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Hi all, I’m new here and new to cutting stair stringers. Any help would be appreciated as I’m going up and down my basement by ladder and hearing earfuls from my wife.
I watched hours of YouTube diy and read countless number of articles on cutting out and building my own staircase.

This past weekend I demolished my basement staircase and cut out my first template.

The total rise is 95.75 – .25 for the floor so I used 95.5 and 8 as the rise per step given the space I have available. Each tread will be 9.5”. I cut the stringer out with treads at 9 and the risers at 8. There will be a .5” overhang on the treads.

After making the template I set it on the headboard and the stringer is tilting a bit forward so there’s about a 1/8 gap on the top of the stringer leading me to believe I may have cut the bottom riser 1/8 too much? But when I had my wife lift up the bottom of the stringer she had to bring it up several inches for the stringer to be flush with the head board. I’m using Simpson strong tie joint connectors, cutting a total of 4 stringers and attaching them to the headboard so a total of 10 treads and 11 risers on the stringer.
Is 1/8” gap acceptable at the top of the riser where it connects to the headboard?

or can I just compensate and cut 1/8” less material on the riser on the next stringer cut? Or better yet cut a second piece of plywood and nail it on the headboard which should reduce the space between the stringer and headboard?

Any advice would be extremely appreciate I would be very grateful. Have a wonderful thanksgiving.
-Aaron

I approached stairs a bit different. I start with my height and find out how many risers there will be making sure I fall between 6-1/2" and 7-1/2" finished floor to finished floor. I then calculate my landing area based on how many treads that will be. There will always be one less tread than riser. If I have to hit a specific landing area I tweak the tread depth or number of treads to make sure I get there not getting past 7-3/4" riser. You will also have to make sure that on any given tread you have 6'8" of clearance to the ceiling above and stairs must be a minimum 36" wide. Also keep in mind that open risers greater than 4" are not permitted.

 

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I approached stairs a bit different. I start with my height and find out how many risers there will be making sure I fall between 6-1/2" and 7-1/2" finished floor to finished floor. I then calculate my landing area based on how many treads that will be. There will always be one less tread than riser. If I have to hit a specific landing area I tweak the tread depth or number of treads to make sure I get there not getting past 7-3/4" riser. You will also have to make sure that on any given tread you have 6'8" of clearance to the ceiling above and stairs must be a minimum 36" wide. Also keep in mind that open risers greater than 4" are not permitted.
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The women and children of my family are over 6ft. 😂
But we work with what we have. None of my 3 steps have 6ft of headroom vertical, one of the idiosyncrasies of living in a 150 yr old house. Can't say that I've ever smacked my head either.

In an old home that is fine. When doing a renovation if you leave the existing staircase and it does not meet code, but met code when built, you will usually be grandfathered in. If you replace a stair case it must meet the new codes. All is good until you try to sell your home and it can't get c/o or someone gets hurt. I would do whatever needed to meet code, even if it is my house and I am not pulling a permit.

 

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other than a smattering of city codes, there was no building code in michigan until 1973. i can trace my original house as far back as 1872. no building codes back then, the building survived or it didn't. making my stairs code would cut off the hallway above them.
as far as the op, his home is 1952, unless the house is in a city with codes that far back, anything goes, even if he rebuilds the stairs. i've asked why the op isn't copying the original stringers, that would be the correct way to grandfather them. creating a new set of steps not to current code, might be pushing the grandfather statute.

To the best of my knowledge every state has adopted the UCC, most in full. Some have made modifications for their particular environment.

 

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Any variation from the desired height will tilt the stair treads which can also be a safety hazard. If you have only cut one, it may be wise to lay it out again and eat your loses so far considering the stairs will be steep to start with.

According to the building code their can not be a deviation greater than 3/8" between the highest riser and the lowest riser.

 

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for new construction, yes. but there is no law that requires old construction to be updated to the new code. or i'd be screwed

For some items, you are correct. If you renovate an area and use the existing stairs where they are, even if not to code, you are ok. If you remove the stairs and install new ones, they must meet code. If you have a basement, then it does not have to meet code. If you renovate that basement and make bedrooms, then they must meet code, have fire egress windows, two means of exit, and smoke detection among other things