A buddy of mine "found" an old set of indoor stairs leading from his
basement to his living floor. Only problem is, the stairs are topped by a
floor introduced during a later reno rendering the stairs useless. He wants
to re-commission them.
Intuition says it's simple....cut out the floor, build a "landing" for the
framing and hinge the thing (trap door style) so it opens exposing the
staircase when it's needed. Sure, this could be done but it ends up being
ugly with a mess of sharp edges and framing lumber etc. He wants a "neat"
way of doing it...
I got to thinking about torsion boxes. Specifically, I was wondering if
instead of the structure offered by a typical 2/4" plywood floor over 2/8's
on 16" centers, if a replacement panel could be made using torsion box
construction. My thinking is that instead of a composite thickness of 10
(ish) inches we may be able to cut this in half and instead of an ugly
"underneath" exposed when the panel (trap door) is up it would be a finished
sheet of ????? On top of that, I think it would just be plain cool to have
this...
Construction thoughts to date...far from finalized and no, I've not done any
load calc's (yet):
3/4 cabinet grade ply on top, frame work of 1x4's (on edge) on ?? inch
centers half-lapped and a 1/4" cabinet ply bottom skin all stapled and glued
built in a makeshift vacuum press (can you say shop vac?)
Concerns. Total width span is relatively small...say 34" wide. Total length
is about 72". I'd be concerned that even though the floor may BE strong, it
would FEEL or sound weak. It would be pretty easy to incorporate a stiff leg
but still, I can't help wondering if people would notice and be wary....
any thoughts?
Rob
[email protected]
http://www.robswoodworking.com
The framing I described is existing and no, I'd not do it that way either. I
do like the L channel idea though, hadn't thought of that.
Thanks
Rob
"Norm Underwood" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:nc%[email protected]...
> Why would you need 2x8's 16" o.c. to span 34"? 3/4" Plywood and some
> 2x4 framing would be sufficient. Lag some L channel for a frame and it
> should be undetectable from the surrounding structure.
>
>
"Rob Stokes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A buddy of mine "found" an old set of indoor stairs leading from his
> basement to his living floor. Only problem is, the stairs are topped by a
> floor introduced during a later reno rendering the stairs useless. He
wants
> to re-commission them.
>
> Intuition says it's simple....cut out the floor, build a "landing" for the
> framing and hinge the thing (trap door style) so it opens exposing the
> staircase when it's needed. Sure, this could be done but it ends up being
> ugly with a mess of sharp edges and framing lumber etc. He wants a "neat"
> way of doing it...
>
> I got to thinking about torsion boxes. Specifically, I was wondering if
> instead of the structure offered by a typical 2/4" plywood floor over
2/8's
> on 16" centers, if a replacement panel could be made using torsion box
> construction. My thinking is that instead of a composite thickness of 10
> (ish) inches we may be able to cut this in half and instead of an ugly
> "underneath" exposed when the panel (trap door) is up it would be a
finished
> sheet of ????? On top of that, I think it would just be plain cool to have
> this...
>
> Construction thoughts to date...far from finalized and no, I've not done
any
> load calc's (yet):
> 3/4 cabinet grade ply on top, frame work of 1x4's (on edge) on ?? inch
> centers half-lapped and a 1/4" cabinet ply bottom skin all stapled and
glued
> built in a makeshift vacuum press (can you say shop vac?)
>
> Concerns. Total width span is relatively small...say 34" wide. Total
length
> is about 72". I'd be concerned that even though the floor may BE strong,
it
> would FEEL or sound weak. It would be pretty easy to incorporate a stiff
leg
> but still, I can't help wondering if people would notice and be wary....
>
> any thoughts?
>
> Rob
> [email protected]
It isn't completely clear from your description what is going on here,
however, these are my random comments.
1) If you cut the existing floor, you will need to make sure that IT is
still structurally sound. This means headers where ever you have cut any
joists and likely doubling up the joists on either side of the hole that you
make.
2) The span is short, so you could get by with what you propose and it would
still be plenty stiff. Even so, I'd vote for 1/2" ply on the bottom You are
putting a ledger around the hole for this "door" to rest on right? Make the
stringers go the short way. and make use something slightly thicker at the
ends of them. No need to half lap them as they are only going one direction.
I think if you put them every 12" you will find it to be plenty stiff.
