Barney12 Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Hi All Im just trying to work out what we're doing about stairs. After much deliberation we're not doing anything 'fancy' and will just go for a well made solid white wood quarter landing staircase. It's between two stud walls so not much in the way of balustrade either. So to my question: What's the accepted 'wriggle tollerence' when measuring up? 5mm all round? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 When we had the staircase made for our last house, the joiner insisted on coming to measure the opening, and floor to floor height. He was not trusting anyone elses measurements and wanted to be sure it would fit. HE then decided what tolerance to apply. It's not just ensuring it fits the space, also check the rise, going, width and angle all meet building regs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 11 hours ago, ProDave said: When we had the staircase made for our last house, the joiner insisted on coming to measure the opening, and floor to floor height. He was not trusting anyone elses measurements and wanted to be sure it would fit. HE then decided what tolerance to apply. It's not just ensuring it fits the space, also check the rise, going, width and angle all meet building regs. Thanks. Was intending to fit ourselves so not an option I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Just now, Barney12 said: Thanks. Was intending to fit ourselves so not an option I've got. I fitted it myself. The joiner just wanted to avoid the "it doesn't fit" complaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 If it's got a winder in it then get a set out square or similar and then make sure the opening is perfectly square. If not, use the smaller of the dimensions as you can pack out the space. 5mm on each wall is usually adequate for packing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Rob, we bought our stairs from Complete Stair Systems. The total tolerance was less than 5mm, and we had one measurement 10mm out so I had to do some careful surgery to accommodate this. The build order was almost unique -- a bit like doing a Sudoku or Rubik's cube, but without an assembly manual. I did the entire fit myself. I had zero confidence that a typical joiner would be up to the job. The final look is fantastic and my only complaints are quibbles that probably only I would notice. Everyone else says they look amazing. We are not over two years since the MBC slab was laid and we're just commissioning our bathrooms. Our top stair went in about 4 moths ago, but Jan and I made a conscious decision to defer putting in the stair to the first floor until pretty much the last thing. We are still using our temporary stairs here. But that's because the temporary stairs are just as functional and we didn't want to be hauling building materials up an extremely expensive custom oak staircase. The extra 5mm error was because we did the measurements before boarding out and we didn't allow for the pink plasterboard in the safety corridor being 2.5mm thicker than the stuff we've used everywhere else. So my recommendation is to make a decent temporary staircase that will work for the duration of the internal 1st and second fit. I made ours with the odds and sods left over by the MBC guys, so it cost nothing. It only took a day to make and erect, and it's as functional as the final staircase. Measure your staircase and order after boarding out and plastering. That way you can easily work to a tolerance better than 5mm. Leave putting in the stairs as late as possible, because there's no point in getting them damaged by material haulage during second fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSS Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 @TerryE, that's a coincidence. We too used Complete Stair Systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thanks @TerryE Interesting comment re measuring and fitting 'after' boarding. The last place we did we (it wasn't me who fitted it) fitted the staircase to the stud walls and then plasterboarded to it. I quite liked this approach as it reduced the visible thickness of the 32mm stringer. But then we do intended to have painted stringers and then carpet. Please don't ask me why we're having carpet, it involves a woman's logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandAbuild Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 We've just placed an order with Wooden Stairs. They came out to survey the stairwell with their laser Flexijet kit. This produces a 3D model that is then used to create a 3D CAD design for inputting directly into the CNC cutting machine. I believe it is accurate to +/-2mm. The survey was done with the stairwell boarded out, but not skimmed. they will allow for this. All sounds very impressive - we wait to see the results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 14 hours ago, Barney12 said: The last place we did we (it wasn't me who fitted it) fitted the staircase to the stud walls and then plasterboarded to it. I quite liked this approach as it reduced the visible thickness of the 32mm stringer. But then we do intended to have painted stringers and then carpet. We had this as an option, but I decided that I preferred not having the movement interface at the visible meet of the wall and stringer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Just now, TerryE said: We had this as an option, but I decided that I preferred not having the movement interface at the visible meet of the wall and stringer. Our last stair was fitted like that. The stringer was fixed directly to every stud and then the plasterboard fitted. There was no "movement interface" Nothing moved and the joint remained closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 9 hours ago, ProDave said: Our last stair was fitted like that. The stringer was fixed directly to every stud and then the plasterboard fitted. There was no "movement interface" Nothing moved and the joint remained closed. I'll have to remember his for the next house we build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 You can design your stairs and see them in 3d at http://www.stairbox.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 (edited) I found the easy to use 3D model that Pear Stairs use great. You just put in your dimensions and stair type and they send you a link to a rotatable 3D model of your staircase. Helps a lot when trying to visualise how a particular design will look. We used Pear Stairs, and would recommend them, as their service was excellent and they weren't particularly expensive, either: https://www.pearstairs.co.uk/staircreator/ Edited September 15, 2017 by Nickfromwales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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