Stairs options

[mike2016]

Hi,

I'm undecided about the stairs I want. I like the look of oak and glass but I'm not planning on anything more than a basic budget would allow. Do I ask the builder to whack up a softwood staircase himself or is metal / concrete an option? The only other characteristic I'm after is quiet, a good solid no creaking staircase is a must! 

Any advice appreciated! 

 

[lizzie]

I saw a fabulous one recently in a 1960’s house (house is listed) was metal of some sort and the treads were terazzo looked ageless and very nice.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2018 by lizzie

[HerbJ]

Our stairs were designed and manufactured by a specialist stair manufacturer in Dublin - Jea Stairs, Colin Walsh.   colin@jea.ie - see www.jea.ie, 

The stairs were all assembled in the works, for acceptance, diassembled and shipped to the UK, with the glass balustrades delivered separately. 

They did a great job and Colin was very helpful. with practical advice and support. 

 

I attach a few photos
 

[ProDave]

A good compromise might be what we are using, the Burbidge fusion system.  http://www.stairpartshop.co.uk/acatalog/fusion_system.html

 

Get the stairs made with dwarf newel posts to match then buy the handrail system later.  The handrails are available in pine or oak, and you can either have chrome or nickel spindles or glass panels.  All easy to DIY install.

 

Our stairs came from stairbox and they were happy to supply with the suitable dwarf newel posts for the fusion system handrails.

 

Choosing something like this means you can leave the final decision on exactly what to have until a bit later.

 

Our stairbox stairs do not creak.

[Roundtuit]

Still finishing painting mine:  oak treads and risers, softwood strings and glass balustrade.  This was the best compromise between style and cost I could find:

 

 

 

It's a stairbox design, rock solid, and a third of the price of the steel/oak/glass design on my original wish list.

 

 

[Hecateh]

Another vote for Stairbox here.  Mine is the absolute basic, similar (but cheaper I think) to the ones some of you are using as temporary stairs.

 

Delivered exactly as specced and, though they couldn't give me a time, they were very helpful in giving advice as in 'Setting off from Goole around 8am and yours is the 4th drop.  

 

Joiner was very impressed by the quality for the price.

[ProDave]

These are mine from Stairbox, they must be the most basic you can get. The stringers will be varnished (have been now but not photographed) and they will be carpeted hence the mdf / ply treads. Note the dwarf newel posts ready for the fusion system handrails I linked to before.

 

[mike2016]

Great ideas - gives me ideas about how to achieve that I'm after. Thanks! 

[HerbJ]

My stairs are on the oak & glass end of your spectrum but JEA Stairs do all sorts of stairs - the stairs in their manufacturing facility are beechwood ply = and would be well worth talking to for something special in more economic materials. They have a CNC machine so can manufacture  to high standards.

 

[Simplysimon]

too modern for me, however, i really like these. i like the way they change shape as you look upwards

 

[Weebles]

When should the staircase be fitted?  I was thinking it would be near the end but our scaffold stairs are getting in the way and will have to be gone at some point. 

I hope that ours will be an oak tread finish with glass balustrade and oak handrail.  I was going to look at Stairbox and TK Stairs as recommended on this site.

Won't it all get completely trashed if we fit it too early?

 

 

[CC45]

I'm going to fit ours towards the very end.  Not going to risk it getting trashed.  We've got a home made temp one at the minute.

[Weebles]

27 minutes ago, CC45 said:

I'm going to fit ours towards the very end.  Not going to risk it getting trashed.  We've got a home made temp one at the minute.

How did you make your home made temporary one?  Any photos?

[CC45]

I just bought some 6x2 - cut them to length.  Screwed some timber pieces on them in parallel to the floor and then screwed some 6x1.5 on as treads.  No risers.  All screwed into our timber frame.  Nothing fancy at all but they are solid and easy to move up and down.  Not that proud of them that I took any pics! - hang ed found one:

 

 

[Cpd]

Just building a flight of stairs as well.... it’s in a shed and is for access to raised platforms. Went to my favourite builders merchant and has a snoop round the back of the stacks..... five lengths of 10x2 a bit wet and muddy but otherwise perfect. Got them for nothing, (well I give the boys a good cash gift once a year for  the Xmas party) next I salvaged half a dozen lengths of decking timber from behind another stack fir the treads. So  got all the timber and works are ongoing. Love a bit of salvage, will post pics when it’s done. 

[Weebles]

@CC45 They look mighty fine.  I think I would be proud of them.  Is your half way platform the permanent one or a temporary fix too?  We have a similar stairwell so standard temporary staircases (straight ones) don't fit too well.  You might just have inspired me to build some stairs......we have some timber kicking around.

[Onoff]

I just routed some 8"x2" I think it was with a simple jig and used the same for the treads. Glued and screwed (6x100s). I also put 3 bits of studding across. All I've got left is this short section:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Onoff

[vivienz]

I bought a set of temporary stairs from Howdens - £140 including delivery.  They've stood up to a good soaking from before the flat roof was done and plenty of traffic since.

[CC45]

Half way platform is permanent but easy enought to knock up anyway.  Few hours to make - an ideal evening job.  These have been in service for 3 years and all ok.  Make sure the gaps are even all the way. GFI

[recoveringbuilder]

Can I ask what sort of money we’re talking here oak and glass, since ours was priced within the kit price I don’t have a clue what price we’ll have been charged but they’re now wanting an extra £2k because of a mistake the architect made

[Weebles]

1 minute ago, Christine Walker said:

Can I ask what sort of money we’re talking here oak and glass, since ours was priced within the kit price I don’t have a clue what price we’ll have been charged but they’re now wanting an extra £2k because of a mistake the architect made

 

I haven't got anything costed up yet so I honestly don't know.  When I looked about 18m ago and got a rough quote it was around £2.5K total so a 2K extra bill sounds horrific.  I need to measure our space and then go to both suppliers and see what I can get.  The temporary ones will defer that purchase for a considerable time.  

[Jeremy Harris]

3 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

Can I ask what sort of money we’re talking here oak and glass, since ours was priced within the kit price I don’t have a clue what price we’ll have been charged but they’re now wanting an extra £2k because of a mistake the architect made

 

A lot depends on the shape of the stairs.  A single straight flight will be a fair bit cheaper than more complex designs.  We have a solid oak staircase with 10mm thick glass panels and oak newels and banisters.  We also have a matching glass panel and hand rail across the top of the landing.

 

 

This complete oak staircase, including the 10mm glass panels, cost around £2k, from Pear Stairs.  Lead time was around 6 weeks I think.

[PeterW]

Price it up yourself on Pears Stairs @Christine Walker

 

Easy to do and doesn’t need to be too accurate to give you a ballpark. 

[eandg]

On 29/10/2018 at 18:53, Roundtuit said:

Still finishing painting mine:  oak treads and risers, softwood strings and glass balustrade.  This was the best compromise between style and cost I could find:

 

 

 

It's a stairbox design, rock solid, and a third of the price of the steel/oak/glass design on my original wish list.

 

 

 

That looks great. We are currently designing on Stairbox and had been looking at something similar to this:

 

 

How do you set it up with the cut stringer like you have and spec the overhang (it might be that's only possible with closed risers)?

 

On a related note, has anyone used Stairbox and required a landing? We're needing a halflanding c. 2100x100 and want it to match the stairs as closely as possible. 

[Roundtuit]

57 minutes ago, eandg said:

 

That looks great.

Thanks!  I didn't use the design tool, they did the design from dimensions.  I think it was what they call the ClearCut design.  I had several phone conversations with them; definitely worth giving them a call to explore options but I don't think a half-landing will be a problem.