3) Why bother with the vacuum press? glue and staples will be plenty. Since
there are enclosed spaces inside the door it seems that inducing vacuum on
one side could create more problems.
4) As for being neat, well that is what trim is for right?
5) Quietness. Attach the stringers to one piece of plywood. Fill with
fiberglass insulation. Glue on other piece of plywood.
-Jack
34 x 72? Sounds like one used stave core door would be overkill, would
not sound or feel springy, could be installed with piano hinge and
hidden latch or recessed D-handle pull. Could even be installed with
gas strut to self open a bit like your car trunk lid.
####################
Keep the whole world singing. . .
Dan G
(remove the 7)
"Rob Stokes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A buddy of mine "found" an old set of indoor stairs leading from his
> basement to his living floor. Only problem is, the stairs are topped
by a
> floor introduced during a later reno rendering the stairs useless. He
wants
> to re-commission them.
>
> Intuition says it's simple....cut out the floor, build a "landing" for
the
> framing and hinge the thing (trap door style) so it opens exposing the
> staircase when it's needed. Sure, this could be done but it ends up
being
> ugly with a mess of sharp edges and framing lumber etc. He wants a
"neat"
> way of doing it...
>
> I got to thinking about torsion boxes. Specifically, I was wondering
if
> instead of the structure offered by a typical 2/4" plywood floor over
2/8's
> on 16" centers, if a replacement panel could be made using torsion box
> construction. My thinking is that instead of a composite thickness of
10
> (ish) inches we may be able to cut this in half and instead of an ugly
> "underneath" exposed when the panel (trap door) is up it would be a
finished
> sheet of ????? On top of that, I think it would just be plain cool to
have
> this...
>
> Construction thoughts to date...far from finalized and no, I've not
done any
> load calc's (yet):
> 3/4 cabinet grade ply on top, frame work of 1x4's (on edge) on ?? inch
> centers half-lapped and a 1/4" cabinet ply bottom skin all stapled and
glued
> built in a makeshift vacuum press (can you say shop vac?)
>
> Concerns. Total width span is relatively small...say 34" wide. Total
length
> is about 72". I'd be concerned that even though the floor may BE
strong, it
> would FEEL or sound weak. It would be pretty easy to incorporate a
stiff leg
> but still, I can't help wondering if people would notice and be
wary....
>
> any thoughts?
>
> Rob
> [email protected]
>
> http://www.robswoodworking.com
>
>
"JackD" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
:
: "Rob Stokes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
: news:[email protected]...
: > A buddy of mine "found" an old set of indoor stairs leading from his
: > basement to his living floor. Only problem is, the stairs are topped by a
: > floor introduced during a later reno rendering the stairs useless. He
: wants
: > to re-commission them.
: >
: > Intuition says it's simple....cut out the floor, build a "landing" for the
: > framing and hinge the thing (trap door style) so it opens exposing the
: > staircase when it's needed. Sure, this could be done but it ends up being
: > ugly with a mess of sharp edges and framing lumber etc. He wants a "neat"
: > way of doing it...
: >
: > I got to thinking about torsion boxes. Specifically, I was wondering if
: > instead of the structure offered by a typical 2/4" plywood floor over
: 2/8's
: > on 16" centers, if a replacement panel could be made using torsion box
: > construction. My thinking is that instead of a composite thickness of 10
: > (ish) inches we may be able to cut this in half and instead of an ugly
: > "underneath" exposed when the panel (trap door) is up it would be a
: finished
: > sheet of ????? On top of that, I think it would just be plain cool to have
: > this...
: >
: > Construction thoughts to date...far from finalized and no, I've not done
: any
: > load calc's (yet):
: > 3/4 cabinet grade ply on top, frame work of 1x4's (on edge) on ?? inch
: > centers half-lapped and a 1/4" cabinet ply bottom skin all stapled and
: glued
: > built in a makeshift vacuum press (can you say shop vac?)
: >
: > Concerns. Total width span is relatively small...say 34" wide. Total
: length
: > is about 72". I'd be concerned that even though the floor may BE strong,
: it
: > would FEEL or sound weak. It would be pretty easy to incorporate a stiff
: leg
: > but still, I can't help wondering if people would notice and be wary....
: >
: > any thoughts?
: >
: > Rob
: > [email protected]
:
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