Ok so you need a New Staircase ?

Ok so you need a New Staircase but you have no Idea where to start ? The information on this page will hopefully help you in working out the steps you may want to take.

The Layout of the Staircase
What about the Head Room
Does my staircase need to comply with Building Regulations
What Style options do I have
Continuous Handrail or Post to Post
What Timber
Costs ?
How do I get a Quote
Why Choose Us

Staircase Layout

The first thing you need is the layout of the staircase, this is governed by your sizes and the rules set out in Building Regulations document K.

Are you going to design the stair layout yourself ? Do you have drawings prepared by your Architect? Is the staircase a Replacement Staircase?

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

Once you have established the rise the next step is to establish the number of risers required for this particular staircase, for a domestic staircase you need a rise between 190 and 220mm to stay within building regulations. The height of a riser on a standard staircase is 200mm you should be looking to get as close to this as possible.(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 now also know 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 the Trimmer Joist at the top of the staircase.)

The next thing you have to do is work out the tread size required otherwise known as the going, the going is the measurement from the face of one riser to the face of the next riser. The minimum going for a domestic staircase to comply with building regulations is 220mm and the pitch of a domestic staircase must not exceed 42º. Use the chart on the Rise and Go page to help you identify the correct Going size to suit your riser height. (Eg:- for a riser height of 200mm a going of 223mm should be chosen.)

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, For a main staircase I would suggest trying to maintain a width between 800mm and 900mm and I would not recommend a width of less than 600mm for a loft conversion.

Will a Straight flight fit?
Well you have the going size of each tread now and the number of treads required so you will have a total going length for the staircase, on top of this total going length you will need to add on the thickness of the top riser and the depth of the Nosing used in the construction of the staircase.(Our standard nosing size is 20mm, the standard riser thickness is 9mm making the add on 29mm, we suggest you use 30mm). The room you need at the top and the bottom need to be at least the width of the staircase, if you have a door opening in to the space at the bottom of the staircase you need to be 400mm away from the door when it is open, at the top you don't want any doors opening into this space at the top of the staircase, for more information on this look at the relevant pages in the Building Regulations.

A Straight Flight Wont Fit?
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 kite winder for this you need to allow approximately 900 x 900mm for a standard width staircase (860mm) in the corner, depending on your going and the width of your staircase the size of a 3Nº tread winder changes, a good guide for the minimum size is 750 x 750mm for a 600mm wide staircase, the next option is a 4º tread winder for this you need to allow approximately 1000 x 1000mm on a standard 860mm wide staircase, again depending on your going and the width of the staircase this size will change.

Headroom
You need a minimum of 2000mm of clear headroom above the pitch line on a domestic staircase to comply with building regulations (there is a slight relaxation on this for loft conversions look at the appropriate page in the building regulations).A typical size for your Stairwell is to have it the same size as the staircase layout, usually you wouldn't get away with a staircase being more than half a tread under the stairwell on a typical standard rise height staircase. 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.
Don't always rely on your architects drawings sort your stairs out while it is still possible to alter your stairwell as it could get expensive to alter it later.
If your staircase is going to go over your exiting set of stairs think about the headroom on the flight below also.
If you are trying to plan a staircase to go up into your loft a good place to start is in the loft this is because you are usually limited to where you can exit the staircase in the loft space due to the head room in the loft space.

We have a number of staircase layout drawings online you may find it easier to find the closest one of these to what you require, these drawings have detailed measurements as well as a 3d view to help you see what the staircase is going to look like.

Does your staircase need to comply with regulations or not?
If you are replacing your existing staircase and the current one doesn't conform with current building regulations then your new staircase can be as existing or better than the existing staircase.

If you have a new build property then Yes your staircase needs to comply with building regulations.
If you are having a loft conversion then Yes your staircase needs to comply with building regulations.
If you are putting your staircase in an extension then yes the staircase needs to comply with building regulations.
If you are turning your staircase around or relocating the position of your staircase the new staircase needs to comply with building regulations.

Now you have got a rough idea of the layout design of your staircase. use our online layouts to help you work our the staircase layout you require, To get a quotation let us know the closest layout you require and the dimensions you need to fit the staircase into.

