MATERIALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION OF STAIRS

TIMBER:
It is the traditional stair for houses of two or more floors where the
need for resistance to fire does not dictate the use of concrete. Each flight of a
staircase is made up (cased) in a joiner’s shop as a complete flight of steps, joined
to strings. Landings are constructed on site and the flight or flights are fixed in
position between landings and floors.
The members of the staircase flight are string (or stringers), treads and risers.
The treads and risers are joined to form the steps of the flight and are housed in
or fixed to strings whose purpose is to support them. Because the members of the
flight are put together like a box, the boards can be thin and yet strong enough to
carry the loads normal to stairs.
The members of the flight are usually cut from timbers of the following sizes:
• treads 32 or38 mm,
• risers 19 or 25 mm
• strings 38 or 44 mm
JOINING A TREAD TO A RISER:
Risers are joined to treads through;
I. cutting tongues on the edges of the risers and fit them to grooves cut
in the treads.
II. Another method is to butt the top of the riser under the tread with
the joint between the two, which would otherwise be visible, masked
by a molded bead housed in the tread.
A stringer (carriage) is cut from a 38/44mm thick with a sufficient width to
contain and support the treads and risers of a flight. It should be wide enough to
enclose the tread and risers and its top edge projects some 50 or 63 mm above the
line of the nosing’s of treads. An open string is cut so as to expose the profile of
the stairs. A string fixed against a wall or a partition is termed as a wall string and
others are known as outer strings. The ends of treads and risers are glued and
wedged into shallow grooves 12mm deep cut in the string.

Angle blocks (triangular sections of softwood cut from a square timber) are then
glued in the internal angles between the underside of the treads and risers. Their
purpose is to strengthen the right-angled joints between the risers, treads and
string.
A half space landing is constructed from joists(bearers) and floor boards
supported on trimmers.
Newel posts are notched and bolted to the trimmer. For appearance purposes, the
lower ends are usually cut about 100mm below the flights and moulded.
The hand rail is usually fixed at a minimum height of 900 or 900-1000 mm vertical
from the pitch line or from the landings for domestic stairs or for other stairs
respectively. Its cut from a 75 x 50 mm timber which is shaped and moulded. The
ends of the hand rails are tenoned to mortices in the newels.
The balusters are fixed on the underside of handrails and housed within the string.
They should be 100mm or less spaced c/c for safety of children below 5 years.
The bottom step is framed to project beyond the newel post and shaped either as
a quarter or half circle. This is only for appearance (to make it look like it’s part of
the floor as well as the staircase.)

