Stair

“ I lift the latch; a cool pungent odor of oak wood greets me as I ascend the steep stairs—an odor that awakens, like magic, a hundred fancies, and recalls a host of memories long forgotten. Every stair seems to creak a welcome, as when, on the rainy days of long ago, we sought the cosy refuge to hear the patter on the roof, or to nestle in the dark, obscure corners in our childish games. ”

“ Its stair, the very perfection of that sort of construction, is vast in all its dimensions, and so very easy, that you look down from its summit admiring, with untried lungs, the enormous height you have reached. It starts double from the ground, and twenty persons might ascent either branch abreast, and meet one another at the spot where it begins to return upon itself ”

“ With a surprising skill, and celerity she throws open doors, springs through forsaken chambers, whose floors shake beneath the light pressure of her feet— through many windings, and mazes, and again mounts a crumbling stair-case. ”

“ The hall, no longer a tunnel of darkness, gave me a glimpse as we went by, of various secluded corners, and it seemed as if everywhere I looked I saw—a clock. I counted four before I reached the staircase, all standing on the floor and all of ancient make, though differing much in appearance and value. A fifth one rose grim and tall at the stair foot, and under an impulse I have never understood I stopped, when I reached it, to note the time. ”

“ They went on and on, and round and round the little corkscrew staircase - then through the bell-ringers' loft, where the bell-ropes hung with soft furry ends like giant caterpillars - then up another stair into the belfry, where the big quiet bells are - and then on, up a ladder with broad steps - and then up a little stone stair. And at the top of that there was a little door. And the door was bolted on the stair side. ”

“ In the Seven Brothers, you understand, the stair goes down in a spiral through a well against the south wall and first there's the door to the keeper's room and then you come to another, and that's the living-room, and then down to the store-room. And at night, if you don't carry a lantern, it's as black as the pit. ”

“ The staircase on one side is open to a well all the way and so the lights and shadows that cross it are very fascinating. Still more fascinating is it to recall for a moment the people who have passed up and down the stair and upon whom these lights and shadows have fallen during the last three hundred years. ”

“ If there are passages, people can come up them; they can come up when one is asleep. Partly to see where it went to, and partly from a restless desire to be doing something, I followed the passage. It led to a stone stair, which I descended; the stair ended in another passage, or rather tunnel, also hewn out of the bed-rock, and running, so far as I could judge, exactly beneath the gallery that led to the entrance of our rooms, and across the great central cave. ”

“ Pisistratus, Blanche, and Juba ascend the stairs, and turn off down a dark passage to the left, away from the rooms in use. We reach the arch-pointed door of oak planks nailed roughly together, we push it open, and perceive that a small stair winds down from the room,—it is just over Roland's chamber. ”

“ The iron stair ran down beside the window in which I had seen the light burning. The lower part of the window was screened off by a dirty muslin curtain. Through the upper part I caught a glimpse of a sort of scullery with a paraffin lamp standing on a wooden table. The room was empty. From top to bottom the window was protected by heavy iron bars.
At the foot of the iron stair stood, as I had anticipated, a door. It was my last chance of escape. ”

“ A staircase, consisting of one hundred and eighty-three steps, and sufficiently wide to admit a man to ascend, is cut out of the solid marble, leaving a small pillar in the middle, round which the stair winds from the bottom to the top. ”

“ The stairs are the great feature of a building as they are the first object that meets the visitor and claims his attention, and it is essential, therefore, that the stair and its adjuncts should have a neat and graceful appearance, and this can only be accomplished by having the rail properly made and set up. ”

“ In the middle of one of the faces a large and well-cut stair ascends the whole height. Niches are observed along the sides of each stage, regularly decreasing in number to the top; and the whole is carved in relief with figures. ”

