6 Essential Tips Before Building A New Staircase

A beautiful staircase can be a focal point of any house. When designing your stairs, you have endless options that’ll suit your preference. You can start from the material you’ll be using down to the last design aspect since you have all the freedom in choosing how you want your staircase to be.

Things To Remember For Your Staircase

There are essential things you should know before making decisions for your stairs. It’s important to ponder upon these to ensure the best quality for your home.

Consider these factors in building your staircase:

1. Get To Know The Jargons

You should primarily familiarize yourself with the terms being used in staircase constructions to prevent any misunderstanding between you and the builders. Here are the basic ones:

• Riser: This makes the staircase go vertical.
• Tread: This is where you rest your foot.
• Rise: This pertains to the height of each step.
• Nosing: This is the overhang at the top of the tread that helps provide additional space.
• Stringers: This supports the side of the staircase.

It’s also important to know the National Construction Code (NCC) requirements for the size of the riser, tread, and balustrade’s design. It’s crucial to check these details with your contractor.

You also have the option to have your stairs closed or open. When it’s open, the riser or parts of it are concealed. When you opt for a closed staircase, you can’t see through the stairs as the riser is solid.

Knowing these terms will help you in choosing types of stairs. It’ll also prevent further confusion once installation has begun.

2. Figure Out How The Structure Will Be Attached

You also need to know how the staircase will be connected to the existing structure below it. This is crucial to know when you’re getting your staircase done. You can have your stringers connected to the existing framework if you want your stairs to be sitting along with the structure, but you should know this may not always be possible.

You may need a secondary support system if the stairs you want are an overhanging deck. Thus, changing the top of the stringers is also another option.

When you’re building your staircase, double-check the security and safety of it.

3. Find A Suitable Location

An essential thing you have to think about when building a staircase is where to put it. This is the first decision you have to consider because it’ll primarily affect every design decision that follows.

Think about the stuff you keep upstairs you need frequent access to. Also, consider how often you’ll be using the stairs. Your staircase should be easily accessible from the main entrance and the living areas.

Also, your staircase shouldn’t use extra space other than what it’s intended for. Thus, it should not occupy unnecessary areas, especially if you’re not planning to make your staircase the house’s focal point.

4. Decide On The Size

Size is another variable you need to consider. In deciding how wide or how high your staircase should be, consider these things:

• Measure the riser total. This is the height from the floor below up to the level of the floor above.
• Compute how many risers you need. A regular staircase should have a riser of around 200 mm and a total rise of 2,600 mm. Knowing this would make you figure out how many steps there’ll be.
• Figure out the measurement between the faces of each riser. This is called the ‘going,’ and 220 mm is the lowest you can go when it comes to it.
• The width of your staircase doesn’t necessarily have restrictions. However, the regular width ranges from 800mm to 900mm. Make sure it isn’t too wide or too narrow.

5. Figure Out Which Material To Use

There is a variety of materials you can choose from in the market. You have the option to use marble, concrete, steel, or timber. The decision is up to you and your budget.

Other people have also started using glass. If you want something fancy but minimal, glass might be the right choice. However, this can be more expensive.

Whatever material you decide on using should work well with your house’s overall design. Also, you should not sacrifice safety and durability for the sake of aesthetics. Pick something that satisfies both.

6. Pick The Proper Design

The staircase’s overall design comes down to the arrangement of your house and your taste. Before deciding which style to go for, consider the layout.

When it comes to the design arrangement of the staircase, there are three main types you can choose from:

• Straight: This is the simplest and least expensive design which takes less effort to walk upon.
• Turned: If your house’s layout requires a turned staircase, consider dividing the flight of stairs into two. Bridge them together in a quarter turn, landing with a 90-degree angle.
• Spiral: If you’re short on space, building a spiral staircase is the most practical for you. But if you have adequate space to your advantage, you might want to steer away from this. Due to its size, you may not fit bigger furniture when climbing up or going down the stairs.

Also, don’t forget to think about the tread of your stairs. You might want to consider a closed tread if storage is something you’ll need. With this, you can put an underneath drawer and hide it if necessary. In this way, you combine practicality and sophistication.

Conclusion

Should you decide to make your staircase the star of your home or just another utility you’ll use, you can’t deny the importance of being equipped with the correct information.

It’s not enough to know only the design or style you want. Knowing all the critical aspects of making a staircase will help you make the right decisions. In this way, you can guarantee a staircase you’d enjoy looking at and is comfortable to walk on. This also makes sure you avoid having any regrets after the construction is done.