Staircase, when did you put it in and what material?

[CalvinHobbes]

So thinking we need to order the 2 staircases. What is the most price effective wood that is decent? We would love walnut but presumably that is eye watering in terms of cost Also at what stage do they go in? Is it when you are watertight? Baskill will have our windows and doors installed 2nd week April.

 

[Simon R]

I'd put it in as late in the project as you can manage. Our went in after we had painted! Yes, it was a pain having to use ladders internally but it was also good having the open voids to get material in.

Installing as late as possible also reduces the risk of damage which you want to avoid as much as possible. Fontanot do a very nice modular stair case with a good rage of different wood treadles which won't break the bank. It's a very minimalist staircase so not to everyone's taste .

[nod]

On our previous build we used oak with pine spindles and fitted them about a fortnight before we moved in

[Conor]

We put oak in but regret not putting in a standard timber staircase and carpeting it. I'd say well end up putting a carpet runner on it this year. 

 

FYI with a local company for basic hardwood staircase you are looking at £5k upwards.

[MikeSharp01]

  On 25/03/2024 at 06:10, Simon R said:

Yes, it was a pain having to use ladders internally

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We are not at the stage for the final stairs but to avoid the ladders we put in a cheap stair from Howdens to make it more comfortable getting around the building.

[Kelvin]

  On 25/03/2024 at 06:21, Conor said:

We put oak in but regret not putting in a standard timber staircase and carpeting it. I'd say well end up putting a carpet runner on it this year. 

 

FYI with a local company for basic hardwood staircase you are looking at £5k upwards.

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Why do you regret putting in an oak staircase? 

[Kelvin]

Ours is solid oak. We also had a debate about when to put it in. To some extent it depends a bit on the layout of your staircase and ease of access. Ours is tight and hidden behind the kitchen wall so felt it was better to put it in a bit earlier rather than leaving it until the end. I ‘clad’ it in hardboard to protect it. 

[Iceverge]

Pit ours in before spray painting. Bit of a PITA masking it. 

 

Pine and painted and carpeted. Oak handrails and popular spindles. 

 

Pleased with the carpet. Would do the same again. Oak is fine. Maybe a lighter wood would be nicer. 

 

[Bramco]

  On 25/03/2024 at 06:35, Kelvin said:

Ours is solid oak. We also had a debate about when to put it in. To some extent it depends a bit on the layout of your staircase and ease of access. Ours is tight and hidden behind the kitchen wall so felt it was better to put it in a bit earlier rather than leaving it until the end. I ‘clad’ it in hardboard to protect it. 

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Ours went in pretty late and like @Kelvin it's oak and it was protected by cladding with hardboard and plastic sheeting.

 

We used a light (whiteish) Osmo oil on ours - no carpets  - everyone to their own..

 

Simon

[Pocster]

Late as possible . Ours recently went in after 11 yrs ☺️

[dpmiller]

Throw up temporary, or buy a cheap set from the merchants, until the very last moment. Ours is a value-engineered lashup of oak, mdf, and something else solid-woody, but it really finished the hall off, very pleased with it.

[Kelvin]

  On 25/03/2024 at 07:51, Bramco said:

Ours went in pretty late and like @Kelvin it's oak and it was protected by cladding with hardboard and plastic sheeting.

 

We used a light (whiteish) Osmo oil on ours - no carpets  - everyone to their own..

 

Simon

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Can you share a picture ig your whiteish osmo coating. I have both that and clear and can’t make my mind up what to use. The floor upstairs is oak and whiteish so either had to match or be very different. 

[Bramco]

  On 25/03/2024 at 09:23, Kelvin said:

Can you share a picture ig your whiteish osmo coating.

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Hi Kelvin, take a look on our architects web site, lots of photos -> https://lhc.net/projects/ashcroft-creating-a-low-energy-family-home/.   If you need a close up I can sort one out.

 

Our 1st floor is also light oak (Brooks - Balmoral Rustic Oak).  So the stairs and the 1st floor flooring were both treated with the Osmo oil.

The Osmo oil label just says '3040 White'.  We're not keen on oak when it goes orange, hence the use of Osmo white oil.  We bought some samples from Osmo and tested them out on a sample of the wood that would be used for the stairs before deciding which one to use.

 

Simon

[CalvinHobbes]

Thanks, right so we have some time then! Thanks for the advice.

 

Unfortunately we need non standard height

Set 1 is Ground Floor - First Floor:
15 No. Risers at 199.4mm
14 No. Goings at 220mm
Total Rise = 2991mm
Pitch = 42 degrees

 

Set 2 is 

Staircase to comply with Technical Booklet H (2012). Stair to have
clear width of 800mm and be fitted with handrail at a height of
900mm above pitch line above stair. See General Notes.
Ground Floor - First Floor:
15 No. Risers at 199.4mm
14 No. Goings at 250mm
Total Rise = 2991mm
Pitch = 39 degrees

 

I know its a bit odd but frankly it gives our grown up kids a separate area and access

[Originaltwist]

I did a write up on a modern floating design along with some details on the geometry - might be useful.

https://wordpress.com/post/originaltwist.com/1927

[Kelvin]

  On 25/03/2024 at 10:01, Bramco said:

 

Hi Kelvin, take a look on our architects web site, lots of photos -> https://lhc.net/projects/ashcroft-creating-a-low-energy-family-home/.   If you need a close up I can sort one out.

