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exterior stair code.

Remington

Registered User
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
44
Location
Los Angeles
In the city of Los Angeles, are the exterior stairs codes different than interior stairs?

The architect is saying that the stair treads need to be 12" from nose to nose.
My understanding is that it can be 10" nose to nose. This means measured from riser to nose it's 11"

Also, she is saying that there needs to be a clearance of 3' from the bottom edge of the stairs to the garage door opening.
We never use the garage for cars and I would prefer to have the edge of the stairs be as close to the garage door as much as possible. Is this allowed here in the city of Los Angeles? I cant seem to find anything in the codes that wont allow me to do this.
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she is saying that there needs to be a clearance of 3' from the bottom edge of the stairs to the garage door opening.

I take this to mean: The door requires a 3-ft minimum landing and that you must have less than the required landing.
 
Interesting, if tha stairway was any further your landing would be the driveway.
 
We do not use the garage.

We, being you or your family, but when you sell the home that new family may use that garage. I hope we're building structures for time.

We sold a house that my wife and two children live in for 24 years. We were required to install a radon fan system to sell the house, so now the new family benefits from it's use. That chapped me a bit!
 
We want the edge of the first stair tread to be at the edge of the garage door opening. The landing in essence will be part of driveway. We will eventually convert the garage to an Adu in the future so the garage is not necessary. The notion that this house will be sold to another family is a non issue
 
This is California code. LA City might vary.

R311.7.5.2 Treads. The tread depth shall be not less than 10 inches. The tread depth shall be measured horizontally between the vertical planes of the foremost projection of adjacent treads and at a right angle to the tread’s leading edge. The greatest tread depth within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch.


R311.7.5.3 Nosings. Nosings at treads, landings and floors of stairways shall have a radius of curvature at the nosing not greater than 9/16 inch or a bevel not greater than 1/2 inch. A nosing projection not less than 3/4 inch and not more than 1-1/4 inches shall be provided on stairways. The greatest nosing projection shall not exceed the smallest nosing projection by more than 3/8 inch within a stairway.


Exception: A nosing projection is not required where the tread depth is not less than 11 inches.



R311.7.6 Landings for stairways. There shall be a floor or landing at the top and bottom of each stairway. The width perpendicular to the direction of travel shall be not less than the width of the flight served. For landings of shapes other than square or rectangular, the depth at the walk line and the total area shall be not less than that of a quarter circle with a radius equal to the required landing width. Where the stairway has a straight run, the depth in the direction of travel shall be not less than 36 inches.


Exception: A floor or landing is not required at the top of an interior flight of stairs, including stairs in an enclosed garage, provided that a door does not swing over the stairs.


R311.7.7 Stairway walking surface. The walking surface of treads and landings of stairways shall be sloped not steeper than one unit vertical in 48 inches horizontal (2-per- cent slope).

While I can understand the premise that the space can't be both a landing and a driveway, I also understand the opposite argument. Note the maximum slope requirement of 1/4" per foot.

My decision would be to not allow the landing to be part of the driveway. Your information about converting the garage to an ADU has no bearing.
 
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We want the edge of the first stair tread to be at the edge of the garage door opening. The landing in essence will be part of driveway. We will eventually convert the garage to an Adu in the future so the garage is not necessary. The notion that this house will be sold to another family is a non issue
"...minimum tread depth shall be 10 inches..."
You need an unobstructed level landing at the top and bottom. A car is an obstruction. I would not allow it.
 
But a car will not be parked at the bottom landing. The garage door doesn't even swing out. It rolls up. Where in the code does it say the landing can not be part of the driveway?
 
Where in the code does it say the landing can not be part of the driveway?

Where in the code does it say it can? The space can't serve as a driveway and a landing at the same time. That you will not use the space as a driveway does not change the facts.

If you obtain a permit to convert the garage to an ADU now, you can place the landing where to want it. But to bet on the future is not how the building department operates.
 
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I don't enforce the CBC but I believe you have the answer and I agree with the ruling handed down.

I also think that the property could become someone else's property issue in the future.
 
1. Is this stair fully enclosed? within the garage?
2. If the garage door (a rollup) is to remain, then how do I access the stair?
3. What does the stair service, an attic or a liveable space?
 
Anyone that tells me that a residential stair tread needs to be 12 inches measured nose to nose will lose all credibility with me unless there is some weird local amendment.

Although it would be annoying to have a car parked right in front of the stairs, I don't see why a stair landing and driveway can not coincide. Are we talking about minimum code or best practices here?
 
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