Stairs hole enclosure ideas

[lennyzx11]

I’ve started on my 2nd story shop and got my interior stairs in over the last couple of days.

I’m looking for ideas for enclosing the hole around the stairs that will fit into a old farmhouse shop/barn theme.
It would also be nice if it could open or remove to bring big stuff upstairs like wood working equipment.
I do have a welder so not averse to mixing metal and wood.
Some ideas so far.
Old doors laying on side or cut down.
Black pipe and flange fittings.
Standard 2x4 frame and 2x2 balusters.
Lock a wooden workbench in place on the edge surrounding the hole.

This is a man town/ wood working shop mostly but I have a now 6 year old granddaughter that likes to hang out and she thinks everything is a gym for her to play on so I’d like to keep it to code.

Thanks for any cool ideas.
Lenny

PS the hole is approximately 6 ft long plus 3 ft long at the short L.
The L steps cutout are approximately 2 ft deep by 3 ft wide.
That knee wall with insulation is 4 ft tall.

 

[aczlan]

I would keep it simple. 2x4 on the flat screwed to the floor (with washers under the screw heads, or construction lags), vertical 2x2 or 2x4 on 24" centers, another flat 2x4 on the top and a piece of 3/8 or 7/16 plywood or OSB screwed to one side.
Pull the screws in the base plate to remove the whole shebang when oversized loads have to come up stairs.

Aaron Z

 

[s219]

I might put stake pockets (or equivalent) around the rim boards to allow you to slide a railing in/out as needed. That's what we did in my dad's old shop that had a mezzanine area, where he would crane items up/down for storage. But it really depends how often you think you'll really need to take them out as to how complicated it should be.

 

[duffer]

Tough to tell from your pic, but it appears the stairway is 36-42" wide. You could hang a floor joist (2x6, or 2x8) in the middle, and put 3/4" sub-floor planks down on top. You might have to sister the perimeter with a 2x4 screwed into your framing, but that's easy.

All could be removed in less than 5 minutes whenever needed.

 

[aczlan]

Tough to tell from your pic, but it appears the stairway is 36-42" wide. You could hang a floor joist (2x6, or 2x8) in the middle, and put 3/4" sub-floor planks down on top. You might have to sister the perimeter with a 2x4 screwed into your framing, but that's easy.

All could be removed in less than 5 minutes whenever needed.

That would however make it very difficult to use the stairs...

Aaron Z

 

[duffer]

That would however make it very difficult to use the stairs...

That is true, but the way I read the OP, it sounded like he just wanted to use the stairs to bring up stuff on occasion, not for everyday use.

If the OP wants ideas on a railing type of enclosure, so that stairs can be used daily, then there are 1000's of options readily available.

Sorry if I mis-interpreted the post.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

Here is what I did. Mainly to keep grand kids from getting into trouble. Need to get back to the shop and get things finished up one of these days.

Used stake pockets, 2x4's and some balusters. They are held in place by turnbuckles and a gate latch. My mezzanine is open so I can set these off to the side and use the fork truck to put thing up there if I ever need to. It was cost effective and works well in my case.

 

[aczlan]

That is true, but the way I read the OP, it sounded like he just wanted to use the stairs to bring up stuff on occasion, not for everyday use.

If the OP wants ideas on a railing type of enclosure, so that stairs can be used daily, then there are 1000's of options readily available.

Sorry if I mis-interpreted the post.

As I read it, the OP wants to bring large stuff up the stairs on occasion, but wants to walk up and down frequently.

Aaron Z

 

[Chris616]

We have a similar situation to yours, Lenny. We built a two story shop with a smaller second floor that could be finished as working space (which has not yet happened). The stairway isn't set up like yours, but it also has a 90 degree turn that will make it awkward for moving stationary tools up the stairs (and 4X8 sheet goods, long lumber). You might consider something that we put in place, but have not yet tried out. We framed the floor joists for the second floor to allow a 4' X 5' section of floor to be lifted out. Then a mobile gantry crane on the second floor can be used to lift directly from the bed of a truck backed into the bay below.

Depending on your local code you probably don't need a guard if the height distance between levels is less than 30", so in my editted picture you don't need one where I've shown the green highlighting. I can't see much benefit to making the section that I've marked in red as removable. You really only need to move the one straight section that I've marked in purple out of the way. An easy to operate solution would be to make/buy a metal guard that could be hinged along the purple line and latched to the "red" wall when in the up position. It might be a bit wobbly at the "green end", so a hinged brace from the top of the guard down to the floor more or less where the green line is would stiffen it up.

If you're going to do this to code, you'll need a handrail, which will make it even more awkward to move things. It might not be required on the upper short section of stairs, depending on the number of stairs and your local code. The handrail on our stairs doesn't get in the way of moving 4X8 sheet goods too much because it's on the "inside" of the turn. That would be the right side of your stairs as you're going up. That wouldn't work with a removable guard, though.

Chris

 

[lennyzx11]

As I read it, the OP wants to bring large stuff up the stairs on occasion, but wants to walk up and down frequently.

Aaron Z

Yes. The stairs will be used daily.