“ Lay the Third Floor (Fig. 67) , cutting a three by seven inch stair opening, and fastening the boards in place as you did those of the second floor.
Stairways.—While each stairway should be built before the floor above is laid, in order that the work can more easily be done, they have been left for description here, that they might be spoken of in a general way. In Figs. 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 will be found complete details for these.
The first things to prepare are
The Stair Stringers, or supports for the steps (treads and risers) . ”

“ The crazy staircase, usually not slow to give notice when any one was coming up or down, here creaked under a quick tread, and a further sound was heard upon it, as if a little steam-engine with more steam than it knew what to do with, were working towards the room. ”

“ The sun rose slowly, majestic into the clear sky; red-gold rays struck into the room and caused the candle-light to look faint and sickly; the armor, swords and pistols, shone as if on fire; Lord Stair put his hand before his eyes and leaned heavily against the carved post of the settle. ”

“ It moves, in its entirety and continuously, up and down with the regularity of a trip hammer; and by calculating how you go up on the stair, and the stair comes down on you, and you and the stair go up, and the stair and you come down, you may go up the stair. ”

“ And rising from table, made for a stair that stood near at hand and under which, hard by the stairfoot, was a closure of planks, wherein to bestow all manner things, as we see those do every day who set their houses in order. ”

“ There being absolutely no other cushionless place to put them she stood them up against the wall on the stair landing. They topple over half the time and if we come up or down the stairs in the dark we fall over them. ”

“ Before leaving the subject of straight and dog-legged stairs, the student should be made familiar with at least one example of an open-newel stair. As the same principles of construction govern all styles of open-newel stairs, a single example will be sufficient. The student must, of course, understand that he himself is the greatest factor in planning stairs of this type ”

“ Before ever they could burst the door the stone trap beneath can be closed and the roof of the stair that leads to it let down by knocking away the props and flooded in such a fashion that a week of labour would not clear it out again. ”

“ This holy staircase is composed of eight-and-twenty steps, said to have belonged to Pontius Pilate’s house and to be the identical stair on which Our Saviour trod, in coming down from the judgment-seat. Pilgrims ascend it, only on their knees. It is steep; and, at the summit, is a chapel, reported to be full of relics; into which they peep through some iron bars, and then come down again, by one of two side staircases, which are not sacred, and may be walked on. ”

“ The stairs of a staircase have naught to do with the top of it and the abode to which it leads, yet are means to the reaching of both; and if the climber left not behind the stairs below him until there were no more to climb, but desired to remain upon any one of them, he would never reach the top of them nor would he mount to the pleasant [3] and peaceful room which is the goal. ”

“ The stair to the second story is very steep. The ceilings are composed of very thin, broad planks, and are lower than we are accustomed to, but it must be remembered that the people do not sit on chairs and have no high beds or tables. ”

“ Plumb lines can be raised from the lines on the floor, and the positions of the platform and each riser thus easily determined. Not only is it best to line out on the floor all stairs having more than one newel; but in constructing any kind of stair it will perhaps be safest for a beginner to lay out in exact position on the floor the points over which the treads and risers will stand. ”

“ An imposing staircase rose, circling round and round a deep central well, to the giddy height of five tall stories; it still remains to me a triumph of architectural splendor. There was a polished mahogany handrail; to the daring, no sport was comparable to “sliding down the banisters.” ”

“ It is true that if we contrive some way to clamber to the upper stair, by the railings or by some other method, without using the steps, we can then easily reach any particular stair by coming down, but still the simplest and the wisest course would seem to be to walk up directly from the lower to the higher in regular gradation. ”

“ In one corner a door lies half open, and behind it a narrow flight of stairs runs upward to a turret chamber above,—a tiny stairway, heavily balustraded and uncarpeted, that creates in one a mad desire to ascend and learn the secrets that may lie at its top. ”

“ Stairs formed with treads each of equal width at both ends, are named straight flights; but stairs having treads wider at one end than the other are known by various names, as winding stairs, dog-legged stairs, circular stairs, or elliptical stairs. A tread with parallel sides, having the same width at each end, is called a flyer; while one having one wide end and one narrow, is called a winder. ”

