Designed Stairs

Designed Stairs has the experience to design structural, open-riser staircases that are also beautiful works of contemporary art.

  • Controlling Stair Costs

    Budgeting for stairs as part of construction costs

    A common question I hear is, “How much does a stair cost?”

    The price range of stairs is very large; from a pine boxed stair for a basement — a few hundred dollars — all the way up to an artistic stair for well over $100K.

    Start by establishing your stair budget and determine what you want to spend. Typically, stairs cost in the range of 1.5% to 2.5% of your home price. The low end of 1.5% represents a basic trim package. The higher end of 2.5% is custom level trim.

    If your goal is to keep your stair costs at the lower end (1.5% of your home price), use styles that are stocked and readily available. Red Oak and Poplar are materials that are likely to be your most affordable options.

    Generally speaking the smaller the components the less the cost. If you are making the trim a focal point of your home, and have budgeted 2.5%, you still may need to make some hard decisions to keep within that range. Stairs in custom materials can get costly quickly, due to the high quantity of components that are required in just one stair. Making all those individual parts for one job, adds a lot of labor and cost to the job.

    You may need to ask yourself what is more important to you: style or material? You may need to forgo the style you want to keep the upgraded custom material, or go with the style you want in a less expensive material. Designed Stairs has styles categorized for budget by:

    • Builder’s Choice (stocked, more affordable styles)
    • Architect’s Choice styles (custom styles or styles that tend to be more costly for various reason)

    This makes it easy to focus in a direction to help keep you on budget.

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  • Budgeting For Stairs

    When you are planning your construction project, it will be good to know how much to allow for your stairs. There is a strong relationship between the total value of a house and the amount spent on the staircase. An average custom staircase costs from 1.5% to 2.5% of the home’s selling price.

    Chart comparing stair price with home price

    The low end of 1.5% represents a basic trim package. The higher end of 2.5% is custom level trim.

    Sometimes I see large multi-million dollar homes that are focused on size and not trim quality. In those cases, those homes can still remain at the 1.5% level for the standard trim level. It is possible to spend less than the 1.5% by doing carpenter built stairs and lessening the footage of balustrade, but realize you undervalue your stair compared to what is typical. On the other end of the spectrum a stair can be a work of art and the key feature to the entire home. In those cases may go well beyond the 2.5%.

    *All prices were effective in October 2012 and assume custom hardwood stairs with some open balustrade. The more costly stairs also have more open balustrade.

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  • Costs of Stairs by Shape — Curved to Straight and Every Shape In Between

    Stair shapes

    A common question I hear is, “How much does a stair cost?” Both the shape of the stair and the footage of the balustrade will set the price of your stair long before you start making selections for style.

    Consider selecting the stair shape when you are working with your Architect on your plans.

    • Straight

      The most cost effective stair shape is the simplest stair to build. Consider saving money on this simple stair shape, then you may have more money in your budget for upgrades on balustrade style and materials. Straight stairs start around $3,000*.

      Landings: L-Shape and U-Shape

      These are more expensive than straight stairs, as both the stair and rail take more labor at each turn/intersection then a simple straight stair takes. Landing stairs start at around 4,000*.

    • Winder Treads in Lieu of Landings

      Landings are framed and covered with flooring, while winders are custom made stair treads, winders will cost more than landings.

    • Trapezoid Angled

      This is also called “the poor mans curved”. There are a lot of intersections and fitting (labor) on this shape stair. Their price is generally between the Landing stair and a curved stair, starting around $5,500*.

    • Curved

      Curved stairs are the most desirable stair, due to the beauty and prestige they bring to a home. These stairs take skill in many areas, including engineering and advanced woodworking skills, along with specialized curved stair skills. A curved stair is the most expensive stair shape. Typically curved staircases start at about $9,000* and go well over $100,000 due to custom materials, styles and more complex engineering.

    View the Designed Stairs Inspiration Galleries to get more information on specific shapes and why you may want to choose one over another (beyond price).

    *All prices are effective in October 2020 and assume custom hardwood stairs with some open balustrade. The more costly stairs also have more open balustrade.

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  • Stair Pricing — Oak vs Custom Materials, Bamboo to Walnut

    When we quote stairs in custom wood species we often hear the question: “Why are stairs in custom wood species so much more expensive than oak?”

    When shopping for flooring, you may find there is not a significant difference in pricing between oak flooring and species such as Brazilian Cherry, Walnut or Bamboo for example. So why then are stairs so much more expensive when using custom species over oak?

    Stair parts

    Let’s look at the differences between flooring and stair parts.

    Flooring is manufactured on a machine that is set up once and not taken down until the cutters are ready to be sharpened. Even exotic species are manufactured in large runs, and not manufactured per job. Stair parts are manufactured only in the most common species (oak). Stocked parts are made in large runs. However, parts in custom species are made per job. This, of course, is very labor intensive compared to making thousands of parts at one time.

    Flooring consists of one component: a tongue and groove board. A stair has, on average over 30 different parts to make up the stair. Stairs require treads, risers, stringers, rails, various rail fittings, balusters plus a variety of trim parts. Even the different lengths of balusters used in the balustrade requires unique set ups.

    TIP: Budget first. Make selections and budget your project prior to starting. This will help avoid unexpected surprises.

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