Example (not manufactured by BS&C).

Carrying out any building work over the past couple of years has been a challenge, with rising costs and material and labour shortages meaning your initial budget may not stretch as far as expected. This can lead to difficult choices when it comes to the internal fit-out, including your choice of staircase.

Here at British Spirals & Castings, we pride ourselves in delivering the best staircase for your budget and over the past few months we have been helping customers facing budget challenges to achieve a beautiful, modern finish at a surprisingly low cost.

The secret with these staircases is the careful use of materials and design. As with our standard solid timber staircases, the treads are cut from a Grade-A solid timber of your choice, however, the stringer (the side support) and  riser (the vertical section of wood between treads) are produced from a high grade poplar plywood. This is a high-quality material (in fact some of our Scandinavian designs use birch or poplar plywood for the standard treads), however, as a sheet good it is available at a far lower price point than a comparable section of solid timber such as Ash or Oak. In addition to lower the material costs, this also means our joiners do not need to spend time dimensioning the timber to the right thickness for your project, saving on labour.

The plywood sections of the staircase can then be painted in your chosen colour. This helps to make the solid treads really stand out, whilst providing a more stripped back, modern aesthetic for the staircase. We can either supply the poplar plywood sections pre-painted or just prime them so you can add the finishing touches yourself.

We can combine these styles with a range of balustrade designs and materials including simple cast aluminium with circular or square profiled spindles, solid timber or custom steel profile. Again, these can either come pre-finished or primed and ready to be painted or treated.

As with all our staircases, your design will be tailored to your home, ensuring it makes the best use of your space, provides plenty of room for users and is comfortable to walk up and down.

You can see some examples of this style of staircase in the images throughout this blog and below. If you would like to discuss one of these designs, or a different style you have come across whilst browsing Pinterest or a home design magazine then get in touch via email or come visit our showroom. Our in-house designers are more than happy to produce a staircase which perfectly captures your vision.

The post A stylish timber staircase on a budget appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

Here are some tips to save costs and get a staircase that looks great and fits perfectly.

Choose a design from our standard ranges

Whilst we can produce completely one-off designs, like this floating helical staircase, we also offer a number of popular standard ranges of spiral and straight staircases.

For our cast spiral staircases, these ranges are based on the pattern of the treads. They include:

• Traditional Victorian
• Modern Art Deco
• LCC
• Diamond

We have pre-existing pattern moulds for these treads in a number of widths. By selecting one of these existing sizes, we’re able to produce the staircases both more quickly and affordably as there is no time needed to create a new mould. Get in touch and we can help you to find the most suitable size for your project.

Explore our Scandinavian Range

Our Scandinavian range of spiral staircases feature combine cast aluminium structure with timber treads. Whilst we can provide these with a range of hardwood treads, they can also be designed with marine grade birch ply-wood treads. This is our most affordable design of spirals staircase and also perfectly complements the practical, Scandinavian aesthetic which remains highly desirable for many homeowners and businesses.

Go for a more minimalist design

We offer a wide range of spindles and decorative railing panels which can be used for the baluster. However, all our standard square and circular profile spindles are produced with the same care and attention to detail as the more ornate alternatives and can provide a modern aesthetic whilst saving on costs.

The same is true for the handrail, where we can offer a simple all-metal design with visible top fixings. This can create an industrial aesthetic whilst also being a more affordable alternative to other options we offer, such as wooden handrails.

Think carefully about the staircase dimensions

In addition to picking one of our standard widths of treads, it’s also worth considering what size of staircase you actually need. Here in the UK, there are clear regulations which set out the minimum width for different designs of staircase depending on where they are being fitted. For example, a staircase going up to a single bedroom, such as a loft conversion, can be much narrower than a main staircase.

Learn more about the minimum width of staircases

By opting for slightly narrower treads, less raw materials are needed which will have a knock-on effect on the cost of the finished staircase.

