Bespoke staircases, made in London
Set out from survey, cut for the opening it sits in and fitted by the people who made it. The first joinery anybody sees in a house.
A staircase doesn't allow for second chances. It needs to be crafted right from the offset
Every other piece of joinery can be adjusted on the day. A stair cannot. Every rise has to match every other rise to within a couple of millimetres, the going has to hold across the whole flight and the handrail has to arrive at the newel at exactly the right height. Get any of it wrong and you feel it underfoot for the next thirty years, even if you never work out why.
That is before the house gets involved. Floor to floor heights are rarely round numbers, the opening is rarely square and in a Victorian terrace the wall alongside the flight usually leans away from you as it rises. A stair ordered to the nearest standard size cannot absorb any of that.
We are cabinet makers. Every staircase we build is measured on site, drawn to the actual dimensions we find and made in our workshop, then fitted and finished by the same people. Treads, strings, balustrade and handrail arrive as one piece of work rather than three trades meeting in the middle.
The details cost almost nothing extra to make well. All of them are obvious when they have not been.
A staircase has to pass more than the eye
Stairs are one of the few pieces of joinery covered by Building Regulations, which is why a made staircase is drawn against the numbers before it is drawn against the room. These are the domestic limits we work within.
No single step in a domestic flight may rise more than 220mm. Every rise has to be equal.
The tread depth cannot drop below 220mm, which is what stops a flight feeling steep underfoot.
The angle of the flight is capped, so a tight opening is solved with winders or a landing rather than a steeper climb.
No gap in a balustrade may allow a 100mm sphere through, which sets the spacing of every spindle.
Figures are the current domestic standards for England and Wales and are given as the rules we build to rather than as advice. Your local building control officer has the final say on any alteration. We are happy to deal with them directly.
Let's define your vision before we dive into the details
Our staircase ideas page collects the details worth borrowing, from oak treads against painted strings to balustrades drawn fine enough to see through.
Flights and the parts that go with them
One run from floor to floor, which is the version that shows the joinery most clearly because there is nothing to interrupt the line of the string or the handrail.
A flight broken by a landing, which is often the only way to fit a compliant stair into a London hallway without pushing the pitch past what is allowed.
Tapered treads turning the corner instead of a landing, which buys you floor space downstairs at the cost of a harder setting out job.
Treads with no riser between them, carried on a spine or a stringer. The structure comes from the engineer, the joinery comes from us.
Spindles, panels or glass with a handrail shaped to the hand rather than bought by the metre. Often the only part of an existing stair worth replacing.
Cupboards, drawers or a cloakroom built into the space beneath the flight, planned while the stair is being made rather than added years later.
Before you commission
Can you replace a staircase without taking the house apart?
Usually. Most replacements come out and go back in through the existing opening. The flight is made in sections in the workshop so it can be carried in. We will tell you at survey if the access makes that impractical.
Can I keep the stair and just change the balustrade?
Often the best value work we do. A sound flight with a dated balustrade can be transformed by new spindles, a new handrail and newel caps, at a fraction of the cost of a full replacement.
Do you handle building control?
We build to the current domestic standards and are happy to deal with your building control officer or your architect directly. On a like for like replacement in an existing opening there is usually less involved than people expect.
Painted or bare timber?
Both, most often together. Oak treads against painted strings and risers is the combination we are asked for most, since the timber takes the wear and the paint keeps the flight looking light.
What does a bespoke staircase cost?
It depends on the number of treads, whether there are winders or landings, the balustrade and the finish. We quote in writing against a drawing so you can see what each decision adds before you commit.
Which parts of London do you cover?
We are based in North London and most of our work is there, though we take commissions across the city. Tell us where you are and we will say honestly whether we are the right people for it.
Send us a photograph of the hallway
That and the floor to floor height is enough to start. We will visit, measure the opening and draw the flight before anything is cut.