Buying A Staircase: Advice & Tips

Design Aspects, Materials And Styles
What's Allowed, What You'll Pay And Useful Links

A contemporary, architectural staircase will maximise light in your home as well as providing a seamless link between floors. Here's how to choose the one that's right for your living space.

By Andrea Dean

Glass stairs. Credit Bisca. Buy a staircase

Design Aspects
The staircase is often an afterthought, but an attention-grabbing, state-of-the-art structure will give your home visual impact and create a striking first impression. Although you can buy staircase kits for straight runs and spirals, it's worth investing in a one-off, bespoke design that's tailor made for your interior, and will be your only choice if your staircase has to fit into an awkward or non-standard space. An architect, joiner or specialist staircase company will be able to advise you on what style suits your space best - and whether your staircase should be repositioned.

'It is essential to really think through where the stair starts from, where it lands and how this will affect the circulation in your house,' explains Hugo Tugman, co-founder of Architect Your Home.

'Builders will often see the most straightforward solution in terms of how easy it will be to build but not necessarily the best design solution for your home.'
Hugo Tugman, Architect Your Home.

'Sometimes moving a staircase can change the flow of your house and allow you to expand your property in ways that you didn't think possible. For example, changing the direction of a staircase can mean you can add bedrooms above your garage if you have one. Again if you are thinking of doing something like this it's worth taking advice from an expert - builders will often see the most straightforward solution in terms of how easy it will be to build but not necessarily the best design solution for your home.'

Materials And Styles

Wood may be the material that springs to mind, but concrete, steel and glass are also used in contemporary designs. Or try combining wooden treads with steel or glass balustrades - simply stunning! Before you make up your mind, think about who's going to be using the stairs as hard, unforgiving surfaces and minimal banisters without much grip may not be the ideal solution for households with children or elderly relatives.

The most common types of staircase are straight, curved, and cantilevered, where just one side is fixed into a supporting wall, and banisters are glass or slimline steel, giving the effect that the stairs are floating in space. This is a fabulous way to make your home look bigger, but you'll have to do without storage underneath, so consider which is more important to you. Spiral stairs take up little room so suit limited spaces, and are often found in mews houses and period cottages, as well as in loft-apartments. However, they're not child-friendly and it's tricky carrying furniture up and down them, so go for alternative styles if you can.

You may not need to replace your staircase completely to give it a more up to date look. Think about opening up your hallway by replacing solid banisters with stainless steel or wooden spindles, or opt for a minimal approach with sheet glass sides - though you'll need plenty of elbow grease to keep them gleaming and fingerprint free.

A DIY Option

If you are considering removing the cost of hiring a specialist fitter by installing your own staircase, but aren't too great on the DIY front, there are solutions out there. Richard Burbidge's Fusion stair parts range is an example of a consumer-friendly DIY product. The separate parts easily fasten together by way of connectors, reducing the number of required joinery cuts from an average of 125 down to just seven. Such an approach also opens up a wider spectrum of design options, allowing you to integrate a range of materials, including glass, chrome, nickel and wood.