Originally Posted by
brian schmitt
jerry,
i have the job of enforcing the code as written
"Enforcing code"?
Okay, that means you must be a "code enforcement inspector"?
Is so, shouldn't you be enforcing the currently applicable code?
without the option of enforcing what others may feel are "good ideas" or what is safer.
As a "home inspector", though, those "opinions" are precisely what you are hired to provide.
Originally Posted by
Jerry McCarthy
Now, can anybody tell me why the spacing at the stair balusters allows a 4-3/8 inch opening? There are two basic stories and I've already chosen the one that makes the most sense to my alleged mind.
The main story I hear is that it is to allow the use of two balusters per tread instead of requiring three balusters per tread. However, that logic does not make sense to me as there is no 'minimum' baluster size. Thus, one could use 1/4" steel dowel balusters, two per tread, and exceed the 4-3/8" allowed.
That said, though, the rest of that reason to allow 4-3/8" on the sides of stairs is that an infant small enough to slip through the 4-3/8" would most likely NOT be crawling down the stairs (they would, instead, presumably tumble down the stairs end-over-end I guess), thus any child big enough to navigate climbing the stairs would be large enough to not fit through a 4-3/8" opening.
Added with edit: by the time I was through typing after answering the phone, you posed you question about hearing a new reason ... what is that new reason?