Think about materials and finishes

Often, when customers come to us for a metal staircase, they think the only available options are cast iron or wrought iron. In fact, we produce almost all of our metal staircases from cast aluminium at our Staffordshire foundry. Cast aluminium is much lighter than these alternatives which can mean that a less extensive footing is needed for exterior staircases or avoids the need for additional internal supports when fitting a staircase for a loft conversion.

Additionally, whilst we offer a professional powder coating service for a smooth finish on our cast aluminium pieces, we can also supply them unfinished – allowing you to apply a hand painted finish.

Watch our powder coating video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEy9DNBsjEI

Measure and install the staircase yourself

Finally, we’ve worked with homeowners both in the UK and abroad who’ve saved costs on their project by carrying out the measuring and installation themselves. We can provide clear guidance on how to measure the space along with fixing instructions for when the staircase arrives. Keep in mind that some of the components will be heavy or cumbersome so you’ll need a few friends to help with the installation.

 Get in touch

If you are interested in having a bespoke spiral staircase, balcony or railing designed and installed in your own property, visit our gallery to view some of the options and submit a quote or get in touch via phone or email.

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Home improvement and renovation projects can be an exciting process, allowing you to pick and choose every element to create a space that is truly yours. However, when you are working to a budget, it is important to prioritise where to spend your money and where you can look for savings with cheaper, more standardised options.

For example, there are now several kinds of ‘kit staircases’ available for order online. Whilst these often seem relatively cheap, they can have a number of drawbacks and hidden costs which are important to be aware of.

Potential problems with cheap kit staircases

Non-compliant designs

Kit staircases are usually much cheaper as they are mass produced to standard sizes outside of the UK and often supplied to a number of different countries. Building requirements can vary quite significantly from region to region, which potentially means that a kit staircase will not be designed to be compliant with the Building Regulations in your region. If issues are found, you may be required to extensively alter or replace the staircase, costing you more money.

Quality control issues

Another potential pitfall with this mass-produced approach is that the quality of materials and finish can be lacking. We have been asked to replace kit staircases where the owner described the handrail as being “like pipework”. Even if the construction is sound, the finish might not live up to expectations and, in cases where the staircase is painted or powder coated, it may be difficult to touch up or recoat over time.

Unclear instructions and poor support

We’ve all run into issues with poor instructions when trying to put up flat pack furniture. The same is true for many kit staircases. In addition to adding a lot of time and frustration to a project, this can also introduce safety issues if key pieces are improperly fixed. This issue is made worse where suppliers have only limited technical support and cannot provide effective advice and guidance if you run into issues.

Difficult to adjust

Our homes and buildings come in all shapes and sizes, and this makes it hard to match up a standard staircase with a given space. In addition to the challenge getting the stair heights to match the floor level precisely, uneven walls and floors can also present significant issues. In the case of spiral staircases, you’ll also be limited on the diameter of staircase that is available – this means it can end up either narrower than you’d like, or eat into the floor space in your room.

Hidden costs

All of these factors above mean that you can actually end up spending a lot of additional time and/or money during the project trying to get the cheap spiral staircase to fit within a space. One of our customers recently had this precise issue. Having ordered a recommended kit staircase, they found it was poor quality and didn’t fit properly within the space. As a result, they ended up starting from scratch and ordering a bespoke staircase from us that properly matched their vision and space. This meant that the whole project was delayed for several weeks and obviously incurred more costs.

Benefits of a bespoke staircase

Here at British Spirals & Castings, we believe bespoke is best. In fact, the whole reason we got started was that our owner, Richard Harding, was unable to find a suitable spiral staircase for his home and so decided to make his own! Our bespoke staircases can offer a number of benefits.

Work to meet your budget

Bespoke staircases will always be somewhat more expensive than kit alternatives. However, our priority is always to ensure you get the best value from your investment. Where budgets are tight, we can make recommendations on how to keep costs down through design choices. For example, our Scandinavian staircases can be supplied with plywood treads which have a modern aesthetic but come at a lower cost than hardwoods.