“ At the very entrance the narrow and steep staircase, with its filthy steps that stick to your shoes and its damp banister that sticks to your hands, blows into your face an infected air, an odor of sinks and closets, and fills your heart with discouragement. I do not pretend to be fastidious, but the very sight of this staircase turns my stomach and cuts off my legs, and I am seized with a mad desire to run away. ”

“ Lively voices were heard this morning in the upper rooms, the main staircase to which was of hard oak, the balusters, heavy as bed-posts, being turned and moulded in the quaint fashion of their century, the handrail as stout as a parapet-top, and the stairs themselves continually twisting round like a person trying to look over his shoulder. ”

“ Lifts the hammers of the forge.
'Tis a stairway, not a street,
That ascends the deep ravine,
Where the torrent leaps between
Rocky walls that almost meet.
Toiling up from stair to stair
Peasant girls their burdens bear ”

“ The newel of a winding stair is the upright pillar round which the steps turn, and by which they are supported from the bottom to the top. An 'open,' or hollow, 'newel' is the central or open space or well in a winding stair. ”

“ Opposite doors lead to the ‘coffee’ and ‘commercial’ rooms; and a great wide, rambling staircase,—three stairs and a landing—four stairs and another landing—one step and another landing—half-a-dozen stairs and another landing—and so on—conducts to galleries of bedrooms, and labyrinths of sitting-rooms, denominated ‘private,’ where you may enjoy yourself, as privately as you can in any place where some bewildered being walks into your room every five minutes, by mistake, and then walks out again, to open all the doors along the gallery until he finds his own. ”

“ Remember that enough more must be cut from vertical studs to allow for thickness of header.
60. Stair Building; Porch Steps.—Stair building is an art in itself and as such belongs to millwork rather than to carpentry. However, the carpenter must know the principles of simple stair lay-out and construction for he is called upon to construct porch steps, basement and often attic stairs. In smaller communities he may also have to build the main stair. Fig. 120 illustrates three common types of stair.
In planning a stair, the first requisite is to know its rise and run, Fig. ”

“ I have frequently wondered how it would feel to be going down a staircase, dressed in one’s best frock, low neck and no sleaves, to some loved one lurking below, preferably in evening clothes, although not necesarily so. ”

“ On the face of each step in the stairway is a row of hieroglyphs, carved in medium relief, running the entire length. At intervals in the ascent the center is occupied by a human figure of noble and commanding appearance, arrayed in splendid attire, seated on the steps. ”

“ And I thought of that stairway, that went up furtively from the dining-room which had once been the kitchen, a delightful stairway (especially when one realized what a discouraging time a burglar would have in finding it, and how he would probably find the cellar stairs instead and die of a broken neck at the bottom) , but narrow, narrow; and with a right angle just where a right angle was least desirable. It had been as much as they could do to get up the trunks. ”

“ To our right is a massive oaken staircase. We ascend in gloom, for the staircase being built in the middle of the house, only a few straggling rays of light can reach it, and whence they proceed is a mystery. Every few steps we mount we are upon the point of stumbling into the door of some cupboard or apartment ”

“ This stairway leads to it—come, let us ascend;
I’ll show you the model I spoke of, my friend.
[40]
’Tis long after midnight;—we reach very soon,
Up by the dark stairway, the room through the gloom;
And here in the corner, where burns a pale light,
Sits sewing and shivering a woman to-night. ”

“ The hall, large and light, with its open staircase, is at once the keynote of the whole house, welcoming all who may enter. For convenience, a rear stairway leads from the service pantry to a landing over the side entrance where it joins the main staircase. ”

“ Persons ascended and descended the stairs; and as the morning advanced, and the hours of business approached, the sound of out-door bustle increased, until a perfect current of human beings seemed to pour through the street. ”