In Spain (or at least where I live) "escaleras" means stairs, and "escalera" means both depending on context. "Escalera de mano" is the ladder-specific word. "

In Spain (or at least where I live) "escaleras" means stairs, and "escalera" means both depending on context. "Escalera de mano" is the ladder-specific word. "Voy por la escalera" sounds fine to me if you're taking the stairs. EDIT. Another example: when a building is divided in two stairs (left and right) we mark it as "Escalera Izquierda" and "Escalera Derecha".