To reduce the number of steps required in the rest of the stair and to economize
on space, winder steps (tapered treads) are used in place of landings. They wind
round quarter or half turn stairs.
CONCRETE STAIRS:
A reinforced concrete stair has better resistance to damage by fire than a
conventional timber staircase and is used for access and a means of escape stairs
in most buildings of more than three storeys.
The width, rise, going and headroom for these stairs and the arrangement of the
flights of steps as straight-flight, quarter-turn, half-turn and geometrical stairs is
the same as for timber stairs.
The usual form of a reinforced concrete stair is as a half-turn (dog-leg) stair
either with or without an open well. The construction of the stair depends on the
structural form of the building and the convenience in casting the stair in situ or
the use of reinforced concrete supports and precast steps.
Where there are loadbearing walls around the stair, it is generally economic to
build the landings into the side walls as one-way spanning slabs and construct the
flights as inclined slabs between the landings. This form of stair is of advantage
where the enclosing walls are of brick or block as it would involve a great deal of
wasteful cutting of bricks or blocks were the flights to be built into the walls and
the bricks or blocks cut to fit to the steps.
Before concrete is cast, formwork is designed and fixed in place so as to mould the
wet concrete. The reinforcement is also weaved in the right dimensions and held
20-25 mm above the formwork using spacers so to provide the required cover.
METAL STAIRS
Cold-formed-steel or steel-plate stairs generally are used in fire-resistant
buildings.
They are purchased from various manufacturers in stock patterns. The steel
sheets are formed into risers and sub-treads or pans, into which one of several
types of treads may be inserted. Stringers usually are channel
shaped. Treads may be made of stone, concrete, composition, or metal. Most types
are given a nonslip surface.
STRUCTURAL GLASS STAIR
Glass stairs, handrails and barriers have become increasingly common in recent
years. This is partly down to architectural fashion, but mainly a result of
considerable advances in the strength of glass used for structural purposes.
Although aesthetics play a considerable part in the choice of a glass stairway,
there are some functional reasons why glass is used, especially when used in
handrails and balustrades/guarding. In many public buildings, such as airports and
other large complexes, it has become increasingly important to be able to see the
movement of people and their belongings.
BUILDING CODE REQUIREMENTS OF STAIRS
DIMENSIONS:
1. stairs shall be measured as follows:
i. Risers shall be measured vertically from top of trend to top of
trend. (Min 7 ½ in)
ii. Trends are measured horizontally from face of riser to face of
riser. (Min 9 in)
iii. Width shall be measured between faces of strings, or between
face of string and a baluster or walls (min 2ft 6in)
iv. Headroom shall be measured vertically above the raking line of
nosing’s (min 6ft 9in)
v. Stairs shall be constructed to have a constant and uniform riser
and trend.
2. No flight of stairs shall exceed sixteen steps and intervening landings
between flights shall have a minimum length of 2ft 3 in.
3. There should not be more than two successive flights without a turn.

SAFETY:
1. A handrail should be provided at each stair and on each side. The
outer side hand rail shall be continuous throughout the stairway and
all ends fished up well.
2. Handrails shall not encroach more than 3in within the width.
3. Vertical balusters shall not be spaced more than 5in apart and should
be not less than 2ft 9in vertically.
4. The infilling below the hand rail shall provide for the safety of the
persons using the stair.

FORMWORK
Form work is a mould including all supporting structures, used to shape and
support the concrete until it attains sufficient strength to carry its own weight.
It should be capable of carrying all imposed, dead and live loads apart from its
own weight.
The term ‘formwork’ includes the actual material in contact with the concrete,
known as form face, and all the necessary associated supporting structure.

REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD FORMWORK SYSTEM

In order to successfully carry out its function, formwork must achieve a
balance of following requirements:
Containment:
Formwork must be capable of shaping and supporting the fluid concrete until it
cures.
Strength:
Formwork must be capable of safely withstanding without distortion or danger
the dead weight of the fluid concrete is placed on it, labor weight, equipment
weight and any environmental loadings.
Resistance to leakage:
All joints in form work must be either close fitting of covered with form tape
to make them grout tight.
If grout leakage occurs the concrete will leak at that point. Leakages cause
honeycombing of the surface.
Accuracy:
Formwork must be accurately set out so that the resulting concrete product is
in a right place and is of correct shape and dimensions.
Ease of handling:
Form panels and units should be designed so that their maximum size does not
exceed that which can be easily handled by hand or mechanical means.
In addition all formwork must also be designed and constructed to include
facilities for adjustments, leveling, easing and striking without damage to the
form work or concrete.
Finish and reuse potential:
The form face material must be selected to be capable of consistently
imparting the desired concrete finish (smooth, textured, featured or exposed
aggregate etc.).
At the same time it should also achieve the required number of reuses.
Access for concrete:
Any formwork arrangement must provide access for placing of the concrete.
The extent of this provision will be dependent on the ease of carrying out the
concrete operations.
Economy:
On average about 35% of the total cost of any finished concrete unit or
element can be attributed to its formwork; of this just over 40% can be taken
for material for formwork and 60% for labor.
The formwork designer must therefore not only consider the maximum number
of times that any form can be reused, but also produce a design that will
minimize the time taken for erection and striking.

