Help! Stairs to basement and to attic need to be switched

Is this feasible? Just purchased a house and the stairs that go up to the attic are directly above the stairs that go down to the basement. Am wondering if it is reasonable to change the two. Instead of the stairs up to the attic going right to left, make them go left to right and the basement stairs go right to left instead of left to right. Does that make sense?

The layout of the basement would be opened up a great deal if I could swap the direct of the stairs. And it looks as if the route up to the attic would not need any major adjustments.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

failed to be able to draw it out

 

Welcome to the forums! You'll have to adhere to load bearing members already in the structure, but anything is possible. Could you post a couple of pictures (not close ups) of the stair setups so we can see what you see? http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

 

Describe the door ways on the main floor leading to the attic stairs and the basement stairs. Would these door ways remain in place?

 

I don't see a problem with doing it. You do want to make sure you have the proper head clearnace when you reverse the stairs. Also make sure you have room in the basement when you get down to the bottom. The stairs themselves aren't providing support to the structure. So switching them shouldn't matter. You do, however, want to make sure any walls you remove that do provide support to the stair well are replaced with the appropriate framing.

 

This is how I am visualizing from the side of the stairwell. Black could be as is and red would be the new configuration. Will require a new doorway in the attic. I apologize for the poor drawing. The black is upper left to lower right and red is upper right to lower left.

 

Maybe it’s the time of morning (or quantity of coffee I have consumed), but I am pretty confused as to how he is looking to change the stair configurations.

To the OP;
When you talk about the stair location to the attic, you word it as though first point of origin is the main floor and the second is the attic. I am assuming (although not clear) that the direction of the stairs from the basement is given as the point of origin being the basement going up.

Based on the above assumptions, here is a couple things to keep in mind.
- Would the new upper location of the stairs have the structural supports or the ability to include the structural supports for the stairs?
- How is your doorway to the basement and attic setup? Attic a hole in the ceiling, basement a doorway in a wall of some sort, or just a hole in the floor?
- Local building code will be an issue depending on the basement and attic access setup as some areas/codes may require a certain amount of fall protection (railings or doorways).
- If all the above is good to go, can you get larger items up or down the stairs with the new configurations? Will that leather couch fit in the man cave now that the entrance is relocated (are there walls nearby)?


The last point is from personal experience and most often over looked. When we recently moved, I had to leave two couches and a deep freeze as a house warming gift for the new owners as simple reno a couple years ago prevented them from clearing the corner of the counter in our kitchen. (4" of extra counter space, who knew?)

If you do plan to go ahead, I would strongly recommend you have your plans reviewed and even potentially sealed by a stamping engineer. It'll cost a bit, but if something happens (fails building code, falls, etc), it's work having that insurance.