Designed Stairs

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

  • Luxury Staircases Across America — What might surprise you

    Having had the opportunity to work on Luxury stair projects from coast to coast, we have been intrigued by the vast differences in design and construction from one region to another.

    The greatest distinction is shop-built versus site-built. Shop-built stairs are typically milled staircases made by companies that specialize in stairs. They design and build custom hardwood staircases in a shop environment, then transport to the jobsite for installation. The term “milled” staircase refers to the fact that the stringers are milled, or routed. The treads and risers are wedged and glue blocked into the stringers. Most milled staircase builders have their roots in the tradition of European joinery and staircase techniques.

    The East Coast through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and on to Chicago have the highest concentration of milled staircases. Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, and South Florida have some noted stair specialists as well.

    The West Coast and Southwest frequently use masonry stairs over-laid with tile. Since most of this work is done at the job-site, the quality varies greatly from site to site and craftsman to craftsman. Although many of these site-built jobs turn out well, there’s always risk.

    There are vast areas of the country where stair companies are not located, and therefore milled staircases are not available. Throughout much of the country, staircases are framed at the site with standard framing material, and trim carpenters overlay hardwoods and stair parts to finish the job. This can present any number of problems, from squeaks to joint quality issues. It’s never easy to cover up framing with hardwood.

    As in most things in life, if quality is what you are after, it’s best to find a highly skilled professional who has specific experience with the task at hand.

    If you are interested in the finest milled staircase, please contact us with your print or job site information. We are happy to help you — throughout the USA.

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  • Getting the Most from Your Stair Dollar — Material

    Part 4 of 4

    Materials in stock are less expensive — e.g., red oak is the most common hardwood and among the least expensive.

    As with styles, components made from wood species that are stocked will always cost less than custom orders. We have noticed a trend over the past eight to ten years to natural or brown toned species such as walnut and white oak. Within the United States, red oak is the most common hardwood and consequently, one of the least expensive.

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  • Getting the Most from Your Stair Dollar — Shape

    Part 2 of 4 — Shape

    In the last blog, Getting the Most from Your Stair Dollar (Part 1), we introduced the three basic factors to keep in mind when thinking of your stair budget. Here we’ll explore the first of those three factors: Shape.

    A straight stair is the least costly and also takes up the least amount of space. The money saved on a straight stair could be used to upgrade your railing style or material.

    A landing stair will cost more due to the landings themselves and the added newels and rail intersections.

    Winder stairs are more expensive than landing stairs due to the installation of winder treads, winder newels and rail intersections. Winder stairs may also be subject to restrictive building codes. Check with your local building department.

    Curved staircases are the most expensive due to the handmade nature of the components.

    Straight stairs
    Straight

    Straight stairs
    Landing

    Straight stairs
    Winder

    Straight stairs
    Curved

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  • Getting the Most from Your Stair Dollar

    Part 1 of 4 — Overview

    Milled stairs may cost from $2,000 for a hardwood stair with wall rails, to $200,000 on the high end.  Most of us are shopping in the $5,000–20,000 range.

    When designing your stair and railing plan, there are three basic factors to keep in mind in order to use your budget wisely: shape, style, and material.

    If you have the luxury of starting from the general shape of your stair (new construction in the blueprint design stage) consider the shape first.  If your space/shape is already defined, it may limit controlling that aspect of your budget, but there are still two aspects to consider.

    Which is more important to you: style or material?  If are you are dead set on walnut, you may need to look at mixing it with stocked poplar parts for balusters and newels. If you have a style you are set on, such as stainless cable, most of your budget will go to that, and you may consider a simpler oak stair.

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  • Choosing a Hardwood for your Staircase: Understanding Grain for your Design

    There are two main design features to consider as you select a wood for your trim: color and grain. Color can be adjusted through stain, while grain gives the wood its style and character. Grain is the more important consideration when choosing your wood.


    Straight Grain Oak

    If you are leaning towards a modern or even elegant feel, a closed grain wood may be the way you want to go. Examples of wood with very little graining: Hard Maple, Poplar, Beach, and Birch.

    Straight Grain became popular in the Arts and Crafts period in styles such as Prairie and Mission, in the early 1900s. Today, you see it in contemporary designs too. Straight grain is achieved by using full grain woods, but cutting of the log at a different angle. We most often see straight grain as “quarter sawn” or “rift sawn” oak.


