Step Height

[Jerry Simon]

Bottom step is 1" taller than the rest.  Builder say's carpet and pad on first tread makes up the diff, and measuring from floor to top of tread (not top of carpet) is how you should measure/judge.

Carpet and pad do not, at all, compress-down anywhere near 1".   I flagged this as being a riser height difference of +3/8" and posing a trip/stumble/fall hazard.

Thoughts?

[Mike Lamb]

Weak builder come back. If you remove all the carpet there is still a 1" difference. I agree and would write up as fall hazard.

[Jim Katen]

I've built a whole lot of stairways and *always* took into account the height of the intended floor coverings. That's part of stair building 101. If this is new construction and the floor coverings were known in advance, then the builder is a dope. 

On the other hand, after a stairway is built, lots of people like to change their minds and use different floor coverings . . . 

[Jim Baird]

You are correct.  Finish floor looks like what they call LVP, "luxury vinyl plank", that is a lot thinner than solid wood.  If they had used solid wood the riser might have fallen inside the 3/8 margin, but maybe not.

Stair stringers are sometimes de!ivered pre-cut, with that first height trimmable.

I have always been surprised by how many builders flunk stair requirements.

My common label for this situation is "leg-breaker".