If you are building a staircase..you gotta see this!

15 years ago

I found this recently and thought it was such a brillant idea! Wish I would have known of this when we were building! Awesome storage idea!

Here is a link that might be useful: Storage Staircase

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Comments (11)

sis3
15 years ago
Extra storage always seems like a good idea but I wouldn't do this in my house ideamom, it would be an accident waiting to happen! If someone left the drawer even slightly open....!
sierraeast
15 years ago
We are going to put drawers on the side of the steps towards the bottom of the stairwell and use the larger area for a pantry. This is a dangerous idea that wouldn't even be allowed in our county.
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This is a long story, but you gotta read it and respond...
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Comments (44)
An add-on for whatever it is worth - In the early 1970s, I ran a retail flower shop in central Illinois. We did a good business and I had 11 full-time employees. When the flower holidays came around, I generally added three more people, just to keep up with stuff. Most of the employees were loyal and had been there for several years. One day, in the quiet summer, I gathered them for a short meeting. I asked them to consider something, have a meeting while I was out of the building and let me know what decision there was. What, if anything, would you like to have me do different in the way of making your time at the flower shop better. I asked and then left the building. I returned about 45 minutes later and they had a decision. I don't know if they voted or what. However, their decision was to have health insurance. That was uppermost in their minds. I investigated and decided that would be too expensive as an overhead item. I told them about my decision, but added that all would get an increase in their hourly wage to help compensate for what I could not offer. They seemed to be happy. I did not have health insurance at the time either. Remember, this was the early 1970s. Money is not always the reason that people go to work each day. It often has to do with the way they are treated. There are some efforts around the USA for restaurants to pay above minimum wage and post a sign that indicates that tips are not necessary. The help (front and back end) would be compensated better than what might be expected. A sole proprietor, such as the car service guy, gets whatever money is generated. He has expenses, of course, but he doesn't have to pay anyone for such things as dispatching, etc. All the money goes into his pocket. Tip him? I did not. He set his rates and has to live with them.
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che1sea
15 years ago
We are planning on as much storage as we can cram under our stairs. Probably some drawers and a larger pantry also.
che1sea
15 years ago
Here is a great example from Fine Homebuilding.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet Stair
eventhecatisaboy
15 years ago
Nice idea, but I too could see it being left open and someone falling in our house, or better yet the cat curling up in it for his nap, (which would be more dangerous for the person that stepped on him!) LOL!

We did in our current small basement/playroom what che1sa posted. We turned it into a media/tv center for the kids, low to the ground so that the tv would not fall. We also put in pull out shelves for the dvd's, videos, games etc. I got the idea from something similar I saw in Southern Living mag. years ago.

Ideamom are you building now or maybe your finished already?
western_pa_luann
15 years ago
I see the OP's idea as very hazardous, but....

back in the late 60s, our family toured an Amish farm.
They had a similar storage solution for the staircase. But instead of drawers that pull out, they had hinged treads that lifted up.
worthy
15 years ago
I permanently damaged my hearing thanks to understairs storage. I tossed in a couple of heavy weight plates into a confined area. Permanent tinnitus ever since.

And now a way to break your neck on the other side!
mightyanvil
15 years ago
The comments on that web site (if they're real) show how unaware many people are about safety in their homes, unless the recommendation to make the inventor President is intended as a put down. "Stupid enough to be president" has a nice ring to it.

You should also consider the fact that neither the stair nor the railing would meet the IRC minimum safety standards so it is probably a photo from Europe or an "idea" mock-up for a magazine article.
neesie
15 years ago
When Germany occupied Holland in the 1940's radios were collected by the Nazi's and it was outlawed to have one in your home. The ten Boom family (of the Hiding Place) had some kind of hiding place inside of a step and that is what the OP's photo made me think of.
worthy
15 years ago
I hadn't heard the story of the ten Boom family. Now there's a reason for secret places in your home! (Though our contemporary enforcers would probably be more thorough than the Nazis.)
bus_driver
15 years ago
For stairs with 36" minimum width, which is true of most current codes, the treads would have to be very thick to prevent downward deflection over such a wide span. Looks like a great idea, but not workable at all. Did Congress design this?

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If you are building a staircase..you gotta see this!

Comments (11)

sis3

sierraeast

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