    Full Grain Oak

    Full Grain is referred to as “plain sawn” and is often thought to be “hardy” in its appearance, and at times even rustic with a natural elegance. Oak has a hardy solid feel, while walnut blends the solid feel with a bit more elegance.

    There are so many beautiful woods available today, it can be hard to select just one for your project. By making initial decisions based on grain, you will select the right wood species for the style you are designing.

    Visit our Materials page for the 27 most poplar hardwoods we build custom stairs in.

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  • Cover Stairs with Hardwood or Replace with New Stairs?

    “I have ugly carpeted stairs, and I want the look of a nice hardwood custom made stair. Should I cover my existing stair with hardwood or replace with new stairs?”

    New Oak stair

    First consider how old your existing stairs are. If you have fairly new pine stairs under your carpet, the moisture content in your pine lumber will be higher than it will be in the hardwood. The woods dry differently. When a wood with a higher moisture content is covered with a dryer wood, it creates a high probability that it will develop squeaks.

    New wood stair

    Fitting hardwood stair parts to an existing stair can be laborious. There are about 30 pieces in a basic stair alone. This will likely result in over 100 cuts from prepping to installation. Keep in mind it’s harder to make a non-square cut to fit something existing than to make a good/new square cut.

    The cost of buying the hardwood stair parts will be essentially the same as buying parts for a new stair. The main difference is the labor of fitting them onto an existing stair or building a new stair. There may not be a savings to cover existing vs. a new stair.

    Last, but certainly not least is quality. A new custom built hardwood stair will likely have better joinery and fit. It allows you the opportunity to use new routed stringers and have your treads and risers tightly wedged into them. A method of measurably better construction.

    Price out both methods and compare all facts to make an educated cost decision.

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  • What You Need to Know: Using Bamboo for Your Stairs

    Bamboo

    Bamboo has become popular in the past few years. It is desirable due to its sustainability and unique appearance. Bamboo is a unique material, and has some limitations compared to wood species you may be considering.

    First, bamboo is a grass and not a tree. It is hollow and does not grow as tall or as big in circumference as a tree. The processing of bamboo requires cutting the grasses into ¼” x 1″ strips and gluing together.

    Bamboo is only available in shorter lengths. The small size works well for strips of flooring, however not as well for longer or larger items. Stairs typically require long lengths for handrails and stringers or skirt-boards. When using bamboo, this would require splicing or bolting shorter lengths together, leaving a visible and undesirable joint line.

    A typical stair requires about 30 unique parts, such as treads, risers, stringers, cove, rails, rail fittings, newels, balusters and a variety of trim pieces. Most of these parts are not available in bamboo. Treads and risers are readily available in bamboo, while rails, newels and balusters are available on a very limited basis.

    Due to both the nature of bamboo and availably of stair parts, a stair with bamboo would often utilize bamboo treads to match the flooring. Risers and stringers would be painted (using a paintable material). Rail, newel and baluster materials are typically chosen to match other trim in the home.

    Hint: Be sure to use a carpet runner when using bamboo for treads. It is very slippery and can be dangerous to walk on.

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  • Custom Wood Stairs to Match Your Imported Wood Flooring

    Sapele

    There are many choices in hardwood flooring today. A recent search revealed over 25 species of readily available hardwood flooring from which to select. Over half of these species are imported from other countries.

    Most imported hardwoods are grown in a tropical climate, which results in a much different growth cycle for the tree when compared to hardwoods grown in the U.S. As a result, the wood is much heavier than our native species. This presents a challenge when drying the wood that it will not crack when it continues to dry out in your house after installation.

    When these species are used in flooring, the drying issue is resolved by installing it without glue, and the narrow strips of flooring allow for movement after installation. This can create a problem when using the same species for stairs however. Stair parts are thicker than flooring, and must be glued together. Once the wood is glued together, its movement is now restricted as the wood continues to dry out. The end result could be a crack in your stair.

    When choosing a stair company, make sure their experience goes beyond stairs, and they have experience working in the species you are looking at. Consult with them for guidance on appropriate species for your stair. They may recommend alternative species that are a close match in color to your flooring. Hiring a knowledgeable expert will help ensure a problem free stair for years to come. At Designed Stairs we routinely use over 25 species. See our Materials page for many species that we have built stairs in.

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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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