Circular stairs running down to the basement on a house that is been flipped. The flipper used plastic water pipe, typically used for main water lines coming from wells around here, for his handrail.
It’s actually quite stiff and feels very secure when I put my weight on it. But clearly it’s not the correct material for the job. I gotta admit, I’m kind of impressed with the ingenuity of it.
Would you call it out and if so how?
Sorry about the photo orientation, you’ll have to talk to NACHI about loading photos from a Phone.
Cam just notate as non standard in the same way you might call out a decorative bottle trap under a expensive basin. yeah ,yeah safety ] but mention the baluster gap as well.
These spiral staircases are not exactly user friendly to begin with.
P>S did you have an urge to roll a marble in the tube ?
I agree there are more than one concern here, railing not starting at finished floor, spacing over 4” between pickets, open or unprotected side at first step. Spiral staircases in general are hazardous and I always note to use caution when using.
Now as to your question I might add something like
“While the spiral staircase appears capable of supporting normally imposed loads at this time, the handgrip portion of spiral staircase is using an uncommon material (plastic plumbing). The integrity of this material in this application is unknown and could fail without warning as it ages. For reasons of safety refer to a qualified contractor to review the spiral staircase and to make any corrections, again for reasons of safety.”
Also. the railing is not continuously uninterupted because each baluster is attached up and around the railing top preventing the hand from sliding down it easily. It is no different that a newel blocking the railing, IMHO.
And can you imagine the ankle breaker that exists where the first tread is short of the wall/framing? :shock:
