Moving my staircase to a different spot in my Nepean house?
Moving my staircase to a different spot in my Nepean house?
Relocating a staircase is one of the more involved interior carpentry jobs: you are removing an existing stair structure, framing a new opening in the floor, and building a new flight in a different location. The City of Ottawa lists adding or removing walls and structural alterations as permit work, and cutting a new stair opening changes the floor framing, so confirm with Building Code Services at ottawa.ca before any work begins.
Because the floor opening changes, a designer needs to establish how the floor framing around the new opening is supported. That person can be a BCIN-registered designer, an engineer, an architect, or you, for a house you own. The permit application goes through My ServiceOttawa, and inspections are booked 48 hours in advance.
The 2024 Ontario Building Code sets the dimensions a new private stair must meet. Rise is between 125 mm and 200 mm, run between 255 mm (about 10 in.) and 355 mm, measured nosing to nosing. Risers and treads within a flight must be within 5 mm of each other adjacent and within 10 mm across the whole flight. Width is at least 860 mm (about 34 in.) for at least one stair between floor levels. Headroom is at least 1 950 mm over the stair and landings. Wood stringers need an effective depth of at least 90 mm, an overall depth of at least 235 mm, and spacing not more than 900 mm apart, with treads at least 25 mm thick. A handrail is required on at least one side for a stair less than 1 100 mm wide, set between 865 mm and 1 070 mm above the nosing line.
Where the new stair lands or where the old opening is patched, the floor framing has to be made continuous again. Ask the carpenter how the header around the new opening is sized and how the old opening is closed and supported.
Ask the carpenter to look at the existing joist direction and depth before finalizing the stair location. The new opening has to work with that framing, not fight it.
Ask for the design, the permit and the temporary support to appear as separate lines on the quote.
Related service: Interior Stairs What it costs: Interior stair replacement
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Carpentry IQ -- Built from the Ontario Building Code, Ontario regulations and City of Ottawa sources and real construction experience. Answers are for informational purposes only and are not a professional assessment.
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