Stairs & Staircases

Staircase Considerations

Staircases have many variations, allowing you to find the perfect design for the style and functionality of your home. You could have a staircase in a particular fashion, from classical designs to traditional types, contemporary and modern stairs. Then you can choose the materials that will most complement your home or business, including timber, stainless steel, wrought iron, and glass, or a combination of materials. You also have to consider who will be using the stairs and how much traffic it will be subjected to in order to determine how wide the treads should be and what type of handrail to add.

Then there is the style of the balustrades (horizontal, vertical, decorative, panels?) and the material it is made of. You would have to think about the space that they staircase will take up- should it be straight, curved, or spiral?

Straight Staircases

There are several types of straight staircases, depending on the number of flights, landings, and changes of direction in the design. A straight run stair is one without any turns or winders and with only one straight flight. A Two Straight Run Stair consists of two straight flights and one landing, but without any turns. A Quarter Turn Stair has two straight flights connected by quaterspace landing that allows for a 90° turn.

A Half Winding Stair consists of one flight with one half winder with a 180° turn. The Half Turn Stair also has a 180° turn, consisting of two flights connected by a halfspace landing. A Two Quarter Winding Stair consists of one flight with two quarter winders, each making a 90° turn. The Two Quarter and Three Quarter Turn Stair consists of one flight with two or three quarter winders respectively, the former making a 180° turn and the latter a 270° turn.

The Double Return Stair has one straight flight toa wide quaterspace landing and two side flights from that landing extending in opposite directions, making a 90° turn.

Staircase Terminology

If you’re planning on designing, building or even just hiring a stair building company, it is useful to have a handle on some common terms associated with staircases. From the different components of staircases, such as risers or treads, to elements such as balconies, landings, runners, spandrels and so on.

When talking in terms of staircases, a balcony is the open upper floor or landing. A consideration when adding a balcony is whether to use carpet or hardwood on the second floor. If the carpet is replaced with hardwood after the staircase has been built, the balcony balustrade may have to be removed to add the nosing.

The landing area can be at the bottom, top or midway in the staircase. It is generally used to allow stairs to change directions or give the user a rest. Although more expensive, intermediate landings allow stairs to take up less floor space, as well as give more privacy as people cannot look straight up the staircase.

The spandrel is the triangular space beneath the staircase if there is not flight of stairs immediately beneath. It is often converted into a closet for additional storage space. A flight of stairs is an uninterrupted series of steps, while a runner is carpeting that runs down the middle of the stairs.

Stair Measurements

Certain measurements that are important when building a staircase include the rise height, tread depth, total run, slope, headroom and walkline. The rise height is the distance from the top of one tread to the next, the tread depth (or going) is the length between the edge of the nosing to the vertical riser. The total rise of the stairs is the height between floors that the flight is spanning, while the total run is the horizontal distance from the irst riser to the last riser.

The slope is the total rise divided by the total run (also known as the rake or pitch). The walkline is the distance from the inner radius of a spiral staircase that people are meant to walk along.

Steps

Whether you are thinking of building a staircase and having one built for you, here are some helpful terms to know for steps. Firstly, a tread is the top part of the stair that you actually step on. The riser is the vertical portion between each tread. The nosing is the part of the tread that protrudes over the riser beneath like an overhang. The bullnose (or starting step) is the first step above the lower floor, which may be open on one or both sides. It may be wider than the other steps and rounded, and the balusters may form a semicircle around the circumference of the rounded portion in ofer to form a wider and more stable base for the end of the handrail.

Winders are steps that are narrower on one side than the other, used the change the direction of the stairs without landings. When there is a series of winders they form a spiral stairway. A stringer or stringer board is the structural element that supports the treads and risers. Usually there are 2 stringers, one on either side of the stairs. Stringers on open-sided stairs are often open so the treads are visible from the side (cut stringers). Trim is what is used to hide where the riser and tread meet.

Handrails and Balustrades

The railing system of a staircase consists of a handrail, volute, balustrades and newel posts. It is an important part of the staircase for both aesthetic and safety purposes. A handrail or banister is an angled portion for holding onto for stairs that are open on one or both sides. The volute is the portion of the handrail for the bullnose step, shapred like a spiral.

Balustrades are the vertical posts that support the handrail, also known as spindles. These are often decorative, and can be made of a variety of materials. Finally the newel post is a large baluster used to anchor the handrail, extending below the floor to the floor joists.