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Where do I Start ?

So you want a new staircase but you don't know where to start ?

Stairplan manufacture a complete range of wooden staircases from the entry level trade range of staircases to bespoke feature staircases. We offer class leading quality and competitive pricing. We deliver our staircases nationwide across the England, Scotland and Wales.

The Easiest way to get a quotation is to email your stair plans or a sketch and let us know the style / model you world like from our staircase ideas page or stair Models Guide. Alternatively you can call us with one of our stair plan layout references from our online library and let us know the style for a instant quotation over the phone.

Are you going to design the stair layout yourself ? Or Use our Design Service
Do you need our Stair Measuring Service ?
Do you want a Installation service ?
Visit our Showroom

Doing it yourself

The first thing I do when sorting out a new staircase is to measure the total rise, the total rise is the measurement from finished floor to finished floor level. ( Floor to Floor) measuring

Once I have established the rise the next step is to establish the number of risers required for this particular staircase, for a domestic staircase you ideally need a rise between 190 and 220mm to stay within building regulations. (Eg :- 2600mm Rise (floor to floor) divided by 13 would equal 200mm, equaling 13Nº risers.) Or just let Stairplan know the floor to floor measurement on your enquiry.

Now you have the number of risers required you also have the number of treads required, you require 1Nº less tread than the number of risers. (Eg :- 13Nº risers 12Nº treads.)(The top tread is only a nosing that attaches to your landing.)

The next thing you have to do is work out the tread size other wise known as the going, the going is the face of one riser to the face of the next riser. The minimum going for a staircase to comply with building regulations is 220mm and the pitch of a domestic staircase must not exceed 42º. Use the Rise and Go page to help you with this.

Does your staircase need to comply with regulations or not ?

Width - there is no restriction with how narrow you can go with a staircase but the width of a standard flight of stairs is 860mm and I would not recommend a clear width of less than 600mm even for access to a single room.

Headroom - You need a minimum of 2000mm of clear headroom above the pitch line of the stairs, so take care when your planning on where to put your staircase especially when your going into your loft and make sure you stair well opening is big enough.
There are allowances made for staircases in loft conversions - read more in Building Regulations Document K
Dont always rely on your architects drawings sort your stairs out while it is still possible to alter your stair well as it could get expensive to alter it later.

Corners - When it comes to corners you have a number of options the simplest option is a 90º quarter turn landing for this you only need to allow the width of the staircase, the next option is a 3Nº tread winder for this you need to allow approximately 900 x 900mm (for a standard 860mm width staircase) in the corner depending on your going and the width of your staircase, the next option is a 4º tread winder for this you need to allow approximately 1000 x 1000mm again depending on your going and the width. Stairplan will set out the winder on your staircase in the order process.

For information on the regulations regarding winder corners look at our staircase regulations page, the 2 main areas to take into account are the minimum 50mm going around the inner winder corner and the winder walk line going, on standard and wider staircases the 50mm minimum going around the winder is usually the main constraint, on narrower staircases this will change to the winder walk line going which is the size you have where you step in the center of the winder treads.

When designing loft staircases many thing need to be taken into account, the best place to start is where it is best for you to exit the staircase in the loft, look at the headroom you have in the loft space and this will generally govern where you need the stair to finish in the loft, from there you can work out if your loft staircase can possibly go over the existing staircase or if you need to put the staircase in another location. You also need to consider the headroom between the staircase and the slope of your roof and if you go over a existing staircase you need to maintain the headroom between the two staircases. On a staircase over staircase scenario it is best to have the same layout on the staircase above as the staircase below where possible.

We have a number of layout drawings online you may find it easier to find the closest one of these to what you require, these drawings have detailed measurments aswell as a 3d view. Staircase Layouts | Quarter Landing staircase layouts

Now you have got a rough idea of the design of your staircase draw it using our Stair planner and send it to us for a quotation.

choosing the staircase design for you

Choose a style ?

Standard closed string with risers ( this is the best value for money)
Visit the Showroom.
Open Plan ( no risers, good for letting light through, more expensive than standard closed staircases) Open Plan staircases have a restriction on the space you can have open (max 100mm) you can get over this in a number of ways the most common way is to have a riser down stand this can be straight or curved ect, the next option would be to have an upstand on the back of the tread this would provide the same effect, then you have the option of somthing like the Stainless steel bar inserts.

Our premium staircases like the X-Vision and the Townsend have been specificaly designed to work within the UK building regulations and maintain the impressive style they have been designed for without the need for add ons to achieve building regulations.

Or something more bespoke like a Cut String or even a Curved Staircase. (cut string very nice usualy with a continuous handrail system. Curved string prices start at around £11000.00 + vat)

Contemporary staircases like the X-Vision and Z-Vision staircases are becoming increasingly popular the Staircase ideas page is the way to decide on the model - Ideas

New Models and Specifications Page

Choose your opening step detail maybe a simple bullnose step or a Curtail or a double curtail.
(we reccomend a bullnose step at the bottom of most staircases for two reasons 1. the bullnose step makes the entry newel post more sturdy. 2. it can make your hall look like it has more space because the newel post is set further back by one tread.)

