Iron and Steel Stairs
How to get iron and steel stairs for your construction project
The simplest form of steel stairs is a straight flight without winders or landings. Steel stairs can take a virtually infinite number of different forms when winders and landings are combined.The most common general types of construction for a steel staircase are checker plate, grating and poured-in-place.
Checker plated stairs have a raised pattern on sheet steel to make them slip resistant. Grating stairs consist of a steel bar grating that is welded to a checker plate nosing. Poured-in-place industrial steel stairs consist of pans formed by sheet steel that are ready for concrete fill.
Several trademarked construction types of pre-engineered steel stairs are available. They are:
- Endura, which has a non-slip grit surface bonded to reinforced cement board and backed with sheet steel;
- FasTrack, which bonds the non-slip surface directly to the sheet steel;
- Ready Step, which bonds the non-slip surface to a sound absorbent, non-combustible fiber that is backed by sheet steel.
Determine the desired construction for iron and steel stairs
The trademarked construction types of iron and steel stairs are generally more durable and expensive than the non-trademarked methods. A manufacturer that specializes in commercial iron stairs should be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
Try: Find an extensive selection of iron and steel stairs of all construction types from a specialist such as American Stair, which has been building steel stairs for more than 50 years. American Steel Online sells a range of steel products including stairs and provides a full range of services.
Ensure your commercial iron stairs meet the required safety regulations
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration provides safety regulations on many different items, including industrial stairs. All steel stairs contractors should be familiar with the relevant OSHA regulations. Be wary of doing business with one that isn't up-to-date on OSHA specs.
Try: Find the safety requirements for stairs in OSHA regulation 1910.24. Find stairs that far exceed OSHA recommendations at SlipNot.
Find a steel staircase supplier in your area
All building components must comply with local regulations. Stairs are potentially hazardous so the building codes concerning these structures tend to be especially lengthy. Local contractors already should be familiar with these codes.
Try: Find a local iron staircase contractor in an industrial directory such as MacRae's Blue Book. An introduction to the basic calculations required in designing a set of stairs to fit a given building code can be found at Builder Bill.
- As a rule of thumb, the minimum required tread length for an iron staircase should be at least 9 inches. The riser height should be a maximum of 8.25 inches. Therefore, the slope for a set of stairs should be limited to a maximum of tan -1 (8.25/9) = 42.5 degrees.
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