Stairs In Caulfield

A straight flight in a standard timber with a simple balustrade is the cheapest configuration and generally runs into the mid four figures installed. An L-shaped or winder stair costs more because the set-out is harder and there is more material and labour in it, and a cut-string stair with quality hardwood treads on show is more again, moving well into five figures. The balustrade is a large and often underestimated part of the total, priced per linear metre, and choosing glass over timber can add several thousand dollars on a typical flight. Structural work to create or modify the opening, if the floor above has to be trimmed, is a separate cost. We itemise the stair, the balustrade and any structural work as three lines.

Fabrication lead time is usually the longest part, typically two to four weeks for a made-to-measure timber stair after we have taken final site measurements. Installation of a straight flight is often a day, with a winder or L-shape taking two to three. The balustrade normally follows installation and takes another day or two, and glass balustrade is longer because the panels are made to measure after the stair is in. If we are also creating or trimming the floor opening, that structural work happens before any of it. We give you the whole sequence with dates at quote stage.

Stairs are checked against the National Construction Code, and the requirements are specific rather than approximate. Rise and going have to sit within permitted ranges and, critically, have to be consistent within a flight, because uneven risers are both a compliance failure and the most common cause of trips. No opening in a balustrade may pass a 125mm sphere. Handrails sit at a minimum of 865mm measured above the nosing line and one metre above a landing where there is a fall. We set out to those numbers rather than eyeballing it, and where your job requires a building surveyor's inspection we build so it passes without argument.

Yes, and it takes planning rather than luck, because for a period the household has no stair. We sequence it so the removal and installation happen in the shortest possible window, usually a single day for a straight flight, and we tell you honestly in advance what that day looks like. Access, dust and debris are managed with floor protection and containment, because a stair removal generates far more mess than people anticipate. If you have a second means of access upstairs, the job becomes much easier and we plan around it. What we will not do is take a staircase out on a Friday and leave it out over a weekend.

Creaking is almost always movement between the tread and the stringer or riser, caused by timber shrinkage over the years, glue blocks that have let go, or wedges that have loosened. It is very often fixable from underneath if the stair is open below, by re-gluing and re-wedging, and from above by screwing and plugging where it is not. Loose balusters are usually a fixing that has worked out of the handrail or the tread, and they are both a nuisance and a genuine safety issue on a stair with children. Both are repairs rather than replacements in most cases, and both are worth fixing properly rather than repeatedly tightening.

Timber is the traditional choice, suits period homes, is the easiest to repair, and is generally the most economical. Wire balustrade gives you an open, contemporary look at a moderate price, but it needs correct tensioning to keep the gaps inside the 125mm rule and it does require occasional re-tensioning. Aluminium is durable and low maintenance and works well outdoors and on decks. Glass gives you unobstructed sightlines and makes a small stairwell feel considerably larger, and it is the most expensive by a wide margin and it needs cleaning constantly. In a period home in Armadale or Toorak, timber almost always looks right. In a contemporary extension with a stair in the middle of an open living space, glass earns its cost.