Stairs

**Stairs Overview:**
– Stairs are structures designed to bridge vertical distances.
– They consist of steps that enable passage to higher levels.
– Stairs can be straight, round, or consist of connected pieces.
– Staircases and escalators are types of stairs.
– Stairs are essential for egress paths and accessing different levels.

**Components and Terms:**
– Stairs consist of treads, risers, and nosings.
– Staircases include landings, handrails, and balustrades.
– Stairs can be straight, change direction, or form circular constructions.
– Box stairs are built between walls without additional support.
– Stairways are metaphors for achievement or hierarchy.

**Steps and Support:**
– Tread is the stepped part of the stairway.
– Riser is the vertical element between steps.
– Nosing is the edge of the tread that protrudes over the riser.
– Stringer supports the treads and risers in staircases.
– Winders are used to change the direction of stairs without landings.

**Handrails and Balustrades:**
– Balustrade prevents falling over the edge.
– Banister is the angled member for handholding.
– Volute is a handrail end element that curves inward.
– Turnout deviates from the normal handrail center line.
– Railings can be present on one or both sides of stairs.

**Handrail Components and Staircase Terminology:**
– Components like gooseneck, rosette, easings, core rail, and baluster are essential.
– Newel posts include newel, half-newel, newel drop, finial, and baserail or shoerail.
Balcony railing elements like fillet, continuous handrails, post-to-post handrails, tangent method, and quarter-turn caps are significant.
– Staircase terminology includes treads with two balusters, winder stairs, handrail stability, core rail strength, and baluster support.

Stairs (Wikipedia)

Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage to the other level by stepping from one to another step in turn. Steps are very typically rectangular. Stairs may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles.

Various examples of stairs

Types of stairs include staircases (also called stairways) and escalators. Some alternatives to stairs are elevators (also called lifts), stairlifts, inclined moving walkways, ladders, and ramps. A stairwell is a vertical shaft or opening that contains a staircase. A flight (of stairs) is an inclined part of a staircase consisting of steps (and their lateral supports if supports are separate from steps).