What a pain the backside trying to clean that gap will be. Close the gap.

Ask your drafter.

Make your stairs wider and close the gap.

Drafter issue. Won’t be the first. Or last.

Close the gap. Deduct 10 points from your drafter.

Okay everyone - thank you very much - I really appreciate your expert advice. One last question if you have time, would it still be okay to have a freestanding railing as opposed to mounting on the wall? I threw in a railing just to show the placement- please ignore the type of railing- its a quick download from sketchup.

You can do that. You can make it continuous and have it wrap around to the next flight. On the first flight, you are going to need a newel post and rail for those first few steps on the other side. Why? It's dangerous as currently pictured. Someone will want to take a short cut.

Now that I look at it - it does seem silly to have a freestanding railing next to a wall. I guess it needs to transition from freestanding for the lower two steps, to wall mounted, and then freestanding again after the landing?

Yes- I will do something on the other side to make it safer and to code. My boys are sure to take this shortcut in their socks!

I think the drafter only had eight points to start with.

Hire an actual Professional here. You ain’t it. Unless collecting red tags is a hobby.

Sophie- one of the 'best architects' in mill valley designed this. I spent A LOT of money on this design and ended up with stubs of railing for a feature that I was super excited about. This is the result of architects being overwhelmed by projects, being greedy for more projects, and giving newly hired drafters with no experience my house plans. It is so sad that this ended up this way. This is a once is a lifetime opportunity for me to have the house of my dreams. I trusted the design experts and we have so many mistakes- some not to code, some I found that would have cost me tens of thousand of dollars to fix, and others just sloppiness and bad design. I really appreciate your comments because you have amazing expedience but really- I am a lot better than the drafter who designed my house and the architect who didn't care.

"...would it still be okay to have a freestanding railing as opposed to mounting on the wall?..."

Not sure I understand your question or illustration. When the gap between the two runs of the stair is closed, there will be walls on both the right and left sides of the lower run of stairs. Looking at the illustration and plan, it appears you will have two risers and two treads which project down and beyond the walls on right and left sides of the stair.

If this is correct, the simplest way to deal with the railings, IMO, is to design wall-mounted railings on both sides of the stair, each of which terminates in a appropriate newell post, right and left side of the stair, on top of the first tread.

Yes (thank you Virgil Carter) it is more functional and clean to have wall mounted railings that transition into freestanding at the bottom (like you said). My issue is that I don't think the wall mounted railings are as pretty as a freestanding railing - which is what (I think) the architect/drafter had tried to accomplish with that funny gap. I guess we don't have a choice. It looks so 'stubby' to me to have little freestanding rails at the bottom but I think I am stuck with it. At least we have removed the gap- so that was a big improvement!

I should look this up but does the code require handrails on both sides for a 42" tread? The architect did draw handrails on both sides- but if I could remove one on one of the walls- that would be great. I do understand that I might need railings on both side for the open sided steps - just at the bottom.

Looks like a railing is only needed on one side per code- although I am seeing a lot of photos with railings on two sides. Thank you everyone for your comments!

It sounds like you want open stairs and railings. You've spent so much money, I think you could spend a little more and have it designed more to your preference. It will all come together - best wishes on building exactly what you want.

So you paid for an architect and got turned over to his draftsman. Same thing happened to us and was pretty clear when we saw the work. Paid them and parted ways. Post your plan if you dare. Maybe you can get some help from the architects here.

The foundation is poured and the house has been framed to the right of the staircase (where here is a mechanical closet with the furnace in it). It would be near impossible to change at this point. I can tweak some things with the contractor but nothing too major. I have design experience and I wish I had played a stronger role in this process earlier. I placed full trust in my architect- and that was my downfall. But thank you for your kind words! On the positive side- the little tweaks are really improving things!

With a round edge on both sides of the bottom step you have the opportunity to curve your railings at the bottom. Just a thought.

Your GC may employ a custom stair contractor. It's a bit of a specialty. See if he is planning on doing this. If he is, you will get to meet with the staircase guy. He will have a zillion options on shape, design, handrails, balusters, etc. He will have books filled with options. Ask the GC.

Mill Valley? I know exactly where that is, in the $$$$ portion of Marin. Then you need to mention to your "architect" that many, many folks in Mill Valley read these forums, and they're waiting to see what ingenious solution is offered by.....your architect.

As others have said, eliminate the gap entirely. Even if you reduce the stair width to the minimum 36", you're still going to have an awkward 2 foot gap that leads nowhere. It doesn't serve a purpose, so take it out it.

For anyone interested, I would love to do projects in Mill Valley (I bicycled through there in the early 80's). I could stay at my sister's house and we could meet after I get back from wine tasting in Napa.

Can the door to the storage room be moved to be like you see below?

And maybe put a window in the landing area?

Edited to add more photos. :)

"Sophie- one of the 'best architects' in mill valley designed this."

There's yer problem. Any one can draw anything.

You need to contact the guy whose name will be on the red tag and who won't be paid if he gets one. That would be your stair builder. Architects don't get red tags and he's probably already been paid.

Be ready for lots of foot-stomping temper tantrum throwing. Many of these guys can't stand being bailed out of trouble, particularly by a blue collar.

Check with your local building code official, but I believe you may only need one handrail on the stairs, as in the photo above, if you choose that solution. Keep in mind that your plan does not show the mechanical closet projecting in front of the first riser as shown in the photo. Doing so, however, would eliminate the need for a newell post on the right side of the stairs.

