Basic Measurements

The first measurement you will need to take is the distance between finished floor to finished floor, this measurement is crucial and working out the rest of the staircase depends on it. An incorrect floor to floor measurement will produce an incorrect staircase! Once you have supplied us with a few basic measurements we can advise you further and help you to choose from the different stairs we offer, including our Spacemaker stairs and Space Saver stairs.

Now you have the height of your staircase you will need to work out how many treads you are going to have in your stair to reach that height. Why not download our rise and go calculator to help you, just make sure the rise of the staircase does not exceed 220mm (180mm for commercial) to achieve measurements compliant with UK building regulations. The calculator will help you find out what measurement's comply and what measurements do not, if you follow it's instructions you will always have a pitch 42 degrees or less on a residential staircase.

A lot of people might be asking now how do you determine the width of a staircase. First of all, there is no minimum width of a staircase, but we would recommend a width no smaller than 600mm. The average width for a residential staircase is about 800mm, but if you have the room and are looking for your staircase to be the main feature in your hallway, a stair with a width of 1200mm and above is possible. If you have less room then we can offer you our Spacemaker stairs and Space Saver stairs for loft conversions.

You will then have to measure the stair well opening for where your proposed stair is going to be installed, these measurements will determine the width of your stair. This is where you will get more of a feel for how your staircase is going to look regarding it's shape and size. For a straight flight the size of your staircase is basically the tread going multiplied by the number of treads, that's it, you will only have one going on your staircase. If your stair went up several treads to a small quarter space landing and then had a couple of treads after that you would have a 1st going and 2nd going. The 1st going would be worked out by multiplying the number of treads up to the landing and then adding the width of the staircase. This would also be the correct calculation for the 2nd going.

When adding a winder in to a staircase you will encounter something called a box measurement, this measurement is basically there to increase/decrease the amount of winder tread that goes in to the newel/string. This measurement effects the overall goings of the staircase and is governed by some strict rules in the Building regulations, for example, a 220mm tread going needs a minimum walk line going of 200mm, or a tread going of 244mm needs a walk line going of 244mm.

We can help you with this, so just give us a call with the basic few measurements at hand or send us a FAX with this sheet filled in and we will get back to you A.S.A.P. We can also advise you on the different stairs we can offer, including our Spacemaker stairs and Space Saver stairs.

Terminology

Floor To Floor -This measurement is taken from the floor where the stairs are going to sit to on top of the floor where the stairs are going to finish. A vertical measurement. (inc floor boarding / chipboard)

Tread Rise - This is the vertical measurement from the top of one tread to the top of the next tread. This measurement should be a maximum of 220mm on a residential stair and a maximum of 180mm on a commercial staircase.

Tread Going - This is the horizontal distance between the riser of one tread to the riser on the next tread up. This measurement should be a minimum of 220mm for a residential stair and no less than 280mm for a commercial stair.

Nosing - The slight overhang at the front of each tread. (Typically 19mm on a standard stair and 32mm on an open and cut type stair)

Tread - The part of each step that you stand on.

Riser - The board that fills in the gap in between each tread

String - This is the side of your staircase.

Pitch - The main upward angle of the staircase.

Newel Post - The main handrail support typically at the top and bottom of your staircase. Can be square or turned.

Spindle - These are the small vertical struts between the handrail and the string that can be square or turned.

Handrail - This is the long length of timber on top of the spindles that runs between each of the newel posts

Baserail - This is the long length of timber that is fitted on to the top of the string between the newel posts for your spindles to sit in to.

Bullnose - One of the bottom treads that is rounded at 90 degrees

Curtail - One of the bottom treads that extrudes out past the width of the stairs that rounds around 180 degrees