Designed for you and your home

With a bespoke staircase, you get exactly what you are looking for. All aspects of the design will be tailored to your tastes and needs from the width of treads to the design, materials and finishes. We offer a wide range of different designs of straight, spiral and kited staircases along with balconies and railings and can also create entirely bespoke designs to your own patterns or to match ones that you like. We also use the latest computer design approaches to develop your design, meaning you can perfectly visualise how it will look before we start work on your staircase.

End to end quality control

All our pieces are manufactured right here in Britain. Our cast aluminium staircases and balconies are cast at our specialist Staffordshire foundry using traditional methods and high-quality materials. Each piece is then finished and quality assessed by our workshop team in Derbyshire, ensuring it meets exacting standards. This means you can have complete confidence that the fit and finish will be of the highest standards.

Light construction

All our cast staircases and balconies are manufactured from aluminium at our foundry. This provides the look and feel of cast iron but is far lighter. In addition to making it a bit easier to manoeuvre into place, this can also substantially reduce the structural loading requirements when fitted inside a building (particularly for loft conversions), or the size and extent of foundations when fitted outside. This can help to reduce the cost of installations.

A family business prioritising your needs

We are truly a family business and bring that ethos to all aspects of our work. Richard and his son Ben are both directors and many of our workshop team have been with the company for many years having joined originally as apprentices. For this reason, we take real pride in ensuring that all our pieces are of the highest quality and are backed up with excellent services at every stage from the initial design conversations, right through to delivery and long-term maintenance. Whatever you need, we’re here to help. This ensures you can be confident that pieces will arrive on time and that some one will be on hand if you or your workers need help or advice during installation – ensuring the best possible final results.

If you need a staircase, railing, balustrade or balcony for your own project then get in touch at sales@britishsc.co.uk or 01663 750716. You can view a wide range of our designs in our gallery and submit a quote directly from there.

The post Why it’s worth getting a bespoke staircase appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

Before designing a bespoke piece for a client, whether it be a staircase, balcony, balustrade or railing, we always sit down with them (either in-person, on the phone or via email) to try and get a clear idea of their vision. Customers are often surprised by the amount of choice and design decisions they need to make. For a typical spiral staircase alone, common questions can include:

• Would you prefer wooden or cast aluminium treads?
• If wooden then what type of wood (we offer a wide range of grade-A timbers)?
• If cast aluminium then which pattern (options include Victorian, LCC, Modern Art Deco, Diamond or a completely bespoke pattern)?
• What material would you like the handrails to be made from (we can match any handrail design with our treads)?
• Would you prefer the riser bar to be metal or timber?
• How many spindles and/or railing panels would you like per each tread?
• What design of spindle and/or railing panel would you like?
• Would you prefer a wooden or metal handrail?
• Do you need an inner handrail?
• What colour would you like the metalwork to be powder coated?

This is before we even get to more practical questions about the diameter of the staircase, depth of treads and height of handrails.

Understandably, all these choices can be a little overwhelming. To make things easier, it is a good idea to gather together examples of designs you like in one place. This might include images from our website, ones found on social media or sites such as Real Homes or Houzz or even pictures of staircases, railings or balconies you’ve seen when out and about.

Whilst it is possible to simply collate these all in a folder on your computer, we’ve found that the approach which works best is to create a Pinboard on Pinterest. If you’ve not used it before, Pinterest is basically a digital version of a noticeboard, allowing you to “pin” images together and add notes to them. You can either search for images on Pinterest, link to other images by pasting in their URL or even upload pictures from your phone, tablet or computer.

Pinterest offers a useful beginners guide to help anyone who is new to the platform to help you get set-up.

What to include in your inspiration board

To give you an idea of what to include, we’ve created an example inspiration board. In this case, the customers are looking for a spiral staircase for their new home.

As you can see, when you open each image in the pinboard there are useful notes pointing out what we like about each image, whether it be details like the thickness of treads and design of spindles or simply the design of the entire staircase.

To add some context, we’ve also included some interior images to help communicate the overall feel of the property. These can be really helpful in narrowing down the design options.

You don’t have to pin hundreds of images but if you can gather around 7 or 8 it should provide a useful starting point, meaning we can get on designing your staircase more quickly!