MATERIALS FOR FORMWORK

Formwork can be made out of a large variety of materials.
The material most commonly being used to date is timber. However, due to
the depleting forest reserves and increasing cost of timber the use of
alternate materials such as plywood and steel has become prominent.
More recently, materials such as plastics and fiberglass are also being used
for pre-fabricating formwork.
The type of material to be used depends on the nature of construction as
well as availability and cost of material.
The constraints on the project such as overall cost, time of completion also
play a major role in the use of a particular material for formwork.

TIMBER FORMS
Timber is required for practically all jobs of formwork. The timber used for
formwork must satisfy the following requirements:
• It should be durable and treatable
• It should have sufficient strength characteristics
• It should be light weight and well-seasoned without warping,
• It should hold nails well.
Advantages of using timber forms:
• It is economical for small construction jobs
• It is design flexible and easy to erect
• It has good thermal insulation which makes it useful to be used in
colder Regions
• It can easily be made into any shape or size
Plywood forms (in combination with timber)
Concrete shuttering plywood is preservative treated and especially suited
for use in concrete shuttering and formwork.
The plywood is built up of odd number of layers with grain of adjacent layers
perpendicular to each other.
Plywood is used extensively for formwork for concrete, especially for
sheathing, decking and form linings.
There are two types of plywood - internal and exterior. The interior type is
bonded with water resistant glue and exterior type is bonded with water
proof glue.

Hardboard forms
Hardboard is a board material manufactured of wood fiber, which is then
refined or partly refined to form a panel having a density range of
approximately 50 to 80 pounds per cubic foot.
Hardboards are standard / non-tempered or tempered.
The tempered one being used for formwork. Tempered hardboard is solid or
perforated hardboard panels impregnated with resin under high pressure to
make them stronger and more resistant to moisture and abrasion.
The boards available in large sheets have a hard, smooth surface that
produces a concrete whose surface is relatively free of blemishes and joint
marks.
The thin sheets can be bent to small radii, which is an advantage when
casting concrete members with curved surfaces.

ALUMINIUM FORMS
Forms made from aluminum are in many respects similar to those made of
steel.
However, because of their lower density, aluminum forms are lighter than
steel forms, and this is their primary advantage when compared to steel.
As the strength of aluminum in handling, tension and compression is less
than the strength of steel, it is necessary to use large sections.
The formwork turns out to be economical if large numbers of reuses are
made in construction.
The major disadvantage of aluminum forms is that no changes can be made
once the formwork is fabricated.

PLASTICS
These forms have become increasingly popular for casting unique shapes and
patterns being designed in concrete because of the excellent finish
obtained requiring minimum or no surface treatment and repairs.
Different types of plastic forms are available like glass reinforced plastic,
fiber reinforced plastic and thermoplastics etc.
Fiberglass-reinforced plastic is the most common and has several
advantages such as
a) The material allows greater freedom of design
b) Unusual textures and designs can be molded into the form
c) It allows the contractor to pour structural and finished concrete
Simultaneously.
d) Because sections can be joined on the job site in such a way so as to
eliminate joints, there is no size limitation
e) If carefully handled, a number of reuses are possible making it highly
Economical
f) It is lightweight and easily stripped
The disadvantage of using plastic forms is that it does not lend itself to
field fabrication hence, the design and planning of this form must be
carefully carried out.
Also care must take not to damage the plastic by the heat applied for
accelerated curing of the concrete.
Trough and waffle units in fiberglass are used in construction of large floor
areas and multistoried office buildings.

