New stair case .

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Notch, Jul 26, 2020.

  1. Notch

    Notch New Member

    On a new build ,floor to ceiling is 2400mm and joist are 220mm with 18mm for floor board giving ground floor to top first floor 2638mm. Generic stairs have a total rise of 2600mm . If you install from top down . There will be a 38mm gap between the bottom or stairs and ground floor?? How do you solve this . Sorry I'm a bricky not a chippy. Thanks
     
  2. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    You can't, it's too much and they're too short, realistically it's a new flight required. If the amount was 15-20mm less you could pack the stairs up and tile the ground floor or use a laminate/ engineered/solid wood floor and tuck it under the stairs but you would have to consider how that would affect all the door thresholds, especially the front door. The only other way is to acrow the joists and cut the 38mm out of the blocks they bear on so the joists drop down which will be a nightmare for you, but if thermalites it's doable.
     
  3. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    DO NOT DO what the cowboy that built my house did.

    I always wondered why the treads seemed to have a slight slope ... and at present I am looking to replace them as there are knackered. I measured floor to floor and also the individual risers/treads to confirm and checked and checked and checked.

    Floor to floor is 2695 however, all risers plus treads came in at around 2650 ... a difference of 45 which was more than measuring error. At build, the cowboy had lifted the top by 45mm to make it fit and it is sitting off vertical and at teh bottom they are sitting on corners which have flattened over time.

    Plenty of suppliers out there who will make a staircase to your sizes with equal risers. They are not much more that the off the shelf generic and are usually better quality.
     
  4. Notch

    Notch New Member

    I will most likely give my specifications and have them custom . I wondered how bigger developers did it given that block size , joist height and spec lead to 2638 , do they have custom?, in which case a staircase 38mm to short for the most common new build spec wouldn't be generic .
     
  5. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    It could have been a measuring error with yours in the context that the stairs were built to allow for a 2" screed on the ground floor which never materialised and they inexcusably fitted them anyway. There's lots of possibilities, all of which a bodge. The telltale sign of an incorrect rise are the newel posts leaning in towards the string or out away from them.
     
  6. Notch

    Notch New Member

    Scrap that. Screed will be the way to go . I didn't realise I could go above dpc with it ,problem solved
     
  7. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    It depends what site you're on, type of house, depth of joist used, finish floor covering, screed on either floor, finish ceiling height determined at design stage, total rise worked into brick and block gauge, there are lots of factors. Bigger developers usually have a FFL measurement and brickies are expected to get within 10mm of it, on smaller or better sites the FFL and total rise is taken once the joists are installed and the stairs made to suit.
     
  8. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    Suspended floors ... and those were badly done too. It was certainly a cowboy and have seen more of his work.
     
  9. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    38mm is too thin for sand and cement, you may need to look at liquid or bonded screed. If you raise the subfloor your door openings and lintels will be too low, unless you lift them.

    Plus, it will most likely cost more in time and money to mess about with screed than it would to commission a new staircase.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2020
    Notch likes this.
  10. Lawrie Spark

    Lawrie Spark Member

    A custom built staircase is often quicker to fit than an off the shelf one because more of it is pre-cut with the newels for example.
     
    rogerk101 likes this.
  11. rogerk101

    rogerk101 Screwfix Select

    I recently bought a custom u-shaped redwood pine staircase from Stairbox. It has closed risers and with newel posts but no balustrades. The whole thing was created to the milimetre and delivered to my door for £850. It was quite a challenge to fit, but that was a building site issue rather than a manufacturing issue. It is rock solid, not the slightest bit of noise or deflection as people ascend/descend. Stairbox also has a fantastic designer on their website so you can REALLY go to town with customization, configuration and visualization.

    A straight or L-shaped staircase would be a lot cheaper then my U-turn one.

    The measures being mentioned above would probably all cost more than the price of fitting the perfect staircase, and the end result would be brilliant.
     
  12. SoManyUserNames

    SoManyUserNames Active Member

    Online staircase companies are probably alright for closed string stairs, I have fitted handrail to a few cut string stairs and the newels have been set in the wrong place, even when they have supplied the spindles.
     

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