Modern Deck Railing

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by carlosg512

I want to put stairs from my deck to gorund does anyone know the rise and width by austin code?
im using treated wood and my deck sits off ground about 4 feet

There is more to it then just Tread and Riser dimensions, your deck will require guardrails & handrails also. When I built my deck several years ago, the City inspectors did not check any dimensions except for the "Guards" and "handrail configurations". That seemed to be the only thing they cared about.

You could go to the City of Austin main library and look it up in the copy of the International Residential Code that they keep there.

Or

I found that the City of Phoenix also uses the 2006 International Residential Code as the basis of their code. They publish the IRC on a website. It includes revisions specific to Phoenix, which are marked as such with a black bar in the margin. I have not compared the two side by side, but most of it, especially something as basic as stairs and handrails, are probably identical to the Austin code.

Phoenix Residential Code

Go to Chapter 3 Building Planning and scroll down to page 53R Section R311.

The City of Austin publishes only it's revisions to the 2006 IRC here, http://www.cityofaustin.org/edims/do....cfm?id=109741 It does not appear to have made any revisions to R311 of the IRC.

[Relevant Renovations]

From the 2009 Residential code:

SECTION R312
GUARDS
R312.1 Guards. Porches, balconies, ramps or raised floor surfaces located more than 30 inches (762mm) above the floor or grade below shall have guards not less than 36 inches (914mm)in height. Open sides of stairs with a total rise of more than 30 inches (762 mm) above the floor or grade below shall have guards not less than 30 inches (762 mm) in height measured vertically from the nosing of the treads. Porches and decks which are enclosed with insect screening shall be equipped with guards where the walking surface is located more than 30 inches (762 mm) above the floor or grade below.
R312.2 Guard opening limitations. Required guards on open sides of stairways, raised floor areas, balconies and porches shall have intermediate rails or ornamental closures which do not allow passage of an object 6 inches (152 mm) or more in diameter. Horizontal spacing between the vertical members in required guardrails shall be a maximum of 4 inches (102 mm) at the nearest point between members.
Exceptions:
1. The triangular openings formed by the riser, tread and bottom rail of a guard at the open side of a stairway are permitted to be of such a size that a sphere 6 inches (152 mm) cannot pass through.
2. Openings for required guards on the sides of stair treads shall not allow a sphere 4 3/8 inches (107 mm) to pass through.