On Thursday, January 17, 2013 9:30:21 AM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Jan 17, 9:07*am, " wrote: On Jan 17, 1:57*am, Ashton Crusher wrote: On Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:06:53 -0600, The Daring Dufas wrote: This comes up because of a tragic accident with some folks I know. The elderly grandmother, 88 was at home with her granddaughter, the granddaughter's three young children and the granddaughter's boyfriend. The boyfriend had just spoken to grandma then went into the room with his gal when they heard an awful sound. Grandma had fallen down the basement stairs to the concrete floor below. The boyfriend ran down to check on grandma but she was fatally injured. What happened was the door to the basement stairs opened into the stairwell and the latch was defective and failed to hold when grandma was walking down the hallway holding onto the walls to steady herself. When she put her weight against the door, it sprang open and she fell through it and down the stairs. It seems to me that most basement doors I've seen open out and not into the stairwell. I don't know if there is a home-building code regarding this or not but anyone building a house should consider the safety of a door which opens into a stairwell. O_o TDD My sister's house has a basement with a door that opens out. *Even with that bit of safety I think having the stairs start immediately at the top, just beyond the door, is asking for trouble since at some point it seems like someone is going to mistake the basement door for a bedroom door and in the dark/dim light open it and just "walk in". Seems like putting a couple feet of landing,on the "other side" of the door, at the top of these stairs would make them a lot safer.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - 95%+ of residential basement stairs I've seen don't have any landing at the top. *And it must not be much of a problem, because the cases of someone doing what you suggest seem to be rare. It would have to be dark not only in the stairwell, but also in the area inside the house by the door. *And it would seem that if that is the case, then with your example of someone walking around in pitch black, thinking they are entering a room, wouldn't they then just walk off the 3 foot landing anyway?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - As far as walking off of the landing, in many cases the landing is a step down from room above, and often at a right angle to the stairs. At least that's the way it is in many of the house I've seen/lived in. Therefore, if I thought I was walking into a room, that first step down would hurt, but I don't think I'd fall down the stairs. Of course, I don't plan on proving myself right any time soon. ;-) I find your 95%+ with no landing to be an interesting number.

I have never seen a basement stair with a landing. I'm sure there are some out there but in my experience they are unusual.

There is another hazard to basement stairs. As you walk down, often there is an overhang. When you are directly below it, there is usually 8 feet of clearance, but on the way it is much lower. I have to duck, and if I tripped I'd bash my head into it. My wife and children are shorter and at no risk. Unless carrying an object, and that has surprised them a couple of times.