crispy_wafer Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 My searches aren't yielding too many results, so this is a general question to see if we have any build hubbers that have had a central spine, or steel spine staircase fabricated for their projects. It's something I'm giving consideration too, nice thick chunky timber treads with metal balustrading. So, what ya got, show us some pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 We didn't have ours fabricated, it came as a kit of a million bits. Is this what you had in mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy_wafer Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 29 minutes ago, Gone West said: We didn't have ours fabricated, it came as a kit of a million bits. Is this what you had in mind? That's nice, I've seen something similar from dolle - i think! but, no, I'm looling at something like below, big steel with plates and treads. Been speaking to local fabrication shop who have done a few, costs come in a smidge lower than the cut string chunky oak staircase I was eyeballing, so now I'm torn between slightly traditional or modern. I dont care for led strips in the treads though, just not my thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 Someone like these guys can probably make you what you want. There's a bunch of them (fabricators) on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265716170596 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304667947333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 On 14/10/2024 at 10:50, crispy_wafer said: My searches aren't yielding too many results, I love these... I think they are elegant. SE wise pretty straight forward to design. The rub is the connections at the top and bottom of the steel rectangular section.. often the builder leaves a mess with inadequate vertical and torsional (twisting) support. I know a bit but I think.. it's Marc.. that knows more.. can't remember his online name off the top of my head. For me it's the detailing and marrying it all up with the glass. SE wise the rectangular steel section is made to a tolerance.. not always straight and true. To that you weld stubs, tolerances here and on top of that, plates to take the treads. You can get distortion in the plates from the heat of the weld. All that adds up. Ok so now you have some steelwork that is a bit off here and there. Usually you can't see that. What is important is how you mount the treads level as that draws the eye if they are off level.. There are a few ways of doing this, shims, resin and so on. As a DIY project this is all perfectly achievable at reasonable cost... provided you put a bit of time and effort into it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted October 17 Share Posted October 17 We have two steel spine staircase, designed on the mighty Sketchup and fabricated by the local metal fabricator. The main staircase is relatively easy going and then there is a smaller, steeper one up to the accessible loft storage space. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy_wafer Posted October 17 Author Share Posted October 17 Nice! I think we'll be favouring steel rather than glass on the balustrade, flat plate or bar with timber capping, something like below. I've not been in contact with the fabricator this week. Just sleeping on the decisions for a week! or Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted October 23 Share Posted October 23 Just noticed these guys have a variation too: https://edgebespoke.co.uk/gallery/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted October 25 Share Posted October 25 On 17/10/2024 at 08:09, crispy_wafer said: Nice! I think we'll be favouring steel rather than glass on the balustrade, flat plate or bar with timber capping, something like below. I've not been in contact with the fabricator this week. Just sleeping on the decisions for a week! Just be aware.. structural steel can be a bit " industrial" looking. What a lot of these photos don't show is the welds and what it looks like from underneath. Structural steel is not as straight as you think and fabricators will work to standard tolerances.. tread mounting plates distort for example which can lead disappointment if you want a high end look on the cheep. These things can look great but they do need an understanding about fabrication costs.. for the different levels of quality and how the treads marry up and fit to the steel. For me my job is to explain the different nuances to Clients. Yes get a local fabricator cheep but make sure your tread / glass / tension wire / balluster design can cope with what the fabricator can reasonably be expected to deliver. For all.. SE wise these things are too hard in principle to design. Box sections are favoured as they can resist the twisting effects better than say an I beam. But if you want something like this it's best to let your SE know at an early stage of the design so they can build in strong points of support at the top and bottom of the stairs. There are lots of folk on BH that have asked questions too late in the day about connections at the top of the bottom of the stair that have to resist twisting (torsion) effects.. which can be quite onerous in terms the top and bottom connection design. Also you need to think about newal posts.. stiff points for mounting glass and tension wires for example. It's not diificult or horribly costly if you plan early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy_wafer Posted October 28 Author Share Posted October 28 Appreciate your words @Gus Potter, I'm slightly embarrassed to comment as I don't know much about this kind of thing (staircase fabrication), naively I'd get a design on paper, double check dimensions, colour etc then pay me money and fingers crossed it'll turn up ready to fit... the company I have been chatting with deal with a joinery firm to deliver whatever timber treads I want to meet spec and are regs compliant (<100mm gap), They'd also fabricate the steel balustrade too. Kind of assumed (naively) that the welds and steel and powdercoating would turn up and be good for a domestic setting? As I'd not designed this in from building design, I already have a floor buildup of 7mm screed on top of 150mm pir, above block and beam floor. UFH pipes are in the floor, but only 4 right down the middle, so a footplate could be made wide enough to straddle and if needed mechanical fixings can be made without any bother. Top of the stairs is a 1m wide double 225*47 trimmer What sort of other questions ought I be asking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miike Posted October 29 Share Posted October 29 I've looked into this previously. Plenty of metal fabricators can make the spine and a fairly reasonable price - I was quoted <£3k for a steel spine with 2 bends in it. They wanted to wait until the final floor finishes were in to measure though. They said they had 3rd party providers who could provide the oak treads + glass balustrades, and they could install the stairs. This added massively to the cost - came to about £15k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy_wafer Posted October 29 Author Share Posted October 29 12 minutes ago, miike said: I've looked into this previously. Plenty of metal fabricators can make the spine and a fairly reasonable price - I was quoted <£3k for a steel spine with 2 bends in it. They wanted to wait until the final floor finishes were in to measure though. They said they had 3rd party providers who could provide the oak treads + glass balustrades, and they could install the stairs. This added massively to the cost - came to about £15k. About the same for the steel fab, with a single winder. Treads at about 200 ish per, and a steel balustrade at about 1300. Wooden capping to the steel balustrade not costed yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted October 29 Share Posted October 29 This is one I had fitted in a project about 17 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted October 29 Share Posted October 29 6 hours ago, miike said: I've looked into this previously. Plenty of metal fabricators can make the spine and a fairly reasonable price - I was quoted <£3k for a steel spine with 2 bends in it. They wanted to wait until the final floor finishes were in to measure though. They said they had 3rd party providers who could provide the oak treads + glass balustrades, and they could install the stairs. This added massively to the cost - came to about £15k. Less than 3.0k is achievable for say the steel work with one winder. The biggy is the finishes.. solid oak treads and glass. If you are a fan of LVL (basically thick ply wood) and want a contemporary look.. like Ikea say but bespoke then you can save loads on the treads and afford to make the odd mistake if doing DIY! . The glass ballustrade.. you can't compromise on that as it is for structural safety first and foremost. To finish though folks.. as I've said before build / design into your structure strong fixing points if you want a stair like this. Tell your SE early you want this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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