Greetings. I have a problem with the stairs in the new house I and my husband recently bought - they are too rough and I doubt the upper railing meets code.
They seem to be a custom, hand-made job by a handyman and not a professional, which is made clear by the upper landing on the second floor - the posts were not even or measured out so at one end two are squeezed together. The stairs also give off a feeling of being raw & more "porch-like." I would like to remodel them but would like to re-use much of the wood as it is good wood and the stairs are entirely open. I know this is not recommended, howeer I would put most of it back where it was - with re-inforcements and replace the bannisters with something a little less raw to give it a more finished appearance. The stairs go up about 6.5" before reaching a fairly large rectangular landing and then go on a little less at about 6". they also go down from the first floor to another landing and then wrap around to the basement.
Also, I would like to keep the open feel to them (there are no backs and are not against a wall) but add a backing to each riser so that when I have children I can trust they won't trip or fall on them. I also have a cat that lost a leg whom seems to be having much more trouble on these stairs then my previous abode that had traditional carpeted stairs. Any ideas?
