If you are undertaking a significant renovation project in your home that will have you replacing or reconfiguring your staircase, and especially if you’re going to be starting from scratch with brand-new construction and need to find the best place to build your staircase, you are going to want to pay close attention to all of the inside information we are able to offer you below.
Though stairs look pretty simple and straightforward (and not that involved whatsoever) nothing could be further from the truth.
There are quite a few different things that may not be so obvious that you’ll want to account for what it comes time to design a new staircase for your home, and you want to be sure that you move through this project with both eyes open so that you can complete it successfully with a staircase that adds utility and style to your home.
Take a holistic overview of your floor plan
The thing about designing a new staircase for your home is that much of the “heavy lifting” for its new location is going to have already been done for you by the positioning of all the other architectural elements in your floor plan.
It’s very unlikely that you’re ever going to be able to determine “THIS is where I’d like my new staircase to go” and then build the entire home around that decision unless you are starting from scratch, and even then you’re going to want to consider all of the other architectural and floor plan elements to determine if it allows the home to “flow” as effectively as it could or as effectively as it should.
By taking a holistic overview of your entire floor plan (including all of the floors that are going to be impacted by this staircase) you’ll be able to find the perfect spot for your staircase with next to no real difficulty whatsoever.
Consider the construction materials and design aesthetic you are most interested in
The next step in this process is determining the staircase design and aesthetic’s that you’d like to shoot for with your new staircase and especially the kinds of construction material that you are most interested in moving forward with as well.
Many people are going to look for a very utilitarian staircase that gets them up and down in a home with no real difficulty, but others are going to want to make sure that their staircase has the same kind of visual impact (if not on quite as grand a scale) as the world famous staircase in the movie Titanic.
You’ll also want to think about the overall style of the staircase you are interested in creating as that is going to be a major determining factor in the type of construction materials you use.
If your home is of ultramodern construction you’ll likely want to go with a very minimalist and “free-floating” staircase design that utilizes metal and possibly concrete or glass, but if you are talking about a more classically inspired space you’re going to want to be looking at solid oak throughout and a tremendous amount of detail and wood carving.
Make sure that the framing can withstand the extra load placed upon it
It’s also important to remember that when you reconfigure your staircase you’re going to be cutting into floor and ceiling joists, and all of that construction framing is going to need to be reconfigured and reinforced to handle the extra pressure placed upon it.
Constructing the actual staircase is going to be relatively simple and straightforward once you have taken care of all the details we outlined for you above – it’s reconfiguring, redesigning, and reinforcing the existing framing that’s going to take the most time and consideration.
If you are going to be tackling this project all on your own this is where you’ll want to do the bulk of your research. If at any point in time you feel like you are in over your head you are going to want to call in the professionals to at least handle the rough framing so that you know that your home is safe, your staircase is safe and stable, and that you are going to be able to go forward without any potential for danger in the future.
Knockout these three elements when you’re getting ready to design a staircase for your home and you won’t have much to worry about! If you still required help and guidance contact the experts at Pear Stairs and Wonkee Donkee Richard Burbidge, and they will professionally guide you, to creating the perfect staircase for your home!
