What is balancing winders?

Balancing winders is the technique of dividing the treads in the turn of a stair so that the going stays the same along the walking line and the change from narrow to wide treads is gradual. A straight tread is a rectangle seen from above. A winder tread is narrow at one end and wide at the other. In Dutch the technique is called verdrijven, a balanced tread is a verdreven trede and the result is a verdrijving.

Why balance the winders?

If only the treads right in the corner of a quarter turn are made tapered, straight treads suddenly give way to sharp, pointed ones. On the narrow side you step onto almost nothing, and your rhythm breaks. When you balance the winders, the turn starts a few treads before the corner and runs out a few treads after it. Each tread changes shape only slightly, while the step length on the walking line stays the same.

Walking line and the Dutch rules

The walking line is the path you actually follow on the stair. The Dutch building regulations (Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving, Bbl) call it the klimlijn and test the stair on it. For a normal stair in a new Dutch home, table 4.26 of the Bbl sets, among other things:

• the walking line lies at least 0.3 m from the sides of the stair;
• the going on the walking line is at least 0.22 m;
• every tread is at least 0.05 m deep everywhere, and at least 0.23 m on the walking line.

These are Dutch figures. Elsewhere your national building regulations apply.

Methods

Several geometric methods exist for setting out balanced winders, including harmonic balancing, the funnel method, the Leroi and Winkler method and balancing “to infinity”. They differ in how fast the tread width grows on the narrow side. The right choice depends on the stair type and the space available.

Application

Every stair with a turn needs balanced winders. Stair makers set the division out full size or in CAD, then transfer it to the stringers.

Common mistakes

• Turning only in the corner: creates a sharp break in rhythm and extremely pointed treads.
• Measuring in the middle: the going is checked on the walking line, not in the centre of the tread.
• Too few treads in the turn: the more treads take up the turn, the less pointed the narrow end.
• Forgetting headroom: check the clearance above every tread under the edge of the stairwell.

Related terms

• Scheluwe staircase
• Spiral staircase
• Walking line
• Going (stair run)
• Funnel method
• Stair stringer

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