Design features of the cantilever ladder

An ordinary staircase, which stands on kosoura, looks solid, solid, but takes up a lot of space, blocks the flow of light, looks too massive, limiting the field of view. For modern interiors, this is not a suitable option, you must agree, because I want to make all structures light, simple, as compact as possible. In such cases, console ladders come to the rescue, which simply do not have kosour – the steps are attached directly to the wall.

You can attach the steps of the cantilever ladder to the wall in various ways:

1. Direct cut into the wall. On average, the steps cut into the walls by 20-40 centimeters, depending on the strength of the supporting wall itself.
2. On special brackets, metal plates, bolts, channels, anchor bolts, decorative supports.
3. Frame. If the bearing capacity is minimal at the wall itself, a metal frame is required that is located close to it in order to be as less noticeable as possible. A frame made of a profile or channel is fixed to the ceilings, and already to it – cantilever steps.

Ceiling braces are often used as additional fastening in cantilever ladders. They also serve as a fence and make the stairs safer. The handrail usually runs along the wall itself, to which the steps are attached. In radical cases, when there are no small children and elderly people in the house, and for the owners, the design comes first, they do without handrails, railings and ceiling strands at all, leaving only the steps that seem literally recessed into the wall.

Regarding the material for the steps of the cantilever staircase, everything here is limited by the imagination of the owners. The most common option is a metal frame attached to the wall and decorated with wood or MDF on top. You can also find cast concrete cantilever steps. Glass will look very impressive in the case of the construction of such a staircase, which will make the structure even less noticeable and weightless.

The advantages of cantilever ladders include:

1. Visually much lighter construction that does not block air and light flows in the room.
2. Spectacular appearance that helps the staircase become a highlight of the interior.
3. Material consumption for the main structural elements is significantly less.
4. You can save usable space.

However, cantilever ladders have their drawbacks:

1. If it is decided to abandon the fences, the ascent to the upper floor is less safe than in the case of using a traditional staircase..
2. The cantilever ladder may end up being uncomfortable..
3. The design is complex, like the installation itself, which leads to a high cost of work. Yes, you can try to make a cantilever ladder yourself, but you should calculate the load very carefully and usually homeowners turn to specialists.
4. Requires a solid load-bearing wall or reliable fixings.

It is clear that a cantilever staircase, like the others, should be planned at the stage of drafting a house project. It is required to choose which wall the structure will be attached to, and partitions made of not too strong materials do not fit categorically, additional reinforcement will be required. If the steps are concrete, reinforcement is needed, which will make the entire structure heavier.

It is important not to use any elements at the free end of the cantilever steps, because they will increase the load on the entire structure. In general, the main mistakes in the construction of a cantilever staircase are the wrong choice of fasteners, the use of unreliable elements and incorrect load distribution. All this can make the structure simply dangerous to use..

Finding ready-made cantilever ladders is difficult. Usually, such structures are created to order, taking into account the characteristics of the premises and the wishes of the owners. The components can be factory-made, and the model is from the catalog, but still the design will require changes for a specific room. Most often, console ladders are piece, individual products.

Note that spiral staircases are also often built on the cantilever principle, when all steps are attached to one support, and the other end remains free, floating. The pillar, the base of the spiral staircase, in this case requires a more massive and reliable.