Once the board is ready, simply click the three dots next to the board name, select “Share” and then click on the “copy link” button as shown below. Then simply paste this link into an email and send it over.

Visit our Pinterest board and start gathering your ideas today!

The post Creating an inspiration board for your project appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

Photography by Phil Jackson: www.harbourviewphotography.com

A staircase is rarely just a staircase. As you climb or descend you are taken somewhere new or, on rare occasions, somewhere extremely old.

The Etches Collection: Museum of Jurassic Marine Life sits in the Dorset village of Kimmeridge, along England’s Jurassic Coast. It is home to a unique collection of some 2,500 fossil specimens, lovingly curated over 30 years by local expert Steve Etches.  With his ever-growing collection steadily taking over his house, Etches began seeking a permanent home for these ancient treasures and in 2016 that dream became a reality.

At one end of the museum, Etches’ workshop, which provides access to his office from a small mezzanine, is visible to the public through a glazed screen. From the point of planning, Janie Price, of Kennedy O’Callaghan Architects, knew they needed to find a spiral staircase solution that both worked practically in the small space and fitted with the contemporary design of the rest of the museum. Janie explained: “I looked on the internet for something suitable. We needed a very small diameter spiral staircase and I liked the image of the British Spirals & Castings Scandinavian staircase as it was modern and simple and had timber treads to suit our interior, which is exposed CLT.”

The balustrade continues around the mezzanine and, with its prominent visibility, it was important that the appearance be consistent with the surrounding space. In particular, Janie was keen that it matched that of the main staircase, which is in-situ concrete with a white steel balustrade and beech handrail. In keeping with this simple, clean-cut feel, the workshop staircase is a cast aluminium spiral staircase with plain metal balusters, powder coated white, and with Birch Faced Ply treads.

The main challenge was the size and setting of the staircase. “[It] had to be as small as possible,” Janie explained, “and it had to be set out carefully to avoid the danger of walking into the area of low headroom.” To this end, the staircase has a compact 1194mm diameter and the appearance has been kept minimalistic, omitting the central newel in favour of continuous balusters. In order to achieve this, the size of the balusters was increased to 32mm with a 40mm newel, making it barely noticeable. The architects also wanted a continuous handrail, without a projecting newel mid-span, and Janie was pleased to find that British Spirals & Castings were more than happy to adapt the original proposal.

Size and setting weren’t the only challenges to contend with on this project: “Building Control would not accept an open-riser staircase in a public building because the fossil collector, Steve Etches, is able to invite the public into his workshop.” To overcome this particular problem, a standard 10mm riser bar was included and a sign was made to indicate that the staircase was only for private use.

The final result is a staircase of modern design and organic shape, which beautifully reflects the natural patterns of the ammonite fossils so carefully housed and preserved amongst the collection in Etches’ workshop and the museum beyond. Following the curve of the stair takes you not just into the heart of the museum but back into deep time and England’s Jurassic past.

Commenting on the fully-installed staircase, Janie Price said:

“British Spirals & Castings were helpful in developing the design and details to suit our requirements. The staircase sits comfortably in its setting.”

Interested in a bespoke staircase or balcony for your own property? Take a look at our website, request a quote or — if you have any queries — get in touch via phone, email or by visiting our showroom here in beautiful Derbyshire.

The post Staircase To The Past appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

The post Space Saving Stairs – Which is Right for Me? appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

Wood and Metal

Solid timbers and exposed metals a key look for minimalist design. That’s probably why our Scandinavian spiral staircase range is such a popular choice for modern properties.

Each of these contemporary staircases feature solid wood treads set on a cast aluminium which slides over a metal centre pole.. There is a large choice of cast aluminium, steel or wrought iron balusters that can be finished with either a metal or wood handrail. Every element of the staircase can be customised to your exact specifications. This includes the width of tread, the finish of the metal (we offer a range of powder coated finishes) and even the choice of riser bar.

Of course, how the staircase interacts with the space is just as important as the rest of the design. All our Scandinavian staircases are available with a recess in the landing plate, allowing for a seamless join between the nose of the landing plate and the rest of your flooring.

