← All guides
Time: ~5 min·Difficulty: ●●●●
How to Measure Stairs (for Carpet, Runner, or Furniture Delivery)
Tread depth, riser height, total run length, plus turning clearance for furniture delivery. Three minutes captures everything.
Stairs are the deal-breaker for furniture delivery. They're also a finishing problem, the wrong runner length means visible gaps. Five measurements solve both.
Why measure this
- Furniture transit (sofa, fridge, mattress)
- Carpet runner ordering
- Tread replacement
- Stair safety code compliance
What you need
- iPhone with Ruler AR
- Length and Height modes
Step by step
- Tread depth. Front to back of step (where you put your foot). Standard 25-30 cm.
- Riser height. Top of one step to top of next. Standard 18-20 cm.
- Total run length. Floor at bottom to floor at top, horizontally. For carpet runner.
- Turning clearance. For L-shaped staircases, measure the landing dimensions. Also turn radius, how big a piece can rotate at the corner.
- Ceiling clearance over stairs. Head height at midpoint, typically 200+ cm. Important for tall pieces being moved up the stairs.
Tips
- Stair runners typically install with brackets in the corner of each step
- Compute runner length: (tread × count) + (riser × count) = total linear runner needed
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the landing, furniture transit gets stuck there
- Wrong tread count, count the actual steps, not by floor count
Frequently asked
Standard tread depth?
25-30 cm. Less than 25: feels steep. More than 30: shallow steps.