Outside Basement Stairs

Zud

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Ok as part of my gameroom project I will be getting outside basement stairs added to my home. It will be a straight shot of stairs. I have a question for those of you that have basement stairs: Any design items I need to take into account?

The bilder has said that there will be a landing at the bottem of the stairs roughly 4' square. There will be a drain that ties into my sump pump. And the landing will be approx 4" below the finished grade of the basement floor. I am looking at arcade related questions regarding the stairs for those that have them. Things you may have done differently or things you wished you had. And yes I did ask how much an elevator would cost. :p
 
Ok as part of my gameroom project I will be getting outside basement stairs added to my home. It will be a straight shot of stairs. I have a question for those of you that have basement stairs: Any design items I need to take into account?

The bilder has said that there will be a landing at the bottem of the stairs roughly 4' square. There will be a drain that ties into my sump pump. And the landing will be approx 4" below the finished grade of the basement floor. I am looking at arcade related questions regarding the stairs for those that have them. Things you may have done differently or things you wished you had. And yes I did ask how much an elevator would cost. :p

I don't have a basement, but from outside stairs that I've seen around, a 4'x4' pad seems about right for entry, but seems really tight for putting games into. Do you have any other way of bringing games down there or is this the only way down?

Just seems to me if there was any possible way to lengthen the pad, you'd be alot happier with a 4'x6' pad.
 
I have an outside entrance to my basement and it is the cats arse! It's a straight shot down and straight shot up. No landing it goes straight into my laundry room. The only drawback is having to move the dryer for necessary clearance, which requires unhooking the lint exhaust, but it only takes about 30 seconds. It's a straight shot out my laundry room door into the game room. I can't imagine bringing a game down the interior basement stairs.
 
Read DogP's thread on how to get games into the basement. Plenty of pictures and sounds like the same setup. Otherwise it is the normal PIA of maneuvering the games down the stairs, turning in a tight spot, and then getting the game inside.
 
So these stairs are on the outside of the house and not the inside? The biggest issue would be to make sure it is a straight shot, of which you already stated. If it is inside, make sure there is enough room with the hand rails and the overhang so you don't have to tilt your game down as much. If outside, then I would be most concerned with the doorway. Will the doorway be facing you at the bottom of the steps, or will it be at a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the steps. Pretty much, the bigger the doorway, the better. I've had to take the door off its hinges numerous times. If you have to make a 90 degree turn make sure there is enough room to spin a game while tilted back on a dolly.
 
So these stairs are on the outside of the house and not the inside? The biggest issue would be to make sure it is a straight shot, of which you already stated. If it is inside, make sure there is enough room with the hand rails and the overhang so you don't have to tilt your game down as much. If outside, then I would be most concerned with the doorway. Will the doorway be facing you at the bottom of the steps, or will it be at a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the steps. Pretty much, the bigger the doorway, the better. I've had to take the door off its hinges numerous times. If you have to make a 90 degree turn make sure there is enough room to spin a game while tilted back on a dolly.


Pretty sure the thread title is "Outside Basement Stairs". :rolleyes:

Is the door into the basement opening in or out? If it is out, I would double that landing in one direction to be something like 4x8 or even do 6x6 to be able to maneuver around the door and switching angles provided you down't go down and straight into the door that opens inward. In other words, assuming a 90 degree turn into the house from the landing.
 
I have a outside basement entrance and it is great for moving games in and out it is only five steps. I would recommend getting an oversized door if you can thats the issue I have with mine, there has been several times that I have had to take the door off the hinges and a few inches wider and i could have avoided that.

Good luck with your project!
 
Lucky me that my driveway slopes down into the garage which opens to the basement, real easy to get games in and out
 
Several recommendations (in no particular order):
1) Make sure there's a decent sized landing at the top of the stairs... it makes it much nicer to get the games lined up to go down the stairs. My parents house had one and it was really nice to move games in/out... my house has a really narrow landing at the top, so I used some paver blocks to extend it

2) Don't make the stairs too steep.

3) Install French doors, not a sliding patio door... being able to open both is MUCH nicer for getting big games through. I've had to take apart the sliding patio doors quite a few times, and it's kinda a pain. With the French doors, you could probably even bring one of the airplane wing control paneled MAME cabinets through :p . My current basement has a sliding door, and I decided it was easier to disassemble my large games than to disassemble that door... but I helped my friend install French doors, just for moving games in, and it was totally worth it.

4) While of course you need the drain at the bottom, DEFINITELY make a (temporary/portable) platform to put at the bottom to make it a level with the door... that way you can go down the stairs and straight into the house (rather than having to turn around and lift over the ledge).

Also, here's a thread I posted w/ a bunch of pics of the stuff I used to move games/parts: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=142622 .

