Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, founded in 1927 with boundary changes afterward. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than some other areas in Los Angeles.
Building codes and research findings do not completely agree over how to place handrails so they might serve the above functions. Research done by Maki and Fernie (1988) indicates a handrail height of 36 to 40 inches is most effective in preventing falls when descending stairs.
1 The stair width is recommended to be 35 inches (89cm) or longer. 2  The height of the handrail, measured from the nose of the tread, is recommended to be between 34 and 38 inches (86 to 97 cm).  The comfortable size of handrail diameter is between 1.25 and 2.68 inches (3.2 to 6.8 cm).