I have an application were I need to get to a very small “meditation” room (up like a tower). To get there the architect put a spiral stair case. I want something less obvious and more “special”. So I thought about a set of stairs that go along the wall but they are close to half the size of regular stairs.
Also, the builder is telling me that I could also add Wood steps to a metallic spiral staircase and that that would make it match my “woodsy” look on the house and also be “non-ordinary”.
I once found a company in Canada that makes wooden spiral (round spirals and squared spirals) but the cost was very high.
Thomas Edison designed a (ship) ladder with alternating steps. They save a lot of space they looked great too. But I have not been able to find a manufacturer — maybe I’ll have get them custom made?
Thanks!
Replies
I think the half steps you are referring to were in fact invented by Thomas Jefferson and are sometimes called Jefferson Stairs. They take very little space, but I've heard they can take a little getting used to. There's probably not a big enough market for them be prefab'd by anybody, plus I'm not sure how they work with code requirements. I don't think they'd be too hard to build in place - add a center stringer and layout the treads in a staggered fashion. It's probably better to site build such a specialty item anyway so you can get a perfect fit.
You might also consider a ship's ladder, they can be made of wood and look very warm. These are available prefabricated so would probably be cheaper.
Quite a few discussions of alternating tread stairs at Breaktime. I saw one message that mentioned a commercial source, but neglected to write down which one. You'll just have to dig through the whole pile.
Not all of these threads start out discussing alternating tread stairs, so don't give up if the first few messages don't look relevant.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=6906.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=10857.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=13818.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=18526.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=20965.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=23820.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=25282.1
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=35222.1
Edited 7/29/2004 3:15 pm ET by Uncle Dunc
for the rolling ladders suggested by others you might try:
http://www.putnamrollingladder.com/docs/stools.html#topbent
Poliform also made a terrific looking ladder which they show in some of their adds.
Think what you're looking for is the Lapeyre Stair. Goggle on that. Saw one used to access a loft in a residence in Santa Fe. Did a little research.
Shelley