STEEL FORMWORK:
Mostly used in large construction projects or in situations where large
number of re-uses of the same shuttering is possible.
Suitable for circular or curved shaped structures such as tanks, columns,
chimneys. Etc. & for structures like sewer tunnel and retaining wall.
Advantages of steel formwork over timber form:
1. strong, durable & have longer life
2. Reuses can be assumed to vary from 100 to 120 while timber varies from 10
to 12.
3. Steel can be installed & dismantled with greater ease & speed resulting in
saving in labor cost.
4. Excellent quality of exposed concrete surface obtained. Thus, saving in the
cost of finishing the conc. surface.
5. No danger of formwork absorbing water from the conc. & hence minimizing
honeycombing

CONSTRUCTION OF FORMWORK:
Propping and centering:
The props used for centering may be of steel, timber post or pillars made up
of brick masonry in mud mortar are also sometimes used as props.
Shuttering:
Can be made up of timber planks or it may be in the form of panel unit made
either by fixing ply wood to timber frames or by welding steel plates to
angle framing.
Provision of camber
Certain amount of deflection in structure is unavoidable.
It is therefore desirable to give an upward camber in the horizontal member
of conc.
Structure to counteract the effect of deflection.
Surface treatment
The formwork should be cleaned of all rubbish particularly the sawdust
savings & chippings etc.
The face of formwork in contact with conc. shall be cleaned & treated with
release agent like raw linseed oil or soft soap solution as to prevent the conc.
getting stuck to the formwork.

Order and method of removing formwork:

1. Shuttering forming vertical faces of walls, beams & column sides should be
removed first.
2. Shuttering forming soffit to slab should be removed next.
3. Shuttering forming soffit to beams, girders or other heavily loaded member
should be removed in the end.

Recommended duration taken for removal of formwork

1 Walls Columns & Vertical Sides of Beams 1-2 Day
2 Slabs 3 Days
3 Beam Soffit 7 Days
4 Removal of Props to Slabs
Slab Spanning Up to 4.5m 7 Days
Slab Spanning Over 4.5m 14 Days
5 Removal of Props to Beams and Arches
Spanning Up to 6m 14 Days
Spanning Over 6m 21days
TYPES OF FORMWORKS
There are different types of formworks available for different purposes.
Generally, the formworks for vertical concreting are called wall forms and
those for horizontal concreting are called slab or floor forms.
The various types of formworks available today in the market are discussed in
detail.
TRADITIONAL FORMWORK
This usually consists of standard framed panels tied together over their
backs with horizontal members called waling.
The waling is provided with the basic function of resisting the horizontal
force of wet concrete.
One side of the wall formwork is first assembled ensuring that it is
correctly aligned, plumbed and strutted.
The steel reinforcement cage is then placed and positioned before the other
side of the formwork is erected and fixed.
Plywood sheet in combination with timber is the most common material used
for wall formwork.
The usual method is to make up wall forms as framed panels with the
plywood facing sheet screwed on to studs on a timber frame.
This allows for the plywood to be easily removed and reversed and used on
both sides so as to increase the number of reuses.
The wall forms are susceptible to edge and corner damage and must be
carefully handled.
Special attention must be given to corners and attached piers since the
increased pressures applied by wet concrete could cause the abutments to
open up, giving rise to unacceptable grout escape and a poor finish to the
cast wall.

