Planning to buy a new apartment? At first glance it is the big things that impress you: the location, the exposures, the size and the design. But before you make the final decision and agree on the price, remember that everything you glossed over and gave no thought to will surface later, bother you and turn into expenses.
This article looks at the stairs inside the home.
Think of the interior stairs in a villa, a cottage or a split-level apartment: how many times are you likely to go up and down them? What are the consequences of stairs that are uncomfortable to use or, worse, that could make you or your guests trip and get hurt?
Construction defects in stairs come in two types: aesthetic defects and safety defects.
Aesthetic defects show even without the trained eye of a construction defects engineer. The stairs are a prominent part of the home, so flaws in them catch the eye all day long, and they cannot be hidden behind a large picture, a cornice or a wall closet.
Beyond the look of stairs with cracks, stains, chips and grooves, such flaws can have a safety implication as well.
Even construction defects that seem "cosmetic" can mean the structure does not comply with the accepted standards and needs repair or replacement.
Examples: grooves or scratches in the stair tiles that number more than 5 per tread or are wider than 0.15 mm, stains that cannot be removed, more than 12 cracked aggregates, more than 3 pits in an area of 100x100, and more.
Stair defects that are safety defects by their very definition are many. Stairs are an accident-prone area when it comes to slips and falls.
Here are some examples of common and dangerous safety defects:
The first is the slope of the stairs. A slope that is too steep is a recipe for stumbles, yours or your guests': very unpleasant, and preventable.
Another safety defect concerns the height difference from one step to the next.
Step heights must be uniform. When we go up or down the stairs every day we operate on "automatic": the brain does not stop to examine each step and measure how high the next stride has to be. The difference in height between steps therefore has to be less than 5 mm. A larger difference can lead to a costly mistake.
Beyond uniform heights, many studies have led to a formula for the optimal ratio between the height of the step, the "riser", and the surface you step on, the "tread".
The ratio is calculated so that one tread plus two risers come to no more than 63 cm and no less than 61 cm.
It was also found that the riser should not exceed 17 cm and the tread should not be less than 25 cm.
To sum up: we opened this article with a home inspection (bedek bayit) before buying a new apartment, which makes sure the investment in the property is worthwhile.
We close with a home inspection that secures the quality of life in the property. Our home is meant to serve us faithfully and to be the safest, most protected place we have. It is very important to have a professional, a home inspection engineer, check and confirm that the property you are buying will be exactly that.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company