 

Our 1st floor is also light oak (Brooks - Balmoral Rustic Oak).  So the stairs and the 1st floor flooring were both treated with the Osmo oil.

The Osmo oil label just says '3040 White'.  We're not keen on oak when it goes orange, hence the use of Osmo white oil.  We bought some samples from Osmo and tested them out on a sample of the wood that would be used for the stairs before deciding which one to use.

 

Simon

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That’s a lovely house. 
 

i’m not keen on the orange either. 
 

I’ve done a trial to match the floor. It’s close. Top left is painted using the Osmo white. Bottom left is the floor. Top right is Osmo clear and bottom right is untreated. 
 

[Bramco]

  On 25/03/2024 at 12:23, Kelvin said:

That’s a lovely house

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Thanks - the architect is our son - we think he's done us proud!

 

  On 25/03/2024 at 12:23, Kelvin said:

Top left is painted using the Osmo white.

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That's about what ours looks like - I think there were 3 coats on the stairs, not sure about the floor though.

 

Simon

[shuff27]

My chippies made a sturdy temp staircase out of scrap timber (mainly left over from the timber frame package) for £200 & installed it shortly after the plasterers had finished the final skim coat.  The design more or less mirrored what I wanted for my permanent staircase, albeit with narrower treads.

 

They came back about a week before we moved in to remove the temp 2 flights of stairs & install the permanent ones.  I kept the same half landing as it was already in the correct position (laid vinyl click flooring on the board, same as on the GF) & they attached a hardwood fascia to the pine.  Where the temp stringers were removed there were just a few small areas of bare plaster to paint.

 

My staircase is made from ash by a local joinery, with glass balustrades - I didn't want oak (too common!) so I visited their workshop to look at various hardwood samples.  I've left the ash untreated as I prefer that look & don't have young kids or pets to worry about.

[Kelvin]

Ash is lovely. We had a table made from ash. 
 

[Thorfun]

  On 25/03/2024 at 06:27, MikeSharp01 said:

We are not at the stage for the final stairs but to avoid the ladders we put in a cheap stair from Howdens to make it more comfortable getting around the building.

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we used Stairbox for that cheap temp staircases. sadly funds are so scarce now we're near the end that i think the temp staircase will be painted and kept for a while until we can afford the final one.

[Blooda]

We put a temporary starcase in. [got it free as the supplier of the final staircase was ripping one out the next day, after he came round to measure up.

Our final one is Oak [oak veneered MDF in places], but we have a runner up the centre.

We fitted almost at the end [it sat in the lounge wrapped up for over a year.], tiled most of the floor, then fitted the stairs [the bottom stair is delivered loose], finished tiling and then fitted the bottom step.

 

Ours is still one the website. See below.

 

I think they now do installation, which I would recommend as our joiner, me and the mrs lugging the oak stair case about was not a pretty site  . 

 

 

 

 

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I called into an engineering workshop re the balcony and whilst looking at the plans said he could build our main staircase (it has a turn in it) for 2k plus. It's tempting, it would never creak. We had one years ago and it was carpeted. Great job. I asked would it satisfy building control, he said yes. Tempted. Also I guess could put it in as soon as floor was down? Like it wouldn't mind a knock.

Edited March 31, 2024 by CalvinHobbes

[Declan52]

I used softwood for the main timber and painted it white and used oak treads  to make it a bit more fancy. 10 years in and both are holding up well. It kept the cost down a fair bit as well. 

I used a temp staircase until the last few days to stop the nice one getting wrecked. Just made it out of 6*2.  Wrapped the oak treads in carpet to protect them until the day we moved in.

[Shoestring]

So late to the party here, you probably already have your stairs! Just in case it's helpful; we went oak handrail and treads and softwood painted risers and spindles.  We used Pear Stairs and they were really good, love the quality, our carpenter is a god too, so that helps!  We had a non standard height too & needed the staircase in in order to start upstairs so we wrapped all the handrails in bubblewrap (from all our various packages) covered that with cardboard and put strips of vinyl flooring cut and stuck together with duck tap for each tread.  My only regret is I would like to have painted the spindles and newells before they were fitted as it's mighty fiddly and time-consuming.  The stairs were preserved really well under all the protection (from adhesive, plaster, paint & tea) and I have used Fiddes hardwax oil in clear for the handrails and treads.

[Dave Jones]

stairbox

 

top quality oak 2500