Adding stairs can be a bit tricky if you haven’t done it before so hopefully this guide will be useful! You can only add stairs once you have completed the Multi Story Renovations Quest.
Once that is completed you can add a new floor, to do this, click on floor construction (second tab in the house section of home store) Then you will see a white highlighted area, click that and it will show you how much a new floor will cost you, click the green tick to buy it:
Then you need to add rooms to your new floor, you do this by clicking on the upstairs button on the right of the screen:
This will take you to the next level, then you can add a room like you normally do, if you don’t know how read my adding, deleting and resizing rooms post here
NOTE: you must add rooms to the second floor before you can add stairs!
Lastly you can add the stairs. Stairs can also be found in the house section, select the one you want to buy and you can then place it in your house:
The image below shows you how it looks when the stairs can’t be placed:
Why can’t I place stairs in my house?
- There may be something in the way downstairs (like in my picture above)
- You may be trying to place stairs through the white lines- the white dotted lines show you were the rooms are above so you cannot place stairs on them:
- There may be something in the way on the floor above- use the floor button on the side of your screen to see what is in the way upstairs (the squares will appear red if there is something in the way upstairs)
To fix this you could move items upstairs that are in the way, if you can’t because a wall is in the way you may need to choose a different style of stairs which is what I did, I couldn’t fit in these stairs so I decided on the compact staircase instead.
This picture is how it should look when you can place the stairs in your house, press the green tick to buy them:
You now have stairs in your house!
How much does each floor cost?
2nd- S300,000
3rd- S500,000
4th- S800,000
5th- S1,000,000
Which floor do I have to place the stairs on?
If you want your stairs to reach the second floor you will need to place your stairs on the ground floor
If I delete my house will I still have the 2nd and 3rd floors or will I have to buy them again?
Unfortunately you will have to buy them again now, they have annoyingly changed this!
Can I add more than 4 sims to my house now I have another floor?
No, the maximum is still four
How do I add stairs outside?
The Girl Who Games 
When I try to add a second floor, the blue highlighted area doesn’t show up, and I have completed the quest
Are you on the right tab, floor construction?
What level do you have to be on to be allowed to have stairs?
complete the multi story renovations quest to be able to add stairs: https://thegirlwhogames.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/the-sims-freeplay-multi-story-renovations-quest/
I have tried adding a 2nd level and no matter which house I select to add it to it says it’ll cost 300,000. Is this the cost for just the 1st house I add a 2nd story too or will it cost this much for each house?
A second floor costs the same for all houses.
Do you have to have a second above ground floor before adding a basement?
No
I’ve completed the Multi Story Renovations Quest. I added a second floor with enough room for stairs on both floors but cannot put a floor down or wallpaper on the second floor. Also you say it should highlight blue, mine does not highlight blue at all at any point, just white to add another floor which I haven’t done, or RED to delete what I’ve already done. How do you get the walls and floors covered on the 2nd floor? (And would that hinder me from putting stairs in because I can’t place stairs even with enough room as I know I have. Thanks.
Have you pressed the floor arrow up button on the side of your screen to see the black area on the second floor? This allows you to then add rooms to the floor. You cannot put stairs in until you have a floor on the level above.
Can i buy stairs if i miss the quest or cant complete it?
You cannot miss quests, you have to complete them in the order they appear in this post: https://thegirlwhogames.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/the-sims-freeplay-main-quests/
You have to complete the quest in order to unlock stairs.
So, if I buy the second floor, are the costs of building rooms on the second floor the same as a building a room on the first floor?
Yes
Thank you very much for the help! 😊
Hi
I added a 2nd floor but it won’t let me put a staircase I made so much room for it and it will still not let me and on the second floor it won’t let me add flooring or put objects up there. So please can u help me?!
Thanks love ur blog!!!!💚
Have you added rooms to the upstairs first?
Thanks!
Hi! I have a house with two floors, if I add a new room to the first floor will the second floor get deleted ?
No you will be able to do that no problem!
What level can I do the multi-storey renovation I’m currently on level 32 and it still has not unlocked
You need to complete main quests in the order they appear in this post: https://thegirlwhogames.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/the-sims-freeplay-main-quests/ so complete the ones before it and it will then unlock.
Is making a room on an upper level more expensive than rooms on the ground floor?
No, it costs the same as on the ground floor. It is only basements that are more expensive.
Hi! Is it possible to stack switchback or sumptuous staircases?
No, you cannot stack staircases.
Thanks!
Hello, I just seen beautiful double staircases in an architectural home available for purchase when building a new house. But I don’t see these stairs available to buy from the home store. Do you know which challenge they are from?
The only stairs I can think of are the ones in the french chateau from the french romance live event, have a look in this post towards the bottom there are pictures of the house with the staircase: https://thegirlwhogames.blog/2017/01/30/the-sims-freeplay-french-romance-live-event/
Thank you, yes that’s them.
Can you have stairs going from a room up to a balcony?
Yes you can
Can’t build stairs from 2nd to 3rd floors, it’s always red if you trying to build it like in real life, does it mean it’s not working as the real life stairs or I do something wrong?
Have you added rooms first? Once you have built the second floor you need to add rooms to be able to add stairs.
Hiya! Is it possible to change the shape of the second floor so that it isn’t the exact same shape as the ground floor? Because I can only add rooms on the second floor but I have to keep in line with the shaoe of the floor below it.
It is possible to make the second floor smaller than the ground but you cannot make the second floor bigger. The only way to make it bigger is to add a balcony to the empty space on the second floor.
Hi, in the player submitted houses in the architect tab, there is a house that is several stories tall, but part of it is only one story. I want to do this, but can’t figure it out or find it online anywhere. Do you know how to do it?
I had a look at this house and the one story part of it isn’t connected to the rest of the house, this is the only way to do it otherwise it will all be several stories tall
How do i make the 2nd floor smaller than the ground floor?
The only way you can do this is by adding a balcony to the extra area upstairs otherwise it will be the same size as the ground floor.
How do you add stairs outside? Does there have to be a balcony connecting to a door on the 2md floor?
Thanks!
If you want your sims to get into the house from the balcony then yes you will need a door connected to the balcony but you definitely need a balcony to be able to add the stairs outside. I have made a video on tips to adding stairs outside if you need some more help: https://youtu.be/I_UGFL0NU6Q
I bought an architect home and my sims never had a problem going up the stairs to the second floor but after the update yesterday, my sims now refuse to go up. Has anyone else noticed this problem as well?? Do you think it’s a bug or are there new terms now on what sims can/cannot do before certain quests are completed?
btw, Thank you so much for this blog! It has been SO so helpful. 🙂
This was a glitch but it was fixed for most of us in an extra update, you may need to go to the app store where you downloaded the game from and check there aren’t any updates for the game, if there is install the update and your sim should be able to use the stairs again 🙂
You’re welcome, I’m glad it helps!
Is there a limit to the number of floors for downtown homes?
Yes, 2 floors is the maximum.