# Forum Home Renovation Stairs, Steps and Ramps  Comfortable step height

## oohsam

So I'm building 3 decks, all different levels, one lower than the other etc etc. To create a step down effect.  
I'm a little stuck with working out what will be a reasonable height to have each deck. Obviously I want to keep the steps in a uniformed height, so when walking up the decks, it is comfortable to step up, and varying heights may trip the person.  
I have the alan staines book but it says nothing about minimum and maximum heights for a step. It just talks about stringers and rise and run..which is all good and proper but this is far from that. 
Can anyone advise? 
I was thinking something around 135mm would be comfortable. 
Is there a standard for such a thing?

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## fubar

135 to 190mm is a nice height . keep them all the same dont vary as this can catch people out. there is a standard for stairs and steps keep it under 190 and you should be fine

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## oohsam

Fantastic. Thanks so much for the reply! I'll get to building the second level today.

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## UteMad

180mm is cool if you go to high its an effort and too low people trip on them or come down hard with a thud thinking its deeper when stepping off 
cheers utemad

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## Bleedin Thumb

There is a comfort ration which differs from internal to external.for external I use 2xriser + tread =68cm This has a lot of leeway mind you. 
 With external - and if I understand you correctly - 3 separate floating decks - not a flight of steps you can easily go to 200mm but its a bit hard on oldies. Under 120mm and its more of a trip hazard than a step.

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## oohsam

Ok, It's been a while since this was replied to, but I just started building the second level of the deck. I used joist hangers on the end of the first level, which gave me an allowable step of 125mm.
I could have hung 
I'm thinking its a little low, I know we said that 120mm and over is comfortable, but without putting down some mock timber and contually steping up and down I wont be sure.  
I'm pretty concerned about this, as I need to ensure that the steps are comfortable, as there will be 4 decks in a step like fashion, and I dont want people tripping or having trouble walking up them...Maybe I'm just being pedantic!  
Should I plane down the joists to give me more le-way, make the step say 135mm (plane off 10mm) or leave it at 125mm? 
Advice required. Thanks all.

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## Bloss

> Ok, It's been a while since this was replied to, but I just started building the second level of the deck. I used joist hangers on the end of the first level, which gave me an allowable step of 125mm.
> I could have hung 
> I'm thinking its a little low, I know we said that 120mm and over is comfortable, but without putting down some mock timber and contually steping up and down I wont be sure. 
> I'm pretty concerned about this, as I need to ensure that the steps are comfortable, as there will be 4 decks in a step like fashion, and I dont want people tripping or having trouble walking up them...Maybe I'm just being pedantic! 
> Should I plane down the joists to give me more le-way, make the step say 135mm (plane off 10mm) or leave it at 125mm?
> Advice required. Thanks all.

  Main things is to make sure each step is the same as the others - a situation with differing heights can cause missteps. Also depends a bit how far apart are the steps/ deck levels. If users will take at least one full step before having to step up again then there is less an issue with the height itself and with any variation (which ought not to be none or no more than 10mm). Have a look at blocklayer's site on stairs as a guide: http://www.blocklayer.com/Stairs/. You are building 'stairs' with extra deep treads.  :2thumbsup:

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## oohsam

Thanks bloss. 
The calculator is useless to me, due to my sizings.  
Top level is quite large, 3000 x 5000 
Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 1500
Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750
Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750
Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750 
But yes, each step will be the same for consitency.

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## Bloss

> Thanks bloss. 
> The calculator is useless to me, due to my sizings.  
> Top level is quite large, 3000 x 5000 
> Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 1500
> Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750
> Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750
> Steps down 125mm to 3000 x 750 
> But yes, each step will be the same for consitency.

  In that case what you have is fine - 125mm is not a worry. The issues discussed are important in regular stairs where humans like having a consistency of gate and stepping pattern.

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## oohsam

Brilliant. Thanks for the advice Bloss. Helpfull as always.

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