Graphical Construction Glossary >> stairs. >> general >> Stair Winders

Stair Winders

Radiating steps, narrower at one end than the other.

Kite Winder

The central winder in a quarter turn of windings steps. Named for it's shape.

The sketch above shows a flight of stairs ending in a quarter turn with three winders. A quarter turn is 90 deg. and each nosing line should be evenly spaced at 30 deg. to it's neighbour.

• What you see in the sketch is one fight of stairs, that is the standard treads and the winders together.
• In terms of regulations (currently where I live), either 2 or 3 winders are acceptable and provided that the rise stays the same as the other stairs they are deemed to satisfy the slope requirements for stairs in general.
• Quarter turns with 4 or more winders are illegal. These then have to comply with the regulations regarding spiral stairs.
• In my opinion good stair design should not use winders. The designer should explore every possibility and use them as a last resort. There seems to be a trend of using them as a desirable design feature but in my opinion they are not.
• If the stair has to use winders then always try to place them at the bottom of the flight, for obvious safety reasons.

Note the strings that I have drawn in the sketch above. The main flight sweeps into a curve at the first winder. It is more work to laminate up a one piece curved string, but it is far stronger than the jointed straight section strings that seem to be the fashion these days.

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Adam Smith 1723-1790

"When we build, let us think that we build for ever."John Ruskin 1819-1900