Investor · Northeast, NE · Member since 2015 · 258 posts · 83 votes
Doorway landing and retaining wall concrete portion finished. NOW trying to determine if 3/8 plywood would be strong enough IF screwed to back of 2 bye treads for added rigidity???
Headroom is at a premium here too. Already moved landing back and removed a forward header. I am 5'10'or so and have several inches above that as additional space. SO it would take OVER 6 foot tall person to hit head,,,would the 'expect' to duck under in OLD house,OLD basement??? Could cut another 3 to 4 inches out above,,more than that would require extensive floor wall reno and a notch out of dining room floor/wall. Is it worth all that.
OLD stairs were pretty much a ladder effect,5 inch tread on 8 inch rise. New are 7.3" rise on 10 inch tread,,,much better. No way to get to legal code,,,too narrow,,, too short on headroom...Aim was to make "better" and it has,,,greatly.
Been wanting to do this bucket list improvement for 35 years,,,finally had the brainstorm to design and DO it!!!
Contractor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 651 posts · 510 votes
10y
.@Don Meinke 3/8" plywood will add very little strength to your treads; why do you need to strengthen them? Can't you just add another stringer? I also would make every effort to provide proper headroom (min 80") but without having all the pertinent dimensions, it's impossible to offer specific suggestions.
Investor · Northeast, NE · Member since 2015 · 258 posts · 83 votes
10y
I guess I was less than clear and did a poor job of explaining. The 3/8 isnt the treads its the toe kick panels. the rigidity I spoke of is attaching the 3/8 to the BACK side of the 2 bye 10 treads to provide more rigid toe kicks. So idiots dont break thru them
The stair stringers are cut from 2 bye 12 and are only about 20 to 22 inches apart,,with these 2 bye 10 tying them together