Choose a handrail system post to post or continuous, maybe Stainless steel with glass infills You choose.
( the most cost effective handrail system is the post to post option)
Glass balustrades are very popular now look at the ideas page for staircases with Glass.

Choose your Spindles and Newels
With so many choices to make take your time now to browse the site and decide on what you want.

In the current market Square and Stop Chamfered Balusters are the most popular with traditional turned or detailed spindles now accounting for a fraction of sales.
Chrome and Stainless steel styled balusters are now also decreasing in popularity to the square timber balusters and glass balustrade designs.
Black metal balusters are also an option.

Choose a Timber ?

Think about what other timbers are used around the house?.
Think about the look you want to achieve?.
Are you going to carpet the Stairs?.
Are you going to paint part of the Stairs?

Pine.
Oak.

Ash.
Black Walnut.
Sapele Hardwood.
Beech.

Currently the most popular Hardwood for Staircases is currently OAK

Black walnut is growing in popularity in premium staircases. The Deep rich grain offers pure luxury.
On certain stair modles we offer a choice in oak where you can have the oak in a select or character grade.


Costs?

Well prices vary subject to layout, dimensions material specifications and balustrade details so as a rough guide if you had a entry level Pine single winder staircase costing £700.00 you would be looking at around £1200.00 in our Newark style with select oak stairparts , £1500.00 in Oak with Engineered Pine Treads for Carpeting, and around £2000.00 in Oak with Oak stair treads, once the specification starts getting a little more detailed like the Kensington Staircase and the Boston Staircases prices would be around £3000.00, Z-Vision, Townsend and X-Vision Staircases would be £6500.00 to £15000.00 + VAT and further enhancements are available.

Please note all staircases that Stairplan Quote in Pine or Softwood are constructed using Engineered Pine, this is so we can guarantee the stability of the timber and provide you with a quality staircase.

Things to Avoid

When selecting the material for your new staircase it is wise to stay away from materials such a s Whitewood on the strings and MDF on the Treads this specification is commonly used on large building
projects but offers a limited life-span and a sub quality finish. - We are replacing staircases of this specification on a daily basis.
Whilst MDF treads on Traditional staircases can offer a short term saving on the price, there are a number of issues to take into account,
EG:-
> When MDF is exopsed to Water (Standard, Moisure Resistant and Exterior Grades) it will take on the moisture and swell, this can result in a staircase needing to be replacedin the event of a small flood.
> If the staircase is installed by someone who isnt familiar with the behaviour of MDF it is quite common for the installer to split the MDF when fixing the tread through the back of the Riser although this is usualy fine in the short term you will find problems in the future with creaking.

> With a MDF tread staircase you will need to have the staircase carpeted - when the carpet fitter nails on the gripper strips onto the treads you will quite often find that the carpet fitter as either split the front nosings or enhanced any issues with any splits at the back of the tread.
In short alot more care needs to be taken during the installation of a MDF tread staircase and the savings on this over a Engineered Pine tread are minimal.

Use our selection of drawings we have online to find the closest design to what you want. click here

 

Phone Stairplan on 01952 608853 for further details.

 

News - It is now possible to order Staircases online at Tradestairs.com , Huge savings can be made by ordering online

New - Online Staircase Designer

Stairplan = Staircases

Contact Details | Stairplan Workshop

Does your staircase need to comply with the building regulations or not ?

Well in most cases yes -
If you are installing a staircase in a New Domestic Dwelling - Yes
If you are installing a staircase in a loft conversion - Yes
If you have had an extension and need a new staircase - Yes
If you are changing the layout or position of your exisitng staircase - Yes
New Staircase in a Commercial or Public environment - Yes
Replacing your existing staircase as existing - No

Eo&E

Stair Measuring Service

We do offer a service where we will come out and measure your staircase, this service is offered with our Premium range of staircases, cost is subject to your location.
Upon a visit we would expect the stairwell to be formed ready so we can take the measurments for the design and construction of your staircase.

The measuring service is available on most of our staircases an additional cost is required for this service
once an order has been placed we can arrange a site visit.

Measure and Design
For a Visit before the stairwell is formed this is possible for us to come measure to enable us to design your new staircase and advise the size of the stairwell required, we would then require to carry our a second visit to confirm the phisical dimensions before the staircase is manufactured.

Phone 01952 608853
Let us know a guide to the Stair Layout you are looking for and the Stair Model you would like together with the Location of the project for a quotation.

Design Service

You can provide us with the dimensions you have and we will design a staircase from the information provided - example 1. Floor to Floor dimension in mm, 2. Stair well dimensions in mm, 3. Stair Direction, 4. Floor to ceiling height, 5. Any other obstructions like doorways.

Installation Services

We no longer offer a full in house installation service but once you have a quotation we can put you in
contact with a Staircase installer.

Show Room

If you are looking for a quality Staircase then we suggest paying a visit to our facility in Telford where you can see all of our most popular staircase specifications and you can also guage to quality of the product and see the company and people you are dealing with.
Whoever you decide to deal with in the staircase industry our advice is pay them a visit before making a purchase to get the true picture of who you are dealing with.

Take a look at the Showroom in a virtual tour

Want to visit Stairplan - Call 01952 608853

 
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