responds that he didn't know that. I've been in houses with three steps and a platform and the ten steps on the 90-degree turn to the next floor, for a total of 13 steps.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Currently on holiday in Spain: 16 stairs here. Just counted.

Interesting by exception. Gracias.

 

[HordHolm]

Okay, that makes a bit more sense


In my parts of continental Europe, a stairway in an apartment bulding will usually have 9 steps, including the top platform but excluding the bottom one (i.e., you need to lift either leg nine times to scale it).

This last (9 steps per stairway in an apartment building) is true in my part of continental Europe, too, though there is usually two flights of steps separated by a landing halfway, so 18 steps between floors total, though as Stillstunned notes, we have higher ceilings.

 

[TheLobster]

This last (9 steps per stairway in an apartment building) is true in my part of continental Europe, too, though there is usually two flights of steps separated by a landing halfway, so 18 steps between floors total, though as Stillstunned notes, we have higher ceilings.

I was counting just one unbroken flight, without that intermediate platform. I don’t recall ever seeing a design that didn’t have one.

 

[MillieDynamite]

In commercial buildings, apartments, hospitals, and businesses, the stairs can be one or two flights for each floor. There is more space between floors in commercial buildings than in homes. How does this affect the number of stairs per floor?

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

In commercial buildings, apartments, hospitals, and businesses, the stairs can be one or two flights for each floor. There is more space between floors in commercial buildings than in homes. How does this affect the number of stairs per floor?

Millie, see my post above. The maximum riser height is 7.5" in commercial buildings in the U.S. As the floor-to-floor height increases, so does the number of treads and risers. A 15' floor-to-floor height would typically require a minimum of 24 risers at 7.5", with two (usually equal) flights and an internal landing between floors.