76Kviews
30 Horribly Designed Staircases That Are Just An Accident Waiting To Happen, As Shared On This Facebook Group
At the crossroads of architecture and home design lie stairs. They serve an important and practical function and they can serve as important design elements, but as this aptly named Facebook group loves to point out, they can also be downright deadly without the appropriate safety considerations.
Honestly, it takes some talent and creativity to make stairs that are as unsafe as some of the masterpieces on this list. Some seem downright uncomfortable while others present clear tripping hazards or even fool the eyes into hiding individual steps. Let us know which ones you think you’d trip on in the comments.
This post may include affiliate links.
The Staircase You Take An Enemy Down
When The House Lights Go Down, Good Luck
Do They Know That Wheelchair Users Don't Normally Bunny Hop?
Stairs may seem deceptively simple at first. How hard is it to design a set of stairs? Just make a bunch of steps and you’ve got it, right? Not quite. In addition to whatever architectural regulations there may be, there are some basic geometric rules that ought to be followed.
Left, Picture Of Stairs From Top-The Wood Planks Run Parallel To Stair Edges Seemingly Forming A Flat Surface. Right, Steps Viewed From Bottom After Fall
This Made My Stomach Swoop
The 'Stairs Of Death' Are A Section Of Stone Steps Built By The Incas, Which Lead To The Top Of Huayna Picchu, In Peru, Which Is One Of The Steep Mountains That Overlooks Machu Picchu
The peak of the mountain is 2,693 metres above sea level and has Inca ruins on top.
You couldn't pay me a billion dollars to walk up that
The ideal rise and run for a single normal step is 7” rise and 11” run (~18cm x ~25cm). However, other ratios are possible for other types of steps. There are tons of sites online that break down the rules of stair design, and that’s all before you get into the fancy ideas highlighted in this post.
I Just Fell Down These In My Mind And It Sounded Like Someone Hitting A Gong In A Very Uncoordinated Way
The half-stairs seem vastly superior to ladders as a steep climb. However, I presume that guard rails were eventually installed.
"Guard rails"... oh you sweet summer child... there will be no guard rails.
Load More Replies...
I am struck by the "Half-A" construction. No attempt to hide the welds / even out the color. The support rods appear to be galvanized water pipe (can't see well enough to be sure.) It is a poor design, poorly executed. As for the why of the stairs - since they go to a skylight I'm thinking maybe a fire exit required by code or something like that. Hopefully not for regular use.
What’s irking me is that they put the left foot forward >:/ this would definitely trigger my OCD if I had to walk on them. Maybe I’d have to walk backwards lol
If it helps, your caption made me roar with laughter. And then I pictured it and now I can't breathe!
Looks like the step up is a good distance. Short-legged people like me might have a hard time, not to mention the fall down. Painful!
I'm not sure if my perception is off but even moving left to right they look really steep.
They actually work very well. There's a set in Kelmscott Manor, William Morris's 17th century manor House in Oxfordshire.
A modern addition to the manor to replace the ladder access to the single room. They are also covered with warnings about who can use them because any infirmity makes them dangerous. Outside of accessing single rooms or loft spaces with no other access method, these are illegal in the UK due to the sheer danger of them.
Load More Replies...
Oh I've climbed these kind of stairs before. Takes some getting used to
I Wanna See Someone Try This In Heels
I think there is a fair reason why stairs and escalators feature very prominently in my nightmares.
Yeah, That Is A One-Story Home For Me
Fortunately, most jurisdictions do have some sort of requirements for stairs, and we suspect that they haven’t been followed in many of these examples. In addition to rise over run requirements, step and stair regulations may determine banister shape and height, step edge shapes, step layout, rotation characteristics for steps that turn, and other factors - all of which can determine how likely it is for a set of steps to cause accidents.
