Hi,

I'm trying to find out the strength required for the top support for a
set of albini and fontanot modular stairs. The stairs are called
Kompact U 89. They are bolted to a top support and slotted together
from the top down until they reach the floor, where they are also
fixed. In the middle there is the need for an "intermediate support"
if the flight is over 7 consequetive steps, which mine is (13).

I can't find anything from the manufacturer on the web - and one
salesmen said "no one has asked me that before". and I can't get any
figures from any of the UK suppliers so far.

I have found an old italian catalogue for a similar set of stairs,
this had a diagram of a concrete beam 180mm high by 200mm wide at the
top with 120mm bolts into it. I really do not want to use such a
massive beam, especially not concrete. Another salesman said he knew
someone who had the stairs resting on a lath and plaster wall!

Has anyone used these stairs in any project? what did you do? where is
the weight mostly? hanging from the top or transfered to the bottom?
what is the assumed load on a stair, besides it's own weight?

Any help would be really appreciated...

Cheers


Philip