Altering Steep Stairs
Hi Everyone
We are in the process of purchasing an 1890's semi to renovate and sell on. Along with standard refurbishments, our plan is to move the bathroom upstairs by splitting the front bedroom in half, creating a utility off the kitchen, and altering the stairs to reduce their steepness. Currently they are like climbing a ladder, something I believe would put off a lot of buyers.
I'd love to do the simplest of adjustments (for cost and time reasons), keeping access to the 3 bedrooms above in a similar alignment. If this could also result in the kitchen/ diner becoming more open plan that would be a great bonus! The ideal solution would be flipping the staircase 90 degrees to hug the dining/ living wall however, there's not enough space (please ignore my drawn on stairs there). Our current working solution is to keep the stairs' original placement but wind them back on themselves 90 degrees in some sort of square spiral arrangement. The house will be sold on so has to comply with building regs and I'd like to avoid the super tight spiral staircase to keep it user friendly.
I love how people see things differently so it would be great to hear any ideas you might have?
Thanks for your time!
Comments (25)
Sophie
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Steep Victorian staircase.
Comments (1)Good hand rails make you feel safer. They do not have to be chunky just firmly fixed. If necessary becuse of noise use as thin a carpet as possible, fixed kelim runners useful. Floor paint has a particularly non slip quality and design choices endless., check Houzz....See MoreMoving a staircase.
Comments (2)Hi Meganrose - whilst you seem to have a lot of space at ground floor level, there is not space at the top of the stairs to shift the staircase along in its present form. The key thing to remember when changing a staircase is that you will always need the same number of risers (steps) - on plan it looks as if you could theoretically "take 4 risers off the bottom of the staircase" and put them at the top in the form of winders. - see attached sketch over your plans. This would mean that your required headroom would shift and you should be able to take the "chunk" back for bedroom 3. You will also gain further space in the entrance hall which may be useful as coats storage etc(?) With this alteration, the steepness of the stair would remain unchanged, however as you will be rebuilding the staircase you could also take the opportunity to change the slope of the stair (by increasing the treads and or decreasing the rise - it is the combination of the tread and rise that determines the slope or steepness of the staircase). How much this can be done depends on the available space which is impossible to tell on the given plans; a measured survey would need to be done to work this out accurately. To comply with Building Regulations, 2R + G should be within 550mm and 700mm; which means that 2 x the riser dimension plus the going dimension (meaning clear tread dimension) should like within these figures. Hope this helps! good luck. Liz...See MoreDesign Dilemma! 1960's bungalow - where to extend/alter?! Help!
Comments (1)One option...See Morestaircase alteration thoughts
Comments (16)Morning all! Well so far I have spent 3 days stripping and sanding this staircase 😒 It’s like a dust factory in the bedroom now 😱 Onto filling all the holes etc this morning then it’s ready to paint. I managed to burn a lot of the wood unfortunately using the heat stripper as the spindles are so close that it was hard not to! So I can’t leave any as bare wood which is a shame. Even if it managed to chemically strip old remaining stain out. So my next question is re painting! Would it look odd all being a darker grey?? Ie to match the skirting and woodwork? It might be too much work to try and paint the spindles in white and also hide the burn marks 🙄 so it easier to be all one colour. Shame it can’t be left wood as it really warms the room up (which is white and blue/grey)...See More
Jaq Cualey
4 years agoSophie
4 years agoSophie
4 years agoSophie
4 years agoStairs in the dining room are currently 2570 long x 1110 wide including both internal walls of dining and kitchen. Internal measurement of stairs is 780
Dining fireplace. Stairs entrance is around the corner
Sophie
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoJaq Cualey
4 years agoSophie
4 years ago
Current working plan, not to scale. Projection of stairs in to room is approx 1.5m. Need to get an accurate measurement of the front door to stairs, might feel too cramped. Might make the lounge feel too cut off but it is a victorian cottage so maybe a snug lounge with stove is ok? Without spending loads, I think it will be difficult to keep it all feeling open!?
Sophie
4 years agoJaq Cualey
4 years agoSophie
4 years ago
First floor. Stairs go up vertically at an angle of 56 degrees and meet at a landing which is 900 long x wide 780 enabling access to all 3 bedrooms. No winder. Downstairs is concrete, lounge is floorboards. Upstairs is all ceiling joists and floorboards.
Sophie
4 years ago
Rear bed
Master bed with alcove. Headboard of bed is on stairs wall
Potential ensuite/ dressing room off master bed
Front bed, potential area of bathroom (to right of fireplace)
These are all I have for the moment..!Jaq Cualey
4 years agoJonathan
4 years agoI think your measurements are off and given you need at least one meter in front of the front door your stairs are going to intrude too much into the largest reception and the bedroom above.
Sophie
4 years agoSophie
4 years agoyellieb
4 years agoyellieb
4 years agoJaq Cualey
4 years agoJonathan
4 years agoMy earlier diagram was showing Sophie’s stairs.
This diagram shows J:aCualey plan with landings added at the top.
Sophie -Do check that open treads will be allowed by your buildings regs officer before you build the stairs that way.
Jonathan
4 years ago
Jonathan