Stairs - What is holding them up?

[CrawfW]

Hi,

The straight flight of stairs in my ~1850 house rise with brick walls on the left and right side. Are the stringers likely to be "bolted" to the walls on both sides?

Or, could i remove one of the walls, thereby gaining access to the space underneath the stairs?

Does that make any sense?!

Crawf

 

[DAZB]

If a straight staircase is built and fitted correctly it should, in theory, be able to stay in place with one or even no walls holding it simply from the fixings at the top and bottom of the staircase but you won't really know until you get underneath and have a good nosy. My guess is that it will be fixed to both walls and removing a wall is a risk as once you start demolishing it you may wish you hadn't if the staircase is in bad shape and not secure without full support.

 

[CrawfW]

Thanks!

It wouldn't be a problem to rip off the lath and plaster covering the underside of the stairs - it is already ratty. If i do this, and it isn't held on both sides, then i guess i can take down the offending wall?

Alternatively, if it is held on both sides it would probably be wise to assume that it needs to stay like this. Presumably a "single-end lintel" thing, some sort of metal bar perhaps, is a non-starter because of the huge leverage?

Thanks in advance!