Unusual Staircase Designs (Link)

[KIMOSABE]

[TwoGuns]

way again. Thanks for the great pics.

Dennis

[digitect]

(don't miss the "next >>" link at the bottom):

[Ed Pawlowski]

Would certainly drive the building inspector crazy.

[Tom Watson]

I can't imagine my inspector passing these.

[Jerry - OHIO]

RED TAGGED""No hand rail

Jerry

[luigirecnorm]

Damn American nanny state! Europeans obviously have a lot more freedom.

Luigi

[Mark & Juanita]

Given what we've seen of EU rules, my guess is that these aren't staircases intended for regular use; some further context is needed. I can't believe the EU would allow some of these designs while prohibiting their construction with a dado-equipped table saw.

[luigirecnorm]

Sorry to disappoint you Mark, but the dado-blade-prohibiting Europeans do allow those kinds of staircases without handrails, with extremely steep & weird configurations that we North Americans consider extremely unsafe. I was mildly shocked to see quite a few similar staircases exhibited and sold at a home show in Italy in 2006 and there were no carabinieri, polizia or EU bureaucrats getting involved. By the way, they do not prohibit dado blades, they simply have a safety regulation imposing the maximum time it should take a spinning blade to come to a full stop. It is the manufacturers of cheaper table saws who chose not to install a brake on TS and instead make arbours too short to fit a dado blade.

Just to create a little more cognitive dissonance for you, the Germans don=92t have a nanny state telling them how fast they can go on their Autobahns (Autobahnen?). Germans (and Italians, for that matter) feel pretty much the same way about speed limits that Americans feel about gun control: i.e. some in favour but most believe that it is an intolerable attack on their liberty, and arguments about numbers of deaths are simply not believed. The Dutch don=92t have a nanny state telling them what kinds of plants they can and can=92t smoke. The western European countries no longer have a nanny state telling people what kind of sexual practices they can indulge in or who they can or can=92t marry.

Luigi