There is no code I know of that specifically discusses drawers in risers…. So, that is a matter for the local building office and the inspector who comes to inspect! They are supposed to be there to help home owners wiht projects like this. Wouldn't hurt to reach out?

Lot of info will go into deciding whether they are safe or not.

First, would be stair size… and drawer size. Next, would be there underlying construction of the stairs. Without that info, it would be nearly impossible to answer your question.

 

It seems to me that adding cutouts and drawer boxes to risers would be one more way to make the stairs prone to squeak.

 

I have never built stairs before but is your question basically whether you can make the step or tread strong enough if it is only supported on the sides? That would seem to be a function of width and thickness of the tread.

Personally, I like the idea having the tread hinged to open to make a compartment or box. That would seem to be simpler to do and might also be bigger because you do not have the drawer slides, sides and bottoms taking up space. You can also make the compartments deeper than the rise of each step themselves.

 

I can't tell you about codes. But we have three drawers in our steps. Installed when the steps were built in the 1930's or 40's. The treads are 3/4" oak, about 3' wide. They sit on wood runners, no fancy modern guides. So after 80 or 90 years, and four generations of my family being raised here, including our four kids, the steps have not collapsed under the daily traffic, and there were no codes or inspections when built. Curious as to why you are adding the plywood. Our 3/4 oak is nailed to the 3/4 diagonal pine.

 

I my opinion the board across the front of the step face is integral part of spreading the load across the stringers. That combined with open drawers and drawer pulls make me think this is a no go.

 

It is my opinion that no matter how thick the treads are, they will sag when weight is put on them. They may sag ever so slightly that a drawer would bind at the top edge. Of course, no weight would be on the tread when the drawer was in use, so maybe it is not too bad an idea. If someone were standing on that particular tread when trying to open the drawer under that tread, it may sag enough to keep the drawer from opening easily. Wood today is not as strong as the first growth wood used years ago. As one responder noted, a hinged door may be better than a drawer.

 

I have seen many stairs built without risers over the years. It would be quite the trick to stand on the step while opening the drawer under the tread. My step drawers have the riser, with the drawer opening cut into them. No sag since WW2, so if code allows, go for it.

 

Yeah probably adding a support vertical board in the middle under the step could solve any problems related to sagging BUT it will force me to build two drawers instead of one AND two sets of rails :-(

re: why subfloor over diagonal boards
the house is 60Y+ old and I want to make sure there will be no sounds when this new engineered floor will be installed (7" or 8" wide board, 7' long each)
https://estaparket.eu/product/16003/ or https://www.coswick.com/product/aqua-white/

 

How thick are the treads? And what material?

 

Seems to me a simple solution to minimize tread sag would be to attach 3/4" or 1" angle iron along the interior junction of the riser and tread, above the drawer cutout.

 

I think it is red oak, seems to be 1" and 2/8 but I will need to buy new ones as I need to match the finish of the new hardwood floor which is based on white oak

 

I believe white oak is stronger than red oak. It is definitely much harder.

 

Seems to me a simple solution to minimize tread sag would be to attach 3/4" or 1" angle iron along the interior junction of the riser and tread, above the drawer cutout.

- JohnDon

not sure about that for that span.
On the other hand if the shelf gets a box by itself that could help
see this video

 

I wonder how stiff the engineered flooring is? My assumption is not very, since it is designed to be laid on top of subfloor. I think that the subflooring is usually 3/4" thick with whatever the standard joist spacing is for flooring (12-16"?). So using the sagulator, a 1" piece of plywood 44" wide with basically no riser will sag 0.10" with 300 lb center load. I would guess that is not to code. The design of Jon's step drawers shown above appears to reduce that span on his from about 36" to 18". it may also have some support from the approximately 1" strip above the drawer. In your case, that might bring the sag down to an acceptable level but you would have to ask the local inspector whether it meets code.

 

I suppose you could have the side stringers and instead of a center one place two, one on each side of the drawer. The stringers will be close together at the sides but overall should be able to handle the load with a 3/4 oak tread.

 

The steps in my picture are 32", and the drawers are 24". There is 1" of riser material above the drawer cut out. As I stated, these are from the 30's or 40's, long before any thought of building codes and standards, especially in the small town where we live.

 

Is there one or two central stringers? If there's only one, maybe two narrow drawers per riser would help preserve the integrity of the stairs. 44" is pretty wide so I imagine you could fit something close to 15 or 16" wide in there. Tough to say without seeing exactly what you have. Sounds like a neat idea though

 

While this is a unique way to use what looks like wasted space. The real issue is one of safety. Can you guarantee no one will ever leave one of those drawers partially open when somebody else is at the top of those stairs. What happens when they start down those stairs unaware of that partially open drawer.

 

I lived in South Bend , IN, back in early 70s, and refubed a nice home on the ST.Joe just above notre dame.
three story, awesome house, total refurb, brought it back to its original flavor, had to make so many moldings and ext trim pcs. and painting was the nightmare.
with that said ,the built ins were off the chart, all three sets of stairs had multiple drawers and the large ornate entry stairs had wall cabinet displays, it was at that time the first time i'd seen stairs with drawers, but once i finished the place and had an open house, found from many other refurbers and home owners they too had almost every inch of stair, nooks and crannies with drawers, cabinets ,displays ect.

don't recall any complaining of accidents or possibility of an accident, fall intended or otherwise, i get the worrisome thoughts, but one can also get run over setting at a bus stop. can't they probably happens more than a drawer being left open on stairs.
rj in az

 

Can you guarantee no one will start down the stairs with untied shoelaces? Using self closing guides will help with partially open drawers. Life is full of dangers

 

In the below the step board is depicted in red
The step could be reinforced by using some metal bracket (blue hashed in the picture) or by adding a wood piece in the middle and cutting a slot in the drawer. That second solution would address all the issues and you could use only 1 set of rails

 

Our house has two sets of stairs between the upper and lower floors. I think of them first and foremost as a means of escaping a fire. I would not add the risk of there being an open drawer at the worst possible moment. Call me paranoid, but I learned a lot from my brother-in-law who was a fire chief for many years.

 

I think two sets of stairs were the norm when a house had residents and "the help". I grew up in a house where the third floor was for service persons. The floors were wide plank pine where other floors were oak. A call box was on the hall wall to indicate what room needed service or door bell. The kitchen had a call box too. I am not sure if the resident of the house went there much either. Carriage house had a bedroom above for the caretaker there too.

 

I have been in our home with the pictures drawers in the steps since 1974. Not once do I remember a drawer being left open.

 

Why do you need drawers in your stairs? What do you want to put in them? The drawers would be shallow and short front to back.
I read the post on the Canada forum and one idea was posted that sounded like a better idea and that was to have the tread hinged to lift up rather than using a drawer. That way, you don't compromise the integrity of the staircase and remove any danger of an accident. Problem solved.