“Stairs” Designed By Francesco Librizzi. It’s Really More Of A Treacherous Ladder. I’d Consider Going Up These. Would Not Be Interested In Going Down Them
A Set Of Steep Stairs Each Step Alternates So That You Can Only Really Put One Foot On A Step At A Time. It's Also Nearly A Straight Down Angle
Oh No, I'll Jump, Thanks
An Unusual Cuboidal Stairway In The Little Village San Augustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico (Vernacular Architecture) They Are Made Out Of Red Stone And In Six Alternating Columns. The Ankle Twister
I think there may be some skeletons at the bottom of these, um, stairs.
I Can Already Feel The Concussion
She is remembering all the lost lives she witnessed in that same spot
My Shins Hurt Looking At This
When You Don't Have Enough Space For Stairs! Brilliant Child-Friendly Space With An Observatory Tower Incorporated By Arch. Hiroshi Okamoto
Stairs For People Who Aren’t Afraid To Die And Who Enjoy The Nauseating Feeling Of Vertigo
Sthairs
Love My New Apartment But These Are The Stairs Leading Up To The Loft. They Feel More Like A Ladder Because Of How Steep They Are. Don’t Get Me Started On How We’re Going To Move Furniture Up There
Honey What's Wrong, You Haven't Gone Down The Stairerslide Today
Imy Online Civil Engineer Major Is Starting To Pay Off, Another Satisfied Customer
Don't Roll An Ankle Or Anything
The Chair There So People Can Sit And Watch The Injuries
It Looks Like A Human Spine To Me
I Would Like To Have A Word With The Architect Of This Building
This is an art istallation by Lang/Baumann (brilliant, if you want my opinion) and doesnt belong here
Ventilation Grill At The Bottom Of The Enclosure Suggests That Installing Air Conditioning Was More Desired Than A Usable Stairway. Or These Are Cat Stairs
Expert Difficulty Level Stairs
It's Beautiful
Do These Count? They Are In My Son's Room Btw, And I Quite Like Them
The ‘V’ In The Design Is For Very Dangerous
Lots of older houses in the uk had these for when the bedrooms were opposite one another. You get used to them very quickly.
Note: this post originally had 84 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Fun fact about stairs: some of the steps on the Great Wall of China's stairs are taller than other steps, which slows down the enemy considerably if they invade. The Chinese soldiers aren't affected because they are trained to move quickly on uneven stairs.
While some are innovative art pieces, they should NOT be used as the primary stairs, imo. So many are just hazards
I am massively phobic about stairs. I really should not have looked at these...
the trails of our national park were widened, losing much of the charm and a lot of forest cover because they were deemed inaccessible to tourists in their not-made-for-hiking footwear. Why are these monstrosities allowed? are there no safety codes for stairs?
All of them looks fine except for a few that are 4, 7 ,8, 15, 21 and 26.
This was just wow. Who ever made or designed these stairs had a crazy design plan
Yeah if I have a medical emergency upstairs I'd call for help and then just fall to be reached easier 😔
Some of these would not pass building code regulations in my state
The people who designed this stairs should be punished. No consideration for elder people nor those who are less mobile. Space can be tight in some places but this doesn't justify this kind of design. Those are accidents waiting to happen.
Fun fact about stairs: some of the steps on the Great Wall of China's stairs are taller than other steps, which slows down the enemy considerably if they invade. The Chinese soldiers aren't affected because they are trained to move quickly on uneven stairs.
While some are innovative art pieces, they should NOT be used as the primary stairs, imo. So many are just hazards
I am massively phobic about stairs. I really should not have looked at these...
the trails of our national park were widened, losing much of the charm and a lot of forest cover because they were deemed inaccessible to tourists in their not-made-for-hiking footwear. Why are these monstrosities allowed? are there no safety codes for stairs?
All of them looks fine except for a few that are 4, 7 ,8, 15, 21 and 26.
This was just wow. Who ever made or designed these stairs had a crazy design plan
Yeah if I have a medical emergency upstairs I'd call for help and then just fall to be reached easier 😔
Some of these would not pass building code regulations in my state
The people who designed this stairs should be punished. No consideration for elder people nor those who are less mobile. Space can be tight in some places but this doesn't justify this kind of design. Those are accidents waiting to happen.
