Try to stay one step in front of the inspector and KNOW what is code, making the framers do their job correctly. The steps look to be older construction. They should be generally within 3/8" of each other all the way up. Have you traversed the steps yet? Is there a footing problem in transitioning from short steps to taller ones? What is directly above the steps? Could a taper have been installed on the ceiling above to accommodate a taller space?

 

I would identify what has to change to fix it. Then weight the all of the alternatives.
For me this would be a future "got cha" on an inspection for selling the property. Certainly more expensive then than now to fix.

I an 6'4" so this would be a deal breaker immediately for me.

 

Are you paying a contractor to build this? If yes, tell him in writing the stairs are not acceptable, they don’t meet code, and the must be corrected. And stop ALL payments for the entire job until the stairs are right. He will probably say you can hold the money for the stairs but he needs the money for the rest of the project. Don’t give in. He will get paid for everything else and walk away.

 

I have an addition that I am getting ready for final inspection, but when I started researching how to finish the stair case, I realized that it has some problems. It is an L-shaped staircase. The first problem is that all the steps have a 7" rise, except for the winder which is 8". The more serious problem is that there is one step where the headroom is only about 6', not the 6'8" I see listed as a code requirement.
But the inspector has cleared us each step of the way, so now I don't know if I should continue and hope for the same. I don't want to spend all the money that I will need to finish the stairs if the inspector notices the headroom during final and I end up needing to redo it again, nor do I want to specifically call the inspector's attention to it because that would involve even more time/money to fix the headroom now that all the drywall and everything is done.
What do you all do in a case like this?
View attachment 765939

Let's do the math and see if you can fix it by replacing the stairs.
What is the height from the basement floor to the top of the sub floor upstairs?

 

Thanks guys. The stairs are new, all of it is new. It wasn't a contractor, my 'buddy' is the one who knows about construction, and I guess when the inspector didn't say anything about the stairs, he decided not to either. I don't quite think there is enough wiggle room in the stairs themselves to fix it that way, but just maybe if I change it to a 3 or 4 step winder I could make it work. But maybe I can't do that because I would need to make the stairs wider to get more winders?And that would require moving the walls again anyway. More likely, the ceiling and upstairs wall/floor would need to be moved so that the low point aligns with a lower step.
It looks like it is about 109" from lower floor to upper subfloor. I can't readily shrink the landing area on the upper floor because then it would interfere with the doorway under the stairs.

 

My carpentry OCD would not allow me to accept it. I'd fix it.

 

oh, and I generally plan to die in this house, so selling problems don't really concern me.

 

and I generally plan to die in this house

Those wonky steps might push that along.. Stairs that are off by an inch are dangerous. Especially at the bottom step. Most people rely on muscle memory on stairs. They record the first few to get used to the flight and then do not pay further attention…. Then they hit one that’s way different and hurt themselves.

 

What are these 2 measurements?
Usually the stairs start right at the door upstairs.
Is the space to the door that can be salvaged, if yes can it start just on this side of the door wall upstairs and how much more is that.

If you are working with permits what did the stairs look like on the plan that they approved?

 

What are these 2 measurements?
Usually the stairs start right at the door upstairs.
Is the space to the door that can be salvaged, if yes can it start just on this side of the door wall upstairs and how much more is that.
View attachment 765989

If you are working with permits what did the stairs look like on the plan that they approved?

Hello friend, I don't know If I am completely sure which dimensions you are asking for there, so I will just measure stuff and spill it here:
1. The tread depth is 10 1/4" for all steps except for the the top step and the the step before the first winder, which are each 11"
2. The rise is 7" for all steps except for the first step at the bottom, the 45 winder step, and the first step after the winder (going up). Those 3 are all 8".
3. The upstairs has 9" between the first step and the doorway, but shifting the steps back that 9" would mean that the doorway under the stairs would nee to shift as well. That is probably still easier than moving/re-framing the upstairs walls, so I'm not calling that a deal breaker. You can see in a previous picture (the one with cat in background) what I mean.
4. oh, now that I measured this next part, I see that it is what you are really looking for. From the upstairs doorway to the wall is 93", and from the wall to the head room beam is 82".

 

If you leave it like it is, you may die in your house sooner than you expect.
You are not measuring your head room correctly. It is measured from the nose of the tread not the center of the tread. Attached is some code information showing how to measure it. You may only have 5'8" when you measure it correctly. I would suggest starting over, it may be easier to do. There appear to be a lot of problems.

Residential Stair Codes: Rise, Run, Handrails Explained (buildingcodetrainer.com)

 

Today's Residential Codes do not allow winders to come to a point anymore. So your stair has many issues that make it non code-compliant. Insufficient headroom, bad winder, uneven rise numbers.
It's an accident waiting to happen. There's really no excuse for the designer to have missed the boat so badly on this stair design. I would start over from scratch with a clean sheet of paper.

 

I have been playing with the numbers, not near code.
To fit the winder in, the best i can get is about a 9" tread and 8 3/8" rise. And I'm still not sure the it gives him the head room.

 

Just as an FYI - stair construction might have passed the framing aspect but most wait till the end to make sure everything is within 3/8. A nice one will ask have you doublechecked your numbers with the finishes to make sure everything comes out right. Fix it now before the end as it can get really expensive. Pen & paper, pen & paper or what do the plans show?

 

Can’t answer your question, but I would eventually trip and fall on those stairs.