How do I measure my Staircase ?

Choose a style ?

The choice of styles we can offer is unlimited but to keep prices low we have standard specifications for different types of staircases.
The starting point is a staircase with Standard closed strings and risers. Our standard specification is a quality specification using 32mm Engineered Pine Strings, 22mm Engineered Pine Treads and 9mm Plywood risers. You can have this specification with other timbers also.

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 etc, 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 something like the Stainless steel bar inserts .

Or something more bespoke like a Cut String staircase, these offer a very traditional look but there is allot more work in the construction of a Cut string staircase and the price reflects this.

Choose your opening step detail, maybe a simple bullnose step or a Curtail or a double curtail.
(we recommend 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 handrail with Square newel posts and Square spindles is the lowest cost option and is proving to be popular with people looking for a minimalist look, the next option would be for turned newel posts and turned spindles we offer a very wide range in this area. We can also offer continuous handrails where the handrails are jointed using a number of handrail fittings this also require turned newel posts and spindles. A new option for people who are looking for a contemporary look is the Fusion handrail system this offers a modern look without breaking the bank. If you are looking for a Stainless steel system with glass infill's we work with a couple of other companies that specialize in this area, but this is a Very expensive option

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

Choosing 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.
This is our entry level material and with us using engineered materials the quality of these staircases are unrivaled.
Parana Pine & Hemlock.
Parana pine as been the preferred timber for stair makers for many years it is a fairly hard wearing softwood and is readily available in timber sizes to suit staircase manufacturers, it varies in colour quite significantly but usually the face String can be selected to be light in colour to offer a close match to Hemlock, Hemlock is a Clear North american pine and is used by many Stairpart manufacturers to produce Stairpart's (Spindles, Newel posts, handrails etc) due to its stability.
Hardwood.
For people who like the look of dark Hardwood we currently offer Sapele and we also offer i wide range of stairpart's in Sapele also.
Beech.
We can offer staircases manufactured in Engineered Beech this is currently very popular, there is limited availability in traditional stairpart's in Beech but it is very popular with the Fusion Handrail System, we also offer a European Style staircase in the engineered Beech and this has the Balusters drilled directly into the strings and handrails.
Ash.
A light coloured hardwood limited availability on stairpart's.
Oak.
We manufacture our Oak staircases using American White Oak we have a selection of stairpart's also.

Costs?

Well as a rough guide if you had a Pine winder staircase costing £1000.00 you would be looking at around £1400.00 in Parana pine with Hemlock stairpart's , £2000.00 in Dark Hardwood, £2200.00 in Beech and £4000.00 in Oak this would vary down to the individual staircase and the amount of landing handrails required.

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.

Why Choose Us ?

Well at Stairplan we are commited to producing quality staircases, we have invested in the latest CNC technology and software allowing us to produce staircases with great acuracy, quality and efficiency, this continued investment as enabled us to compete on price with any manufacturer in the market whilst still offering a superior product. Where other large volume manufacturers have focused on Major House Builders and supplying staircses in quantity orders to set layouts and sizes, Stairplan has always focused on being able to produce staircases to individual sizes and dealing with individuals and smaller builders and joiners.
When it comes to fitting your new staircase you can rest assured that the installation will go smoothly as all Stairplan staircases are dry assembled in the workshop, (Many manufacturers claim this on the internet but feel free to visit us or the others).
We believe in making trying to make the installation as easy as possible for you or your installer, to do this aswell as dry assembling the staircase fully we deal with the cutting/jointing of most of the handrail components also this saves many hours on the installation compared to the work required on staircases supplied from typical UK stair manufacturers .
Materials - aswell as invesitng in our Plant and machinery we have also invested alot into being able to offer the highest quality of stair when it comes to the materials offered, even when it comes to entry level softwood staircases we are leagues ahead of the competition in the base material offered, the Engineered Pine we offer is sourced from Managed forests and gives you a quality pine redwood staircase compared to the whitewood that is offered by many I cant put into words how superior the Engineered pine is to whitewood only seeing one staircase next to another would allow you to understand the difference in quality.

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Where Do I Start ?

Staircases

Staircase Drawings

Stairparts

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