Bespoke Staircases – The Process

If you are living in London, chances are your home is a terraced house with low ceilings and an outdated wooden staircase. Replacing the existing staircase is often considered expensive and difficult thing to do. Fortunately, if done properly, installing a new staircase in your house can be an easy and affordable process bringing many benefits to your dwelling.

Define the budget

First thing to do is determine the budget for your staircase. A simple metal staircase starts somewhere around £9000, considering that price will increase depending on materials and level of detail. Be sure to allow budget for the demolition of the existing stair (if any). Once the budget is set it’s time to decide the shape.

Choose a suitable staircase type

You don’t necessarily have to go to a professional designer in order to choose the right staircase for your home. Before you contact the staircase specialist it’s good practice to do some online research for president projects. Be sure that you have selected at least 5 relevant images so you can better convey your idea do the designers. Depending on the available space and head height there are the following different staircases to choose from

Straight Stairs

The most common and affordable type of all staircases – a simple straight flight of stairs, which is connected only at the top and the bottom. Each step has the same depth and the same height which decreases the risk of tripping and falling. This type of staircase is best suited for houses with generous layout as they require enough linear space.

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • Easy to design and build
  • Space under the staircase can be designed to be utilized as storage or study
  • Good for transporting larger objects up and down (sofas, beds etc)

Cons:

  • The upper level is directly visible from the bottom of the staircase
  • There is a restriction imposed by the safety standards of the Building Regulations regarding the number of steps that a staircase can have without a landing (max 17)
  • It’s potentially more dangerous as there is nothing to interrupt the falling
  • It’s requires a lot linear space, especially if the ceiling height is more than 2.5m

L & U Shape Stairs

In order to save space and satisfy the Building Regulations, L and U-shaped stairs are used for small domestic projects all over the world. They use a landing or a winder to introduce a bend in the staircase. The difference between both is that the U-shaped are changing the direction of the stairs by 180 degrees and the L-shaped ones by 90. Those staircases are ideal for the corners of the room, using the walls for support and reducing the linear space occupied.

Pros:

  • Privacy for the upper level is increased
  • In case of falling the fall will be interrupted, reducing the risk
  • Less space than straight staircases

Cons:

  • Difficult to transport large piece of furniture
  • Usually require support in the landing and the return points
  • More complex and expensive than a straight staircase

Spiral & Helical Staircases

This type of staircase has a luxury look and if designed properly can become the focus of a space, impressing any visitors. The main difference between the helical and spiral stair is that the former occupies a helix around a void and the second is a helix around a central pole. These staircases use the so called tapered steps which is a step with depth from front to back of a tread and does not overlap with the next tread. The steps have width that grows proportionally from the centre to the outer side.

Pros:

  • Can be a focal point of the room with its attractive design
  • They create a sense of light inside the property
  • Spiral stairs occupy very little space
  • Helical staircases give a luxury feeling to a room especially when complemented with attractive balustrade design

Cons:

  • Usually restricted width which makes in difficult to transport furniture and can usually accommodate only one person at the time
  • Difficult to design and build
  • Expensive
  • Spiral staircases are often very steep

Get in Touch

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a consultation to discuss staircase designs for your property, contact our team now. We also have lots of useful information on our FAQs page. To get in touch, call 020 8004 9635 or send a message to sales@ddclondon.co.uk

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