why do stairs in houses ALWAYS have 13 steps?

Question

my uncle told me every house has 13 steps but doesnt know why!

Answer 1

It is simply a matter of averages. The average house with stairs rising at an average angle requires thirteen of them to get you to the next floor.

Answer 2

Stairs In House

Answer 3

The ideal rise is 18 cm and the run is 30 cm. So floor to floor height, divide by 18 cm., that would give you the number of ideal steps (run). Definitely not all have 13 steps. Others don't like 13 so they build 14 or 15 steps. of course they have to elevate the 2nd floor a bit or adjust the risers. Some follow Chinese good luck numbering like good good, bad bad, etc. meaning the last step should fall on the good. Still some follow old Spanish sequencing like oro plata mata. last step should fall on either oro meaning gold. or plata meaning silver.

Answer 4

I used to build houses for a living, and I can't remember any that had 13 steps.

Answer 5

I have fitted stairs and designed them, Your uncle is telling you lies. There are building regs. requiring the steps to be no steeper than a certain angle and the tread size and rise must be a certain size etc. As houses have different height ceilings the number of stairs changes from house to house,
I would say your uncle may be drunk or playing a joke on you.

Answer 6

its the hight of the ceiling that guvorns the amount of steps. building regs state a step should be no more than 8" =200cm
the cieling hight is 2.4m plus the joists, then devide by x that usually gives 13 steps most new houses have the same ceiling hight but not all houses have 13 steps our old farm house had 11, because of the low ceilings
and our victorian house has 16 high ceilings.

Answer 7

13 is what comes up when you have 8 foot ceilings and use a standard rise and tread. If your main floor is 9 or 10 feet tall, you probably have more steps!

§§

Answer 8

I read most of the answers and well here is an answer from some one who builds houses for a living the standard ceiling is 8ft and the standard riser ( the space vertical between the steps called risers ) is 7in so you do the math

Answer 9

my staircase has 16 steps, actually.

But it could be the height of the stairs and the height of the home that make that a common fact in homes. Other than that, i wouldnt know.

Answer 10

its not true that every staircase has 13 risers ..but as most floor to ceiling heights are similar ..and as most people find the easiest height to lift their foot is about 200mm ..when you subdivide the measurement from floor to ceiling with 200mm then you get 13 ..but of coarse the higher the ceiling the more the steps