Hinged Stair Project

[MMit]

Hello,

Hopefully i'm posting this in the right place - looking for a bit of advice. I'm trying to design a hinged stair case which can be raised up to give enough head height clearance to walk under it.

We're trying to maximise available space in our small house and looking to put in a raised floor in for a study and put washing machine & general storage under it, i'm also looking to put a tumble drier behind the steps which lead up to the study. I've drawn up a rough idea of what i'm looking for but struggling to figure out;
A) if its going to work !
B) what strength of gas struts would be needed and where would they need placed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated ! A few things to note, there must be no visible gas struts, cables/ spring etc when the stair is in the down position. The normal position of the stairs would be in the down position.

I've attached some drawings to show my design - dimensions are rough and dont really account for material thicknesses.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Brentingby]

Could you upload the SKP file?

I think your stairs will be bit more complex than they need to be. Perhaps an alternating tread ladder would work.

 

[ColeyS1]

I'd have thought a prettier version of this would be easier to implement.

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[MusicMan]

There's good info gas struts here: https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts. I used them for a folding stand for a lunchbox planer.

However I would certainly look at the alternating tread ladder, as Brentingby suggests. I've seem one used for attic access and was impressed how steep you can make them.

 

[dickm]

Not quite as heavy, but do remember foldaway bed in a holiday flat in Black forest. Might be worth a look for ideas or even a ready-made solution?

 

[MMit]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions!

I've considered the following but sadly dont think they fit what i need...

Alternating tread - i know its not really needed, but i'd like to be in line with building regs and from what i've read i'd need hand rails on both sides of the staircase. It could be done but dont think it would fit with the sleek(ish) look of the unit/house. But it would certainly reduce the overall weight if i could make it shorter and steeper, again keeping it within building regs so i dont need to rip it out when i come to sell the house at a later date.

Rolling - I think the other half would not be too happy with a rolling system, living close to the sea and owning a dog means we have a constant battle with sandy floors. I've seen what it can do to a laminate floor when rolled over with an office chair, granted this floor will be solid bamboo but I dont really want to chance the damage. There is also a sofa in the way... its a small house!

Folding - definitely a consideration, i'd like to make it as simple as possible to use - hence the conclusion of gas struts. The idea being it would be as simple as opening and closing a car boot.

I've had a look on the SGS site which got me thinking about the calculations, i found another site with a easy(ish) to use calculator - i'll put the website below. Calculating and estimating the weights of each step, stringer etc i think i've found what i need to do the job! gasspringsshop co uk/gas-spring-calculator/

Heres the figures i came up with:
3 x Stringer, ~2000x260x48mm = 8.4kg each
6 X Stair Treads, 600x250x14mm = 1.5kg max! each (solid 14mm strand woven bamboo)
6 x Riser, 600x250x12mm = 1kg max each (12mm ply)
Roughly 40kg total weight - plus a bit more for framing i should be able to get some suitable struts + hardware for about £100.

I could lose a bit of weight by having open risers but would rather have them blocked so the dryer isn't staring at me through the gaps in the stairs, and so the dog doesnt fall through if she tries to climb them.

I've done a couple more drawings to show the step design a little better, i'll try and get the skp file up tomorrow (its part of a bigger drawing so need to split it out from there).

 

[ColeyS1]

The top section of the stairs looks very steep- will it be within regs or is it just for illustration purposes? Will the newel post and handrail, spindles etc be permanently fixed on the ground floor or will it rise and fall with the stairs ? I like the idea, it'll be interesting to see the build come together. I fitted a bamboo dance floor a few years ago- it seems bullet proof !
Edit- just realised that's the stairs in the open position- oops

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[MMit]

I’ve got to admit - I missed the part about the handrail on normal staircases when I first read over the building regs. I think it will need to rise and fall with the staircase. As the staircase isn’t very wide I can get away with just one handrail and it looks like you don’t need one on the bottom two treads - I just hope it will give me enough clearance to raise it with rail and not hit the roof, I guess I’ll add it to the drawing and see!

Glad to hear the bamboo floor is bullet proof, if it’s used for a dance floor it would need to be! The house is currently being built and I won’t get a chance to start implementing my plans before it’s all handed over but will update the post once it’s all built (if I can get it to work!) with some pics incase anyone wants to try something similar.

As it’s a couple of months away yet my design may/can change so great to hear any additional thoughts, e.g do I need the handrail to go the full length of the stairs (minus the bottom two steps) or can I cut it short at the top? I’m worried about it hitting the back wall when it’s in the raised position.

 

[ColeyS1]

Is there not room to put these in a larder type unit (so one on top the other ) in the kitchen ? It seems a little unusual having to go to this amount of tetris packing/stacking for a new build tbh. I'm not knocking the idea, just wondering if there's an easier solution that would mean the stairs wouldn't have to rise and fall like an alien spacecraft.

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[MMit]

Yes, it could go in the kitchen, there is also a small utility cupboard which they were originally planned to go into but we're planning to turn that into a walk in wardrobe instead.
The reason we're looking to go this complicated route is just to make the best use of the space we have available - the roof height of the study area is about 3.25m high so seems like a waste not to make the most of that extra height. Retaining 2m head height in the study area should give a bit over a meter for the washing machine and storage etc below it.

I think i'm up for the tetris challenge, sure its complicated, but space savings aside... who else gets to have a draw bridge to their office/study?

 

[ColeyS1]

It'd be quite cool and quirky. The only reason the stairs need to lift up is literally for access to the tumble dryer behind ?
How about lose it in a cupboard, then have drawers like this for the stairs

That's a lot of storage for storing bits and pieces. I bought an ottoman type bed a while ago for the storage underneath. It was great for a while, but the struts gave up after a while and I now have to lift the full weight of it. Perhaps the struts you're thinking of are of much better quality.
The drawbridge sounds good, but I wonder how long before the novelty wears off.

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[nev]

Why not go the other way? Have the cupboards built conventionally and have a pull/ fold down stair for the study area that stores above the cupboards when not needed. That way also frees up floor space as the stairs are not permanently there.

 

[ColeyS1]

Why not go the other way? Have the cupboards built conventionally and have a pull/ fold down stair for the study area that stores above the cupboards when not needed. That way also frees up floor space as the stairs are not permanently there.

That's a great idea Nev !

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[MMit]

Both very good ideas - thank you!. I've got a month or so to think about it but will come back with an update once ive made up my mind and built.

 

[ColeyS1]

Does it have to be legal and up to regs or could the house be built and something added after ? Cough cough

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[Weaversdad]

One thing that jumps to mind, how high is your ceiling?
I'm a builder and what we build to industry standard is 2.4mtr.......what height is the floor level going to be at ?

Pete

 

[Just4Fun]

I am interested to know how you solve this. I replaced a staircase in our house a while back and would like to have hinged part of it to access the space beneath. I couldn't come up with a solution I would have been happy with and eventually abandoned the idea and just built a conventional set of stairs.

 

[MMit]

Thanks ColeyS1, i'll be building and installing it after the house has been built and signed off by building control but would rather it was up to standard so that when i come to sell it i dont have to rip it out again.

Appreciate the view from a builders perspective- thanks Pete - the ceiling in the study area as it currently stands is 3.25m. I believe minimum head height is 2m so i'll be working to that with the remaining being used by the framing and storage under the raised office floor.