Oh... after typing this, I went back and read again, and saw you will have a 4'x4' landing at the bottom... I assume that means you'll only have a single door, so I guess don't install French doors... but like Markio said, get an oversized door. And yeah, straight shot out, no turns if at all possible.

DogP
 
get the wides oprning at the bottom that you can get... 40+ inches...

i was debating the whole basementstairs or walkout and really the power stair climbing dolly was a much cheaper solution.

I have harder to get-at interior stairs then you do, btw.
 
get the wides oprning at the bottom that you can get... 40+ inches...

i was debating the whole basementstairs or walkout and really the power stair climbing dolly was a much cheaper solution.

I have harder to get-at interior stairs then you do, btw.

Nah my interior stairs are pretty bad. I am excited about the posibility of getting the exterior stairs as part of my addition to the house.
 
I have thought of doing this, right now I have to go up 5 steps, spin the game in a 3.5' x 3.5' area and go down 12 steps. NOT FUN!


How far down will the stairs go? Most are 3' to 5' down, obviously the more stairs the harder to move games.
A 4' landing is fine, looks like you will have 4' wide stairs also. Get a 36" door (or pay MUCH more for a custom oversized one) Or if the depth isn't too far, a set of french doors and wider stairs would look nice and make it possible to have a larger game if ever wanted.

My parents have a small(4) set of steps into the basement, (with 3x3 landing) its easy to move games in and out, but they only have a 32" door so its a bit more work to aim straight in. they have a small roof over the stairs and have had no water problems. But their house is on the top of a hill, and the builder put a large french drain in under the stairs.

My brother has a larger set of stairs(6) and I wouldn't really want to move games on his, and he has a narrow door. He had water coming in the back door, and even added a roof over them because of the water problems, he still gets some that comes up through cracks between the foundation and the stairs.

Make sure the drain does connect into the sump pump and that your existing pump can cover the added load, AND there is a backup pump. You are adding a way for water to get into your basement, and need a way to get it out. Make sure the grade slopes away from the stairs and also the house, even if it means adding another step to get the ground to slope away.

Once you get your stairs installed you can build a ramp to make it much easier, and avoid the 4" step back up into the basement. I made a set for my parents out of a 2x8x16 cut in half. I have them cut to fit tight between the 4" rise at the door, and the top step. I just set them far enough apart to be under the hand wheels and let me walk between. It would be easier if I cut a piece of plywood to fit over the boards so I didn't have to squeeze between the boards, but I rarely move a game in/out of their basement. so these work.


Ok as part of my gameroom project I will be getting outside basement stairs added to my home. It will be a straight shot of stairs. I have a question for those of you that have basement stairs: Any design items I need to take into account?

The bilder has said that there will be a landing at the bottem of the stairs roughly 4' square. There will be a drain that ties into my sump pump. And the landing will be approx 4" below the finished grade of the basement floor. I am looking at arcade related questions regarding the stairs for those that have them. Things you may have done differently or things you wished you had. And yes I did ask how much an elevator would cost. :p
 
My game room is attached to my garage - no basements out here.

The game room floor is about 16" higher than the garage floor. I have a nice smooth concrete ramp up to the super wide game room door. Never had a problem with the ramp or the door.

Just my .02.
 
Might have to look into the idea of a combo stairs with ramp. That just might work. Need to check the wheel base on my handtruck. :)
 
You definitely will want a little distance between the door threshold elevation, and the stair landing elevation. Couple of inches, minimum.

All you need is for leaves to blow over the drain, and the area will quickly pond with water which will then come into your basement. Trust me on this one...
 
I've thought about adding exterior stairs but didn't because everyone I know with them has had flooding problems at one point or another. Tapping into the perimeter drain sounds like a good idea, but all it takes is a small accumulation of leaves, or trash (a single plastic grocery bag) and your drain is clogged.

Remember, you're not just catching water over the flat landing area, but the entire length and width of the staircase which is pretty substantial. Even if you keep the drain opening free of debris, it will freeze over in the winter and depending on timing, either snow melt or rain will ruin your day.

If your entry door is going right into finished areas, the margin of error on flooding is pretty slim, if on the other hand, it's mechanical or storage, you might get away with it.

Not trying to be a downer, just something to consider. How often will you really move games in and out? Maybe a case of beer + pizzas among friends will get your collection in the basement with a lot less headache and then re-purpose part of the garage for a work area or short term storage for games you don't plan to keep?
 
The best idea is to have them remove all the dirt within 30 feet of the door, then grade it so you can drive right up to the door :) I can't stand stairs. I'm especially sensitive to this right now because I had to deliver a pinball machine yesterday to the second floor of a house. Sucked.
 
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