Tread Overhang - Stair Nosing, Building and Construction

The tread overhang is the distance that the stair tread protrudes over the riser, on a staircase. The picture below provides you with an excellent example of a stair tread overhang. The most common stair tread overhang measurement used by stair building professionals, designers and architects is 1 inch.

Try to avoid making tread overhangs longer than 1 inch, without checking with your local building department to verify that you're not breaking any building codes. The only time I will ever create an overhang longer than 1 inch is when I'm dealing with stair treads smaller than 9 1/2 inches in width or depth.

Dangers Using Long Tread Overhangs

If these overhangs are too long, they can become trip hazards for anyone walking up the stairway. For people walking up the stairs, they could easily get their feet caught on these long overhangs.

If these tread overhangs are too long, they could actually break off, if enough pressure was applied to them. Depending upon which type of building materials used, this could be detrimental to anyone who was walking down the stairway.

There are reasons why building codes were created and it's all about safety. Pay attention to them, because these people have been working on them for quite some time now and usually have a good reason, for creating them.

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