Where do I Start ?

So you want a new staircase but you don't know where to start ?

Usk Valley Joinery manufacture a complete range of wooden staircases from the entry level trade range of staircases to bespoke feature staircases. We offer class leading quality and competitive pricing. We deliver our staircases nationwide across the England, Scotland and Wales.

The Easiest way to get a quotation is to email your stair plans or a sketch and let us know the style / model you like.
Do you need our Stair Measuring Service ?

Do you want a Installation service ?
 

Doing it yourself

The first thing I do when sorting out a new staircase is to measure the total rise, the total rise is the measurement from finished floor to finished floor level. ( Floor to Floor) measuring 

Once I have established the rise the next step is to establish the number of risers required for this particular staircase, for a domestic staircase you ideally need a rise between 190 and 220mm to stay within building regulations. (Eg :- 2600mm Rise (floor to floor) divided by 13 would equal 200mm, equaling 13Nº risers.) Or just let us know the floor to floor measurement on your enquiry.

Now you have the number of risers required you also have the number of treads required, you require 1Nº less tread than the number of risers. (Eg :- 13Nº risers 12Nº treads.)(The top tread is only a nosing that attaches to your landing.)

The next thing you have to do is work out the tread size other wise known as the going, the going is the face of one riser to the face of the next riser. The minimum going for a staircase to comply with building regulations is 220mm and the pitch of a domestic staircase must not exceed 42º. 

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Width - there is no restriction with how narrow you can go with a staircase but the width of a standard flight of stairs is 860mm and I would not recommend a clear width of less than 600mm even for access to a single room.

Headroom - You need a minimum of 2000mm of clear headroom above the pitch line of the stairs, so take care when your planning on where to put your staircase especially when your going into your loft and make sure you stair well opening is big enough.
There are allowances made for staircases in loft conversions - 

Dont always rely on your architects drawings sort your stairs out while it is still possible to alter your stair well as it could get expensive to alter it later.

Corners - When it comes to corners you have a number of options the simplest option is a 90º quarter turn landing for this you only need to allow the width of the staircase, the next option is a 3Nº tread winder for this you need to allow approximately 900 x 900mm (for a standard 860mm width staircase) in the corner depending on your going and the width of your staircase, the next option is a 4º tread winder for this you need to allow approximately 1000 x 1000mm again depending on your going and the width. We will set out the winder on your staircase in the order process.

For information on the regulations regarding winder corners look at the staircase regulations page, the 2 main areas to take into account are the minimum 50mm going around the inner winder corner and the winder walk line going, on standard and wider staircases the 50mm minimum going around the winder is usually the main constraint, on narrower staircases this will change to the winder walk line going which is the size you have where you step in the center of the winder treads.

When designing loft staircases many thing need to be taken into account, the best place to start is where it is best for you to exit the staircase in the loft, look at the headroom you have in the loft space and this will generally govern where you need the stair to finish in the loft, from there you can work out if your loft staircase can possibly go over the existing staircase or if you need to put the staircase in another location. You also need to consider the headroom between the staircase and the slope of your roof and if you go over a existing staircase you need to maintain the headroom between the two staircases. On a staircase over staircase scenario it is best to have the same layout on the staircase above as the staircase below where possible.

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Now you have got a rough idea of the design of your staircase draw it and then send it to us for a quotation to uskvalleyjoinery@gmail.com