I bought an old metal spiral staircase from the 70's to attach to my deck outside to get to the yard. I'm trying to stay within code for resale (this is a new house. I added extra ballisters, but a friend mentioned the steps are only 2 feet wide and he thought this was not within code nowadays. Is this true? If so, what is code width? I live in NC. Also The top will be bolted to the deck and the bottom of the pole is a 5" x 10" plate with 4 bolt holes. After I pour a footing and small landing pad, how do I attach this and is this plate large enough for today's codes?

Hi Welder Girl,

Congratulations on undertaking a difficult project. My reading of the 2006 IRC stair code indicates that you need at least a 10" deep tread at a point that is 12" from the inner radius of the circular stair.

If you go to Stairway to Webbin': Oops! We've Moved Upstairs! (http://www.stairway.org) you might be able to get more specific info.

Good Luck!

Hi Welder Girl,

Congratulations on undertaking a difficult project. My reading of the 2006 IRC stair code indicates that you need at least a 10" deep tread at a point that is 12" from the inner radius of the circular stair.

If you go to Stairway to Webbin': Oops! We've Moved Upstairs! (http://www.stairway.org) you might be able to get more specific info.

Good Luck!

Hi,
This web link you gave goes to a web designer not spiral staircases. Interesting about the tread depth but does the code say anything about the width requirements (from the center radius outward)?

Sorry about the bad link WldrGrl. I took it off the pdf file in my reference folder. If you do a web search for IRC stair guidelines or some such thing you should be able to find a good recap of the requirements that talk about baluster spacing, railing height, handrail dimensions, tread and riser dimensions, etc. Best of luck to you in your project.