Ladder gate from children: design features for marching, boltsevo and spiral staircases

A country house is a great place for a child, because he has a lot of personal space for playing and exploring the world around him. However, there is a risk: the baby gains access to such dangerous places as interfloor stairs, attics and balconies.

To avoid the child's penetration into areas undesirable for games, children use safety gates for stairs, various fences and limiters.

Ladders as hazardous areas

Children began to produce staircase gates for a reason. After processing and analyzing the data of many statistical studies, it was found that a noticeable share of domestic injuries and accidents is associated precisely with interfloor staircases and zones with a height difference of more than 1.5 meters.

Keeping the child in the arena will not work all the time, so it was decided to create simple enclosing structures that could isolate little researchers from potentially dangerous areas of apartments or houses. And the main focus was on cutting off places such as stairs from children's access.

Important!
If the exit to the balcony or the entrance to the basement, as a rule, is equipped with doors that can be closed, then the stairs, most often, remain open to everyone, including the small inhabitants of the house.
Also influenced by the emergence of new models and designs of interfloor communications, such as modular, cantilever and rotary structures, staircases on bolts, spiral and spiral models, which are dangerous even for adults, not to mention children.

Next, we will consider various models of stairs in private houses from the point of view of their safety for a person and especially a small person.

Marching stairs

Marching stairs are considered the safest and most comfortable for humans. Therefore, if you are planning to build a house, it is better to opt for this type of construction. This is especially true in the case of the presence of small children in the house..

The marching model is a system of horizontal platforms and inclined flights of stairs connecting these platforms. At the same time, the slope of the stairs turns out to be gentle enough so that it can be easily and dangerously moved along it.

Consider the benefits of these designs:

• The marching staircase is located against the wall, and on the other hand it is reliably protected by a handrail, which practically relieves residents from the danger of falling sideways outside the staircase;
• The steps of the marching model are rectangular, identical, wide enough, the treads are straight, there are risers that significantly reduce the likelihood of falling;
• The width of the flights of stairs is sufficient for comfortable movement;
• The most convenient angle of inclination is taken into account, usually it is 35 degrees. If there are children in the family, then it is better to choose a ladder with exactly this angle of inclination of the canvas;
• It is possible to install a special additional handrail for the child at the level of 500 - 600 mm against the wall, which will be convenient for the baby and additionally protect him;
• It is on the marching structures that it is easiest to install the gates on the stairs from children, some models of which allow you to mount and remove the structure without damaging the walls and furniture.

Not everyone can afford marching structures, since they take up a lot of space and space in the room, and often in small houses such structures look ridiculous. Therefore, the owners of such houses resort to various ways to save space, buying screw, cantilever and pivot structures.

Important!
If you are concerned about the safety and comfort of your home, especially children's safety, we strongly recommend that you consider any possibility of installing mid-flight stairs, since these structures are the most reliable.

Stairs

Today, modular and cantilever staircase designs have become especially popular. This is due to the simplicity of their installation, relative cheapness, lightness of structures and the possibility of saving space. Modular models allow you to create any configuration of stairs, with turns, spiral sections, various angles of inclination of the canvas relative to the floor.

All these qualities contribute to a finer adjustment of the interfloor structure to specific conditions. This is especially true in the case of limited space, when by manipulating the angle of inclination of the march and the number of its turns, you can fit the staircase into the most confined spaces. But here comes the problem of loss of security and convenience.

Consider the main disadvantages of bolt structures from a safety point of view:

1. An increase in the angle of inclination of the staircase over 35 degrees is fraught with a sharp increase in its inconvenience. It becomes difficult and dangerous to climb steep stairs;
2. The presence of turns implies areas with non-rectangular steps that have variable width and irregular shape, which is also inconvenient and dangerous, especially for movement in poor visibility conditions, for example, in the dark. We move our feet along the steps of the stairs intuitively, counting on the same steps, and when the steps do not have a fixed shape, it becomes easy to stumble and fall;
3. The steps of boltsev ladders do not have risers, so when walking it is easy to get your foot into the gap between the steps and stumble;
4. On some models, there are no railings at all. This creates an interesting effect of stairs floating in the air, but with it comes another feature: a very high probability of falling down the stairs, especially for children.

Of course, these models have a number of advantages, such as low price, easy installation, low product weight and easy transportation. The assembly instructions allow for DIY installation of the product, and you do not need expensive devices and tools. But we are talking about the safety and health of your child, so such bargaining is inappropriate here.

