Alternating tread stairs?

[JDuke]

I have seen online several examples of alternating tread stairs, has anyone here had any experience with them?

I just put a loft in my shop for storage, and have considered extending it to have an office on a second floor up there.

As it is now, I have a basket lift, or cherry picker that’s battery powered to get stuff up and down from storage, so the stairs won’t be for carry of boxes, just for moving people up and down.

I’m interested in decreasing their footprint, so I don’t want traditional stairs since that means 11 or 12 feet of run to get to floor level of 9 feet on second floor.

I’ve had stairs in previous house that weren’t really spiral, but did curve so they had narrower tread on one side than other, and that’s not something I want to do again.

Don’t really want a true ladder, but the alternating tread stairs look like a nice in between. They decrease footprint by about half but still have plenty of tread for a full support of your foot both up and down.

Has anyone had experience to tell me what they like or don’t like about them?

Thanks
Duke

[Stwood_]

Not sure about that, but have you considered an attic ladder?

[JDuke]

Yes, I have considered an attic ladder, and I’ve never been on one that feels safe.

[BrokenOlMarine]

I don't know if I was the only one, but I had never heard of them, had to look it up.

https://www.lapeyrestair.com/products/al...ead-stairs

It looks safe, but I have never seen an actual stair in use. 

Might be interesting.

[Woodenfish]

I was on a tour of a power generation plant and water purification building for industrial steam boilers in a paper mill. They had one of those types of stairs. I found them too odd to walk up easily and coming down the same. I would wonder what a building inspector thought of them for your usage needs. I can’t imagine a Fire Inspector would approve in your circumstance.

[bottd]

I have seen online several examples of alternating tread stairs, has anyone here had any experience with them?

I just put a loft in my shop for storage, and have considered extending it to have an office on a second floor up there.

As it is now, I have a basket lift, or cherry picker that’s battery powered to get stuff up and down from storage, so the stairs won’t be for carry of boxes, just for moving people up and down.

I’m interested in decreasing their footprint, so I don’t want traditional stairs since that means 11 or 12 feet of run to get to floor level of 9 feet on second floor.

I’ve had stairs in previous house that weren’t really spiral, but did curve so they had narrower tread on one side than other, and that’s not something I want to do again.

Don’t really want a true ladder, but the alternating tread stairs look like a nice in between.  They decrease footprint by about half but still have plenty of tread for a full support of your foot both up and down.

Has anyone had experience to tell me what they like or don’t like about them?

Thanks
Duke

Find one installed and try it multiple times before you go with it. I work commercial HVAC and every once in a while run into one used for roof access and I don't like them, but thats me. Like I said find one and try it.

[MstrCarpenter]

Build your set of stairs and hang the stringers with large strap hinges. Place the barrel of the hinge so the bottom of the stringers will be flush with your finished ceiling. The very end of the stringers will need a small triangle above the barrel cut off which is fine because the top tread gets a piano hinge so it can tilt up as the stairs are raised. 3/8" plywood and/or insulation board seals the stairs to the ceiling in the raised position. You can make the stairs lighter using overhead door springs or counterweights. When I do this I only use two stringers routed for 2x10 treads. You can also install guard/hand rails. I pre drill for the treads with a jig in the slots so the balusters will cover the screw heads. B.T.W. routing with a 3/4" top bearing bit for treads is faster and easier than cutting typical stringers. Make your jig for two risers; the block you use to drill holes also places the jig for the next tread. The first time I did this, the Inspector failed them because the risers were too tall. I took out 8 screws, put the stairs in the back yard and screwed the customers ladder to the wall. Got my O.C. and told the customer that I couldn't re-install them. Though I did help hold them while he put the screws back in.

[JDuke]

I would love to find one and try them, but given how rare, that’s not very easy to do.

I hadn’t really thought about hinged stairs, but they still require the area under to be clear to use, so I’d rather do something that stays in place and takes less floor space.

I may just build a set of alternating treads, and see how they work then build a full set if I hate them.

I’m guessing that like most uncommon things, they are that way for a reason, they are either much harder to use or new enough that nobody can get them approved.

Duke

[Cooler]

My experience is that for very steep stairs, having a narrow stairway with handrails on both sides that can easily be grasped at the same time is a great advantage.   Here is an example.  Note the extended handrails at the top.

(I am hoping that the ladder/stairs is far enough from the ceiling fan to avoid decapitation.
)

[JDuke]

That ladder with handrails reminds me way to much of the ladders on a ship.