Sammy- those are great examples! Our staircase is most like number 3- enclosed with walls with the exception of the bottom 2 steps. Thank you for the photos. We do have a fantastic set of windows on the landing so it will look nice up there.

Virgil- I was thinking of added a little closet to bring the mechanical closet wall closer to the first riser but I think I like the dual, symmetrical newel post. It exposes more of the railing from the side view. Also- the closet would be directly opposite the front door so it might be nicer to have a piece of furniture in that recessed space.

Overall- my contractor rocks- he is the saving grace of this project. So nobody will be be red tagging anything or throwing any tantrums. That is not a concern with this project. And the architect doesn't care- so no tantrums there either!

Thank you everyone for your help. We have eliminated the gap between the stairs entirely and I am trying to push one of the flanking walls 'back' a bit to open up the view of the staircase from the dining room. The mechanical rooms was fixed and the other is a sheer walls- but I'm asking the structural engineer if the sheer wall can be shortened. This would feel much less confined and would expose a few more treads so we could get a significant piece of freestanding railing on the left of the lower staircase. When it's framed- I'll post photos. It's such a beautiful site and even with the design glitches (which are highly unfortunate) it will be a great house.

Your stairs will be lovely with the increased width. Mine start at 48 and then are 42 between the walls - a single path - and that's a nice width, but the 48" width with this configuration will be a gracious feeling and really add to a quality feel to your house.

For all you wonderful folks who helped me solve this design dilemma, I called our structural engineer and was able to push back the dining room wall significantly. The contractor then recommended that I absorb the full 1' (of the previous gap) into the first flight of stairs to really open up the view to the landing with four beautiful windows up there. So the freestanding railing will span the open area to the left (I just stuck in a newel post in this rough mock-up). The first flight of stairs will be 4'-6" and then next flight will be 3'-6". Hope the significant change in width isn't too awkward. There will be a grab bar along the right wall until the landing, and then it will transition to a freestanding railing for the second flight. Still need to get used to a much more open dining room that has stairs halfway along one wall. I typically prefer more separate spaces but I think I like it. In one fowl swoop- it feels like the flow of the house has changed dramatically. Hopefully for the better!

This solution is better for the cat.

I'm probably missing something looking at the latest illustration above, but the handrail should be on the side of the stair with the newel post. And, if cost is an object, you may be able to omit the handrail shown on the lower flight of stairs. What am I missing?

Absolutely - handrail and beautiful balustrades on left hand side- I have so much too do that I am not putting those details into sketchup- those will be elevations in autocad. Your not missing anything except that our GC is framing quickly and it's been a bit crazy. Small tweaks galore!

The cat- I missed that one.... In terms of landing on it's feet?

I do have a degree in landscape architecture and have worked at design firms and on my own for many years so no worries- we have lots of stair codes too and I know where to source the building codes for residential. Thanks all!!

Leslie- Homeowner, custom builder (ground up)- I'm concerned for you. If you really have The "best" of architects, what are you, possibly, doing things like speaking to a structural engineer, on your own? Could be, I have that wrong and your actual architect is there with you. Why in the world would you be on a "stranger" website, asking for expert opinions when you hired "the best"?

With all due respect, "best" would never leave you wondering/searching like this. And again- trying to strike the right tone, but a degree in landscape architecture is a far cry from "best" architectural practices.

Advice: Leave your degree for the landscaping arena, and tap the professionals you've hired for the rest. It doesn't mean that you can't participate in project management. It simply means that, in a decent contract, you are ready to hit at least 160 line items, within construction. Are you a Framing expert, or plumbing or HVAC? Get with your pros. As you have questions, have them bring you the answers. If there are issues (there always are one or two) don't spend your time trying to get them yourself.

I know this sounds a bit harsh, but really- could the experts on your project do your job (whatever it may be), having asked an entire House forum for advice? Nope. And you shouldn't try to do theirs. Otherwise, why pay them?

I do have an architect, a full set of plans with everything you mentioned - of course I needed all of this before I went through the planning and building process which is very intense/extensive here. Basically, what it boils down too, is that I can't pay other 'experts' for fixing mistakes that should have never been made and this was what was happening. I did try this strategy initially. The changes I am doing are rather small (except for the one above- that did change quite a bit- and I worked with both the structural engineer and the GC when we made that change). If I explained in full what I have changed, fixed, made to code etc- I think you would understand the situation. My main problem is that I didn't look at these drawings (especially the interior flow) soon enough. This was such a dumb mistake on my part and I'm kicking myself again and again for it. Overall I find the feedback here is helpful- I often ask architects direct questions on houzz and am amazed that some of the most highly respected firms reach out and answer them promptly and in detail. Crisp Architects and Heydt Architects are great examples. And with a good GC- you can go very far if you have some design experience. I realize my experience could have been completely different but we've had a lot of mistakes (that I attribute to the crazy work environmental, new inexperienced hires, sloppiness, and subcontracting out our project) and a bit of greed mixed in. That is how it turned out and I am dealing with it. I believe my involvement in my house will make it all the more special, even if it's not perfect.

I think your changes look great!! Your staircase will be Wide & welcoming. Work closely with the stair builder to get nice, thick, quality bannisters, ballisters, Newell posts...these things can make or break a staircase. I spent several hours testing how different bannisters felt when I held them. So glad I did...I hate holding skimpy railings.