Square Spiral Staircases

Squarial staircases are another favourite for modern-style properties. The treads can be cut to the dimensions of the available space. This creates the illusion that they’re running into the wall and means they can be fitted in tight spaces without becoming cramped. The tight join with the wall also means there’s often no need for balustrading and gives you the option to use glass panelling to close off any open sides.

Industrial Chic

Cast aluminium staircases can also provide a functional, yet striking, addition to contemporary spaces. Our aluminium spiral staircases are all hand cast at our foundry near Stoke, so you can be assured they are produced to the highest standards. We offer a number of clean, industrial style design options including LCC, Diamond and Modern Art Deco. These can be paired with simple square or round spindles and powder coated black, white or any other colour you want.

Next Step

Hopefully you’ll now have a clearer idea of the type of staircase you’d like, however, the devil is in the detail. We pride ourselves on delivering staircases which are perfectly customised to your specific needs. Our online quote system will help guide you through some of the choices and measurements you need. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch either via email, phone or by dropping in at our showroom.

The post Stunning modern staircase ideas appeared first on British Spirals & Castings.

In staircase design, a fraction of a centimetre can be the difference between a perfect fit and a complete mess, that’s why we always go above and beyond to ensure precision, whether our staircase is being installed in London or on the other side of the globe.

Before our team of highly skilled craftsmen can get to work, we first have to create an accurate design. In the past, much of this drafts work was carried out by hand. For a visual aid, this technique was very effective, but our meticulous attention to detail made it a time-consuming process, particularly on more complex jobs.

To resolve this problem, we began using a highly customised Computer Aided Design (CAD) package. This powerful software handles the complex calculations and allows us to break our staircase designs down into sections. This means our craftsmen are able to work on separate sections of the staircase at the same time. As a result, we’ve been able to reduce our turnaround time, whilst still ensuring our customers receive the lovingly and precisely handcrafted staircase they’ve come to expect.

The CAD software factors in all the key details, such as the distance from walls and the height raise from the floor. These measurements can be very important to a customer when planning their spiral stairs. The side elevations drawings also really help us to bring the plans to life, and if our customers then need to make late design changes, it is very easy for us to make alterations.

One of the latest projects we’ve designed is our stand for the Homebuilding and Renovating Show at the NEC in Birmingham (14th – 17th April). Have a look below for an exclusive sneak peek!

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Scandinavian Staircases

Compact spaces do not mean you have to compromise on quality or design especially when it comes to choosing a staircase, which is something Gary and Joanne Moore discovered when they installed their very own truly bespoke staircase designed and produced by British Spirals & Castings.

The Moore’s were undertaking a conversion at their home and were looking for a staircase that was not only practical and complied with building regulations, but wanted something modern with a quirky twist that wouldn’t be too invasive. Gary Moore commented “I searched the internet for specialist spiral staircase manufacturers which is where I came across British Spirals & Castings and got in touch. Having had Richard attend our home to view the problem and to discuss what we needed he suggested a second visit to the showroom and workshop. It was there that we saw a staircase under fabrication that was almost what we had in mind, and with assistance from Ben and Richard the answer evolved.”

“The family firm of Richard, Antonia and Ben were an absolute pleasure to deal with, accepting and evolving our design with magical input.”

Richard Harding, Managing Director of British Spirals & Castings said “As with all our customers we worked closely with the Moore’s to ensure they ended up with the perfect staircase for their home. In this case it was a combination Scandinavian staircase featuring wooden treads on top of steel strings, with knotted balusters.”

Sleek Scandinavian staircases from British Spirals & Castings are exceptionally versatile and provide many options for expressing individuality. Available in any diameter to suit your dimensions, the wooden stair treads can be finest birch-faced timber or any solid timber with a choice of either a steel or timber riser bar for staircases that need to comply with Building Regulations.

The baluster choices can change the look and feel of the staircase dramatically and with a wide range of cast aluminium, plain, collared, turned and wrought iron balusters, British Spirals & Castings are sure to find a design which compliments you and your home.

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