Spiral staircases

Consider another type of dangerous interfloor structures - spiral staircases. These structures are steps attached to a column or stringer, around which they describe a spiral, thereby saving a significant part of the space due to the almost vertical arrangement of the stairs..

Needless to say, the slope of the canvas turns out to be very steep, and the staircase itself becomes dangerous and uncomfortable. In homes where children live, such models are highly undesirable.

Consider the dangers that threaten the owners of such products:

• The spiral staircase has a spiral shape, that is, there are no flat sections along its entire length, the canvas constantly turns, which is extremely inconvenient for a normal climb;
• The slope of the staircase is extremely steep, which makes movement very difficult and leads to falls;
• The working surface of the steps has an irregular shape along the entire length of the staircase due to the constant rotation of the march, which also leads to the risk of falling;
• Spiral staircases are often poorly fenced due to the peculiarities of the geometry of the structures, and the possibility of additional fencing is rather illusory for the same reasons.

As you can see in the photo, many models of spiral staircases are not only dangerous, but also very poorly adapted to minimize this danger. The balusters in the railing of the presented specimen are located horizontally, which, in fact, turns the railing into a ladder with which the child can easily climb over the fence.

In such cases, only a ladder net from children can help, although this measure is not reliable and good enough. It is not always possible to install partitions for stairs from children to spiral models, since these products assume a standard shape and are designed for certain parameters, and in the case of non-standard configurations, imagination and technical ingenuity will be required.

Advice!
If you have a choice, do not purchase spiral staircases to the house where small children will live, this is dangerous for their health!

Child restraints for household stairs

The best solution to the problem of stairs that are dangerous for a child between the floors of your house is to install a temporary restraint for the movement of children through this area. For these purposes, today special gates are produced to the stairs from children, which allow blocking the access of a fool to the territory of the interfloor structure.

There are gate models that are installed with spacer screws and do not damage walls and furniture; after their installation and dismantling, no traces remain. The best solution is to install wickets at the bottom and top of the stairs, this protection will be optimal.

There are also models of barriers, consisting of several sections and gates. With their help, you can bar the entrance to non-standard stairs, as well as restrict the child's access to other dangerous areas, such as a fireplace, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

Requirements for fences

To make a reliable and safe ladder barrage system from children, it is necessary to fulfill some requirements:

• The railing should contain only vertical balusters, this will deprive the child of the opportunity to climb over the fence;
• The distance between the balusters should not exceed 100 - 120 mm, otherwise the baby will be able to crawl between them and fall, as well as get stuck;
• The structure should not contain sharp corners and protruding solid parts, as they are traumatic;
• It is advisable to close the steps with risers, otherwise the leg may fall into the gap between the steps, which will lead to loss of balance and fall;
• Avoid crossbars at floor level, which are sometimes installed as additional protection for stairs: an adult with a child in their arms can stumble over such a crossbar, which is extremely dangerous;
• Strive to find a barrier with the most dense filling of the structure, this will minimize the possibility of hands and feet getting between the rods;
• Wickets and gates must have a solid and reliable structure; the simpler the device of the lock and hinges, the longer and more stable the product will serve;
• It is desirable that the gate opens in both directions, it will be much more convenient;
• The lock on the gate must have a secret that is easy for an adult to remove and impossible for a child to guess;
• Protection from children must have all certificates of compliance with norms, rules and standards, certificates of biological, toxic and environmental safety of the materials that make up the product;
• It is better to purchase products from well-known manufacturers with a good reputation, since they pass all the necessary tests and checks, savings are inappropriate here.

Important!
Pay special attention to the materials of which the fences and gates for stairs are made.
Natural ones are preferred: wood, metals, fabrics.

Materials (edit)

For the manufacture of gates and fences for stairs, four types of materials are most often used:

1. Wood.
2. Stainless steel.
3. Aluminum and its alloys.
4. Polymers and Plastics.

The most common are combined models that combine maximum strength, minimum cost, low weight and complete safety for the child. All of these materials are strong enough, natural, inert and environmentally friendly.

In addition, they are easily amenable to various processing, which allows you to make fences beautiful, varied and bright, which is so popular with small consumers of the product. Today it is easy to find designs of almost any configuration and color, so you can choose a product in accordance with the interior features and tastes of the owners of the house.

Output

The best way to keep your child safe from falls from interfloor structures is to restrict their movement up the stairs when adults are absent. To do this, in the construction and furniture departments, you can find special gates and fences that will restrict children's access to the danger zone.

You can glean a clear vision of this situation in the video in this article, look!