CLIMBING FORMWORK
Method of casting walls consists of a climbing formwork, the climbing of
which may be manual or crane assisted.
It employs a common set of forms used in a repetitive manner for casting
walls in set vertical lifts.
After each casting the forms are removed and raised to form the next lift
until the required height has been reached.
These forms are widely used in the construction of industrial chimneys,
silos, high rise towers & building cores, bridge piers & pylons, airport control
towers, telecommunication, towers etc.
The climbing form has many advantages such as the following
1. Staged construction process allows balance of site resources.
2. Anchor accessories can be reused after each pour, reducing material
costs on current and future construction programs.
3. In case of trolley mounted formwork, the panel retracts from the
face, providing space for cleaning and fixing of concrete.
4. Formwork & access platforms lifted as one, minimizing crane support,
reducing labor and material costs.
5. Fine adjustments of the form face can be made during construction,
providing accurate alignment of the form face vertically & laterally.
SLIDING FORMWORK OR SLIPFORMING
slip form means a continuously moving form, moving with such a speed that
concrete when exposed has already achieved enough strength to support the
vertical pressure from concrete still in the form as well as to withstand
lateral pressure caused by wind etc.
Thus, the slip form concreting technique is a rapid and economical
construction method that can be applied with great advantage to many types
of construction projects such as chimneys, silos, water towers, bridge columns, lift
shaft cores and shaft lining etc.
The technique is based on movable forms which are gradually lifted by
hydraulic jacks.
It is a continuous process where wet concrete is added to wet concrete. the normal
slipping speed is 3 to 6 meters per 24 hours.
The slip form construction is designed for each project depending on the
structure of the project.
The advantages of slip forming are
1. Minimum consumption of timber and steel plates.
2. Total elimination of traditional scaffolding
3. Minimum requirements of carpenters for assembling.
4. It gives a monolithic structure.
5. The concrete surfaces can be treated and finished while concrete is
green,
6. The procedure of continuous slipping is applied to making both inner
and outer walls as well as columns of a building.

PERMANENT FORMWORK
Permanent form or stay-in-place formwork is one in which the form is left as
an integral part of the structure.
Permanent formwork can also be utilized as the facing materials of in situ
reinforced concrete. (They can be of two types—participating and
nonparticipating.)
The material used for these forms must be durable and of sufficient
strength.
Commonly used materials include polyvinyl chloride (pvc), galvanized coiled
sheet steel, fabricated steel, carbon/epoxy thin shell.
The high initial cost of design and installation, lack of familiarity for
installation and maintenance and more specified form design are some of the
barriers to the use of this form.
However, there are various advantages like low cost of transportation and
installation, precise form design, maximum flexibility, greater durability with
reduced long term maintenance and versatility.
SPECIAL FORMS
These are those forms that are specially designed and manufactured for a
particular kind of construction. The need for a special formwork may arise due to
several factors such as:
1. When the contract demands the highest class of dimensional
tolerance to be followed
2. Where the form work shape required becomes uneconomical or
impracticable for site fabrication
3. Where the formwork is required to be self-contained i.e., self-propelled,
4. Where rate of concreting, admixtures or types of concrete are
such that concrete pressure developed within forms and stresses in
the forms demand special attention where a substantial number of
re-uses is envisaged

TABLE FORM
This is a special formwork designed for use in casting large repetitive floor
slabs in medium to high-rise structures.
The main objective of reducing the time required re-erecting, striking and
re-erecting slab formwork.
A system which can be put as an entire unit, removed, hoisted and
repositioned without any dismantling.

GANGED PANEL FORM

The increasing pace in the construction of multi-storey and massive concrete
structures, and the parallel progress in development of cranes and other
mechanical methods of transporting forms have made the use of ganged
prefabricated forms for the concreting of large sections of high walls very
common.
Ranging up to 30x50 ft, their size is limited only by the mechanics of
handling.
Large panels can be assembled flat on the ground where it is easier to work.
Delay and lost motion are avoided in stripping because the gang forms are
stripped as a unit.

TUNNEL FORM.
The tunnel formwork is a room sized structural steel fabricated form which
is used to cast the rcc walls and floor slabs of a building as a monolithic structure
in a continuous pour.
The forms are then heated using hot air blowers for accelerated curing of
the concrete.
This system is most economical when the structure consists of large number
of identical units.
There exist two versions of this type of formwork. They are:
▪ The half tunnel formwork used to cast only one wall and slab
simultaneously
▪ The full tunnel formwork used to cast two walls and a slab
simultaneously
The sequence of construction involves placing of reinforcement, electrical
and sanitary conduits along with the tunnel forms.
Concrete is then poured and the open side of the forms is covered and hot
air blowers placed inside.
The forms are removed the next day and placed on the next site using
cranes.
The optimum use of tunnel form is in multiunit shear wall structure with
identical floor layout at each level.