Moving the Stairs Maximized Our Space

Story #17

By far, the most significant change we made to the layout of our first home was moving the stairs. Originally, they were in the middle of the main floor of the house, accessed by 1 of 5 doors in the hallway with the bottom landing only 2 feet from the basement wall. This inconvenient location made it nearly impossible to get furniture, appliances, and drywall downstairs. Plus, the stairway was next to the main bathroom–exactly where we wanted to add a new master bathroom. This was the best spot to add a bathroom because we could minimize our plumbing costs and maximize our new floorplan by putting the pipes for both main floor bathrooms in the same wall.

We knew the first time we saw the house that we wanted to move the stairs, but it took longer to come up with the best new spot for them. In the original layout, the stairs cut up the basement awkwardly. Wherever we moved them, we didn’t want to sacrifice functional space on either level of the house. We never considered putting the stairs in the back corner of the kitchen because having space for a full-sized kitchen table is really important to us. We also quickly eliminated several options to put the stairs by the front door like a split level home because we didn’t want the entry to feel crowded.

BEFORE: These stairs in the middle of the hallway blocked the potential for better use of the space on both floors.

BEFORE: The stairs were 1 of 5 doors in this crowded hallway.

BEFORE: The landing in the basement was only 2 feet from the wall, too close to bring furniture through and not up to current building safety codes.

BEFORE: The stairs (past the exposed studs in this picture) were exactly where we planned to add the master bathroom.

BEFORE: The stairs came down in the middle of the basement, awkwardly cutting up the space and limiting our layout options for finishing the basement.

IN PROGRESS: Josh only took out 4 nails (NOT installed correctly!) to remove the original stairs from the wall and drop them onto the basement floor.

IN PROGRESS: Josh added floor joists beneath the hole in the stair’s original location to reinforce the subfloor in our future master bathroom.

BEFORE: Josh measured and marked where to cut the subfloor in the living room for the stair’s new location according to the structural plans.

IN PROGRESS: Josh cut out the subfloor to make the new stairway opening.

IN PROGRESS: Looking into the basement as Josh takes more measurements before cutting the original floor joists

IN PROGRESS: The original stairs will be moved along the basement floor from the middle of the house to this new hole in the living room subfloor.

IN PROGRESS: Josh framed floating walls throughout the basement, with space in the perimeter walls for the required insulation.

IN PROGRESS: He built a new half-wall around the stairs so the abundant natural light from that south-facing picture window isn’t blocked.

The engineer’s structural plans detailed where to attach specialized hardware, like these hangers to secure the stairs to the perpendicular floor joists.

We reused the original stairs in a new location to maximize the approximately 2,200 square feet of space in our new home.

The structural engineer reviewed Josh’s construction before the rough structural inspection.

AFTER: The finished stairway with handrail, guardrail, carpeting, drywall, trim, & paint

AFTER: We brought more natural light in the basement by lowering the well wall for a small, south-facing basement window. (Notice the light on the wall.) We also built a family room storage space below the stairs on the left and a small, carpeted pet nook on the right.

This is 1 of the pages of structural plans and instructions with the engineer’s stamp and note from the City of Arvada building department.

Then Josh found the perfect spot: in the living room, adjacent to the garage. We removed all of the original walls between the living room, kitchen, and entry, so we’d gained a lot of usable space. He built a half-wall around the stairs, instead of closing them off, so we still accomplished the open flow feeling throughout that space. Plus, he built the bottom landing larger than the building code requires to make it easier to maneuver up and down the stairs, especially when we’re carrying things like a laundry basket.

Once we settled on this design, we hired an engineer to draft structural plans of this change in the floor. We followed these plans to properly support the stairs in their new location and add new floor joists in the hole where the stairs originally were. While many requirements and procedures vary by local jurisdiction, all permit applications in Colorado will require stamped structural plans from a state-licensed architect or engineer for this type of change to ensure safety. We planned to add heavy bathroom fixtures — toilet, tiled shower, and vanity — above the newly reinforced floors, so it was really important to us to make sure we did it right, too.

HOMEOWNER TIP

In our previous story, we shared how we hired Denver Egress Window to add egress windows for our 2 basement bedrooms. Another project they did at the same time was to replace the rusted window well wall for the basement window that is now at the bottom of the stairs. The original well wall was 6” above the ground, blocking lots of the southern sun. To help the basement feel less like a dungeon, we installed the new well wall at ground level with a metal grate cover for safety. This allows so much more natural light into the basement and to the bottom of the stairs. We also utilized the space under the stairs with a large storage area on the left for things like DVDs, games, pillows, and blankets for the TV room. The small section on the bottom right is a carPet cave for our kitty — a fun suggestion from Josh’s sister!