1.8 metre long stair spindles. (and other mezanine topics)

[ProDave]

Starting to plan the next job, developing the mezanine floor.  This is the mezanine floor accessed from my daughters bedroom and the floor extends above the adjacent spare bedroom.

 

 

That's very much an early under construction picture I will take a current one and post it shortly.

 

At the moment there is no fixed access, it has just been used as a storage platform putting a ladder up to it whenever needed.  There is currently no handrail.

 

Daughter wants wooden "spindles" that go floor to ceiling.  In this case "ceiling" is the apex of the room and is 1.8 metres from the mezanine floor.  She wants floor to ceiling spindles rather than ending with a handrail at handrail height.

 

So I wonder do any of the stair parts suppliers sell long spindles like this, or is it a case of trying to buy say 1" square planed timber and making your own (no doubt with a lot of waste)?

[Jenki]

one option might be to look at getting a bespoke metal fabrication made, maybe to include the stairs as part of it, but it wont be cheap.

Or maybe use mop stick handrail vertically, as these are bigger diameter,. at 1.8m you want to ensue they don't bend.

or go frameless glass?

 

 

[ProDave]

Some more work and some up to date photos.

 

Major development is I have installed some stairs to access the mezanine.  It is built with a cantilevered overhang to bring the mez. to the centreline of the roof.   After much deliberation a staircase solution that did not intrude too much into the room could not be found without cutting a chunk of the overhang away, so that is what we did.

 

 

For anyone interested the stairs we chose are these.  https://www.loftcentre.co.uk/dolle-graz-space-saving-stair-kit-dark-grey

 

We chose these as we could not be certain how they would actually fit and these are so much more versatile than just getting a straight flight from the likes of stairbox or similar.  As it was it took quite a few iterations to get the turn at the bottom to work around the flue pipe.  The stairs come with a metal handrail system that is yet to be fitted in this photo.

 

So that brings me back to protecting the rest of the mezanine.  This photo show the edge that I have to make some banister system for.

 

 

It's about 3.3M long and the height from the floor to the ceiling ridge is 1.7 metres.  My daughter would like spindles that go floor to ceiling along this section so I now need to visit some timber merchants and sawmills to see what they can offer.

 

I am not entirely sold on a timber solution for this.  The stair handrails are grey painted steel.  If I could find grey painted metal spindles that might work, I am even thinking of round wardrobe rails, if they could be bought in grey or just painted grey.

[ProDave]

I called in at the local TP today, knowing they normally have a wall of various planed timber and came back with a length to experiment with.

 

It's a finished (planed) size of 45mm by 35mm and comes in 4M lengths which will each do 2 spindles with not much waste.

 

 

Just one cut and fixed to test the idea.  Notched at the bottom and screwed into the end of the floor structure.  In this picture the top is not fixed yet, but the plan is to drill the end of the post and the ceiling and locate it with a dowel so a hidden fixing.

 

This is probably the smallest timber you would want to use over that length and seems reasonably solid.  they will need a bit of sanding and the corners rounding a bit then painting or varnishing.

 

I await our daughter to get home and give her approval before I go and buy some more.  We also need to decide what spacing to use. Too close and it will resemble a prison cell.

[ETC]

No disrespect - but do those stairs comply with the Building Regulations? Look a wee bit strange.

[Iceverge]

We did something like this. 

 

 

The joiners used 45*45 popular I think. No issues with any bending but it was secured in the middle and by the pigs ear handrail too.

 

With hindsight would have gotten them to round the corners of the bannister. 

 

Also the pigs ear handrail traps your fingers in the angle between the bannister if you're not careful. 

 

A conventional bannister would have had better grip but looked worse. 

 

[ETC]

3 hours ago, Iceverge said:

We did something like this. 

 

 

The joiners used 45*45 popular I think. No issues with any bending but it was secured in the middle and by the pigs ear handrail too.

 

With hindsight would have gotten them to round the corners of the bannister. 

 

Also the pigs ear handrail traps your fingers in the angle between the bannister if you're not careful. 

 

A conventional bannister would have had better grip but looked worse. 

 

Why two handrails?

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, ETC said:

Why two handrails

I had a lodger who had had a stroke. What was good for going downwards did not help much on the way up.

 

[ETC]

Grand….didn’t think the stairs were wide enough to need two handrails under BC but that makes sense. Thank you.

[Iceverge]

3 hours ago, ETC said:

Why two handrails?

 

 

 

Mainly to pretend I was in Star Trek.

 

Accessibility also. My granny needed two in later years. No harm in getting the job done now. 

[ETC]

Very Charles Rennie Macintosh…..

[ProDave]

All finished. A total of 12 spindles made and fitted.

 

 

I was then set another challenge.  I needed to trim the gaps between where the spindles attach to the edge of the cantilevered section of the floor.  I was just going to cut rectangles of plywood but I was told that's no good, it needed something more solid that would bring that edge out level with the outer edge of the spindles.

 

That set me the challenge to find some planed timber with a finished size of 120mm by 32mm.  I didn't hold out much hope of finding anything, but searching first amongst all the offcuts in the garage showed that was exactly the dimensions of the decking timber from the local sawmill.  So one more length of decking purchased, sanded and varnished with the "bottom" smooth side showing and the upper ridged side glued to the wall.

[NickK]

Hi @ProDave. I’m not building anything right now and just looking for inspiration. I like you quirky mezzanine but am little confused with building regs for these spaces. Does your mezzanine and stair comply or is just used for storage rather than ‘living? Thanks 

 

[Andehh]

Useful thread!! 

 

Building control have approved our Mezzanines (similar to OP's) with a ladder and handrail. Mezzanines installed by builder already. 

 

I am trying to get architect to ask them about a super compact staircase with right angles corner half way up. I figure safer then standard ladder and handrail... But we will see their verdict. 

 

I'll try and remember to post photos tomorrow. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Andehh

[Andehh]

How did thing's work out for you Prodave? 

[NickK]

I have recently started catching up on GD House of the year. Some houses are truly “out there” but one think that struck was the stairs in small house categories. Some seemed so steep so I wondered how they were even considered compliant.

[Conor]

6 minutes ago, NickK said:

I have recently started catching up on GD House of the year. Some houses are truly “out there” but one think that struck was the stairs in small house categories. Some seemed so steep so I wondered how they were even considered compliant.

The regs for stairs to single rooms or storage areas are different... Glorified ladders.