Dan's Papers - October 6, 2006

Stairways come in all different styles and shapes. They can be straight, flared, curved, or spiral. They can be made of wood, metal, stone, or combinations of these materials. In most situations, a staircase is an integral part of your home's design and style. Stairs may be steep or gradual, narrow or wide, purely functional or grand and showy. Some are built in place by woodworkers, finish carpenters or stair makers; others are factory manufactured, shipped to a building site and installed by carpenters.

A stair's design is heavily affected by its function. Therefore, a stairway leading from your front foyer to the second floor, and which receives the most up and down foot traffic, is going to be far more stylish than a stairway leading down into your basement. But, regardless of type, all stairs have the same fundamental parts, and it is how these parts are built and combined that gives a stairway its style and individuality.

Stairs are built according to basic rules and principles intended to make them safe to use. These rules, governed by building codes, stipulate the permissible heights of risers, depth and width of treads and construction, placement of handrails, and similar concerns. It is important to check with your local building officials to see which codes you will be required to follow when building your staircase.

Let's identify some of the qualities of these various types of staircase.

Spiral stairs can be recognized by their supporting central post. They are described in degrees of rotation, and may turn more than 360 degrees, one full rotation, from bottom to top. Often associated with the typical commercial style metal staircase, spiral stairs can be built from many other materials. They can provide for a very efficient use of floor space when accessing attics, lofts, second floor studios, or multilevel decks. Because of the small radius of some spiral stairs, minimum tread width at the walk line and baluster spacing need to be confirmed before building. It is important to note that when ordering stairs that turn, such as spiral stairs, you should pay special attention to where measurements must be taken for code acceptance. Many codes demand a 9 to 10 inch tread depth (minimum) at a point 12 to 14 inches from the narrow side. You'll also find restrictions on head-height clearance and railing construction and placement.

Flared stairs are wider at the bottom than they are at the top. Most often, the first several treads and risers are flared, on one or both sides, and the balance of the staircase is straight or L-shaped. Flared stairs give the visual impact of circular stairs at a much lower cost. Requiring less floor space, a flare can fit in areas where a circular staircase cannot.

A circular stair generally sweeps in a broad curve from one level to another. They are definitely grander in style than an L-shaped or straight staircase and are more expensive to build. Most circular stairs are custom designed for high-end houses and installed during house construction. Some come as completely pre-assembled units.

A straight stair stretches from a lower to an upper level in one straight run. Most homes use straight stairs as they are fairly easy to build. The main advantage of a straight staircase is that is doesn't require much floor space. Though they can represent significant cost savings over circular flared stairs, they are less visually impressive overall.

The choices of material to be used for your staircase are endless. For a traditional, elegant look, you might want to stick with the hardwoods such as oak, walnut, or maple. You can incorporate any diameter, degree, balusters, turned balusters, different top rails, landings and railings you want. Stainless steel staircases can be strikingly beautiful and will add architectural interest to any home decorated in contemporary style. Stainless steel spiral stairs can be fabricated to any diameter and style according to your specifications. Stone stairs traditionally accompany stone floors. The steps are usually clad with stone slabs, and the straight or winding staircase has a concrete frame. Massive stone structures are also used. They are either self-supporting or reinforced structures.

The perfect staircase design incorporates safety, comfort, and visual and functional integration into the design of your room. Most often, these elements are simple to put into practice. Sometimes they take some careful thought, and even a little bit of creativity.