Exterior Stairway Replacement

The catastrophic stairway collapses on multi-family buildings that made national news a few years ago were not freak accidents. They were predictable outcomes of untreated wood stringers sitting in water for 30 years with nobody looking. Cities across Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wyoming now require periodic stairway and elevated-walkway inspections on apartments and condos, and the results have been sobering. We replace stairways that have failed those inspections, with rebuilds that will pass the next one.

What Fails on Old Exterior Stairs

Most apartment and condo stairways were built in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s with wood stringers, wood treads, and minimum fasteners. Water gets in where the stringer meets the landing, where the tread meets the stringer, and at every penetration. Thirty years later, the stringer is punky at the bottom, the tread is soft, and the handrail is one good pull from coming off the wall.

• Rotted stringers at the base where water pools.
• Cracked or cupped treads that no longer take a solid footing.
• Loose or undersized handrails that do not meet the 200 lb point-load requirement.
• Guardrails below the 42" code minimum or with baluster spacing that a 4" sphere can pass through.
• Failing waterproofing on landings that sits over occupied units below.

How We Rebuild

A proper stairway rebuild is not just new wood over old framing. It is a full tear-off to the structural connection points, inspection of the ledger and building-side attachment, and a rebuild with materials that will outlast the owner's tenure.

• Steel stringer options with hot-dipped galvanized or powder-coated finish for decades of life.
• Pressure-treated stringers where the architecture demands wood, properly flashed and fastened.
• Composite or treated-wood treads rated for exterior exposure with slip-resistant surfaces.
• Code-compliant handrails at 34 to 38 inches with graspable profiles, through-bolted to structure.
• Guardrails at 42 inches with 4" maximum sphere infill and 200 lb horizontal load rating.
• Landing waterproofing with elastomeric coatings or liquid-applied membranes where landings sit over units below.

Working on Occupied Buildings

Replacing the only stairway to a third-floor unit is a coordination problem before it is a construction problem. We phase work so tenants always have a usable path of egress, provide temporary stairs where required, and communicate with residents 48 to 72 hours before their access is affected.

• Phased scheduling so tenants never lose egress without alternate path provided.
• Temporary stair or ramp installation where code requires continuous access.
• Resident notification letters and day-of signage.
• Coordination with fire marshal on larger properties where life-safety code requires sign-off on temporary egress.

Inspection-Ready Documentation

Cities that have passed stairway inspection ordinances require written documentation that the rebuild meets current code. We provide structural calculations where required, document connection hardware with photographs, and hand you a package your building official or property-condition engineer can work from.

Schedule a Stairway Assessment

If your stairs failed an inspection, or you are ahead of the curve and want to know where you stand, we will come walk the property, document condition, and write you a proposal for repair or replacement.

Call us at 855 ROOF-001, email info [at] rooftechnologies.com, or submit a request through our contact form to schedule a stairway assessment.

Still have questions? Contact us