What should you know about the stairs to the basement

Attention to finish a basement when building a house is usually given in the last turn. However, many people have appreciated the undeniable advantages of the “minus first” floor. In most homes, it has long ceased to be dark, damp and cold room. That is why in addition to methods of finishing floors and walls today many people are interested in how to make the basement stairs with their hands.

Features of the basement stairs

Today in country houses are equipped with a ground floor, where also the boiler can be equipped with storage facilities for supplies and domestic preparations, laundry, gym, sauna, and even a billiard room. Beautiful tiled or wood-paneled walls create the impression of lived-in space, and stairs add a certain charm to the atmosphere of the dark room to the basement of the overall design(top photo).

It is entirely different with the stairs to the basement garage: you have to think about the beauty of the stairs and railing, in the end, the most important thing – a secure design and to ensure the most comfortable descent, because the slope has to be pretty steep due to space limitations.

However, the equipment of cellars in the garage also plays an important role: it can be used to store food reserves, as a pit to repair cars, and if it is possible to hold back the light – even a mini-workshop.

Due to proper and correct calculations you can easily produce the device for descent into the basement, so many people prefer to mount it with their own hands.

If space allows, even the stairs to the basement allow expressing the designer’s imagination: wrought iron railings, graceful steps, a light descent will make the interior stylish (in the right photo).

Types of ladders

Depending on the area basement and personal preferences, staircase in a cellar or basement may be:

• Simple (one march) – the simplest design that almost anyone can set with their hands (pictured below).
• Straightforward (one march) with the intermediate area – a very convenient option to make the slope less steep and involving less difficulty dragging heavy. The photo of the stairs to the basement is below, and you can see that this design also occupies not too much space with proper placement.
• Two marches with a common platform – convenient and safe design, which allows you not only to comfortably move about but also to carry bulky box. The only drawback is the device of such stairs in the basement requires a lot of space.
• Two marches with winding steps (pictured to the right, where the guitar is). A relatively easy option: but it is quite challenging to make this structure with your own hands.
• Screw stairs with mount bearing to the wall – a very compact design, however, it is not convenient to go up and down, and it is almost impossible with large objects. The staircase to the basement is usually combined with a round hatch.
• Screw stairs with the mounting frame to the post – this ladder looks pretty nice and very compact, but you should move very carefully, and it is undesirable to carry heavy loads.

If the square footage of the room is too small, it makes sense to think about modern design – foldable ladder in the basement. This lightweight design has 2 or 3 additions, and it is locked in folded position using a cord which passes through the 3 rungs from the top. Such staircase to the basement is equipped with a hatch, to which this rope is directly attached. If you want to descend into the cellar, you should lift the hatch, remove the rope, grip design, and then carefully lower it to the floor. These stairs are often used in garages, but dealing with them requires some skill.

Materials

Stairs to the basement can be made of the following materials: concrete, wood, metal (see photo). The stairs to the basement of the house are usually made of wood or metal or combined metal frame and railings with wood trim. All designs of this kind are easy to make with your own hands. As for the stairs in the cellar or the basement garage, then the only option for them is the metal frame as decorative trim with your own hands is impractical, and wood due to high humidity and low temperatures will quickly become worthless. Above photo — the descent into the cellar with wooden steps: this is possible only if the garage is heated. You can make wooden treads, which will be attached to the metal frame and over time they can always be replaced.

It often happens that the structure of the staircase to the basement inside the house is for any reason, impossible. In this case, you usually build a stairway to the basement from the street. Optimal material, in this case, will be the concrete, and the manufacturer designs their own hands will require certain skills.

How can you do it?

The construction of this staircase is carried out in several stages:

• Pouring the soil under a predetermined bias (the ladder is not floated, must withstand a mound at least a few months);
• Calculating the depth and height of steps;
• Marking of the degrees on the wall with a marker;
• Waterproofing of soil with polyethylene;
• Reinforcement and shaping frame;
• Formwork;
• Filling the frame with concrete;
• Finishing and veneering.

It is also desirable if street stairs to the locked basement room are equipped with a visor that protects it from drafts and precipitation, and the door is heavy and insulated for maximum tightness. The construction of this design can adversely affect the insulation, so the entrance to the basement from the street is acceptable only for premises used for technical purposes.

Attention! During the construction of exterior concrete stairs with your hands, it is desirable to make the upper tier above the level of the sidewalk: the resulting threshold protects against the ingress of water into the basement.

Basement stairs: features of calculation and construction

If the stairs to the cellar with your own hands can be done quite quickly and literally from scrap materials (as pictured below) then it will be difficult for you to go down to the basement: aesthetically well-designed design will delight a lot more.

It doesn’t matter what type of design you have chosen; during the calculation and installation of stairs you have to consider the following nuances:

1. The selection of materials for stairs should be guided by the parameters of temperature and humidity in the basement: wood won’t be suitable for cellars, and the metal for an external ladder with your own hands should be treated against corrosion.
2. Width of the staircase should not be changed – purely for safety reasons.
3. The optimum width of the marsh – 80-100 cm, but a spiral design and rotating platforms should be at least a meter.
4. The width of the platforms and marches have to match!
5. Optimal platform length – 1.5 meters (less two steps).
6. The most convenient number of steps in the march – from 3 to 18, preferably an odd number.
7. The acceptable limits of the slant of the ladder 26-45 degrees.
8. The most convenient width of a step – 20-25 cm

The presence of a handrail is a must! The safe height for them – 90-100 cm, the width between the posts is 15 cm.

Stairs to the basement or cellar should be well protected from kids, especially if its metal and with a steep slope. It is desirable to isolate it securely, closing the door or not too noticeable and heavy hatch. In addition to the design of stairs in a private home, you also need to consider good lighting and convenient location of the switches, especially when it comes to stairs in the cellar (pictured above).

The construction of the basement stairs in the house and the garage should first meet the safety requirements. If you have problems with the mounting of the stairs, then you can seek help from professionals.