Dangerous & stupid magazine photos

[Packard]

Some magazines feature articles with stairs and railings that would clearly be flagged in almost any area of the USA.  I would not mind it if they captioned with “This railing may not comply with local ordinances.  Check your building coded before emulating.”

Scroll down to “Southern Exposure.  The railing with no spindles.  The ledges with no railings.  And loft stairs with no railings at all. 

Unfortunately these are low res photos and if you enlarge them on your screen the images start to fall apart.

I think there should be some code of ethics in this regard.
https://markjohanson.com/2024/03/12/southern-exposure-dwell/

And this aerial view:

 

[Michael Kellough]

That house is in Puerto Vargas, Chile. No idea is it’s “to code”.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

I don't know how US Code aligns with UK Building Regulations (same deal, dfifferent continent) - but the above pictures spectacularly fail UKBR on six (or maybe seven if I'm being being pedantic) points. Every UKBR inspector could (and likely would) legally enforce the contractor to tear that down and start over - and make the 'designer' return to compulsory architect kindergarten until he/she actually knew what they were doing.

Please forgive my cynicism - but I've been a pro for a long, long time. Magazines, YT videos, Instagram, the rise of 'influencers' (whatever they might be). Self-proclaimed experts in everything because they once put up a shelf, and now have a fancy shop full of fancy tools which they've somehow managed to freeload from gullible (or desperate ??) suppliers. The list is a long one. Pretty much everything we all see (with notable exceptions - the trusted, knowledgeable channels and online sources we all know about and have great respect for) consists of 50% digital cookie-derived, sponsored marketing/product placement - and 50% abject bulls**t designed to suck the gullible into the inevitable.

Sorry FOG'ers. Maybe I'm just getting old, jaded, tired and disillusioned.

 

 

[Packard]

I’m really faulting the magazine publisher.  They are using this as an example of “excellence in design”.  No doubt some will try to copy it.

A cautionary note saying “consult with local regulations, as this may not meet design code in civilized countries.”

 

[Cheese]

Aesthetically they got it right...code wise they probably got it wrong.  If it's a private residence, used for personal living and it will not be rented or leased out for use by others...so what?

If other very small family members are invited over, which is alluded to, then it's also the responsibility of the current owners to protect those small people from harm.

Other than that, you have a couple of adults and a large dog that seem to be pleasantly happy with their surroundings as well they should be. They constructed this house for $62,000...I paid a bunch more than that for an unfinished, unpainted, uninsulated, unwired, concrete floor garage with only 43 more square footage.

As an aside, I installed a stainless railing in the loft bedroom many years ago and I was inundated with the rules and regulations of local code...3" ball diameter this...3" ball diameter that...if everything was according to code, I was supposed to install more stainless cable in a 12' long railing than would be needed to tie up 2 boats at the local marina. Whatever...we're just 2 old people living alone with some cats & dogs...

Besides, designers, as a whole, are a very visual lot and in their mind, the final product they produce is much more important than local code enforcement, can't say they don't have a point on some of the goofier code issues.

Maybe someday when I'm bored, I'll discuss the local codes the garage builder wanted to enforce and the creative way I managed to dance around the issues.

 

[Packard]

Aesthetically thy might have it “right”, but logically?

In the first image above, they gave up about two feet of living space in the room so that the dog can sniff the potted plants?  How is that good design?

And the potted plants kills the logic of the adjacent steps.

As logical as this assembly drawing.

And the placement of the potted plants makes the steps an ornament???

And the overwhelming majority of dogs will not climb open riser stairs.  A lot of work each time, but I was able to train my German Shepherds to climb open riser stairs.  My other dogs never came in contact with it and I never tried to train them.  That is probably  why they blocked the stairs with the plants, though it takes no special training for the dogs to walk down open riser steps. Walking up is the challenge.