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If you are having a staircase designed from scratch, or even if you are thinking of renovating an existing one, the use of carefully chosen custom stair parts is the secret to success. Building innovative staircases for home use means starting with an innovative design, coupled with the right stair parts for the job. We offer many different stair parts within our pages, and you can combine them in just about any way you choose.
There are truly endless possibilities when it comes to designing a staircase. You could have custom wrought iron balusters against custom hardwood stair treads and risers, topped off by an elegant hardwood handrail, or you could have your stairs all iron or all wood. You can mix complementary wood species to combine texture, color and strength, adding a dash of wrought iron occasionally for effect. A well designed staircase construction is only limited by a limited imagination.
Treads, risers and stringers
These are the most basic parts of any stair system. The treads are where your feet step, the risers are the upright parts between each tread and together they form a step. The stringers are the parts on the outside of the tread/riser combination that help to hold the construction together.
These three parts are most commonly made from either a hard wood or a soft wood. It is common also to match these parts to a hardwood floor design should you have one, or even to other wooden furniture pieces. However, the treads, risers and stringers can be made from any design and wood species you like.
Some common and popular woods used in staircase construction include red oak, white oak, African mahogany, Santos mahogany, Brazilian cherry, American cherry, poplar, alder, walnut, hard maple, hickory, lyptus, ash, birch, antique heart pine, white pine and yellow pine.
Stair treads and risers can also be made from a variety of metals, including wrought iron. A staircase in the home can look very attractive with openwork wrought iron treads, though it does tend to give it a slight industrial look. Most homes seem to prefer the all wood look when it comes to treads, risers and stringers.
Newel posts and balusters
These are the upright parts of a staircase that connect the treads to the handrail. They provide safety and elegance. In fact, railing systems can make or break the success of a staircase design. Your choice of newel post and baluster design is crucial, and we can supply you with any combination you want.
The newel posts are the more sturdy upright posts found at the base of a staircase and also at the top. If there is a landing in the middle, then there will be newel posts there as well. These posts provide strength and help to hold the entire structure together.
They also serve to break up the monotony of the balusters and provide some design relief. The newel post or posts at the base of a staircase, especially, can be extremely ornate with round flowing and sweeping lines. However, most modern newel posts are quite plain and tend to be of a square section.
The balusters are the thinner posts found between the newel posts. They also provide strength and safety. The modern legal requirement for a residential staircase construction calls for the balusters to be no more than four inches apart. This relatively small gap prevents small children from slipping through to fall to their injury onto the floor below.
Balusters are usually quite decorative, rather than just plain posts. Wood balusters are commonly either pin-top or square top in design. They can appear quite delicate and ornate, belying their essential strength and safety aspect. Choose your balusters carefully for they can easily lift a mediocre design into something more glamorous, if chosen well.
It’s also common to have wrought iron balusters on an otherwise all wood custom staircase. This will certainly add to the strength of the construction, but it will also provide a strong design contrast that works well in most homes. If you need advice about choosing iron balusters as part of your custom stair parts, just ask us.
Handrails
This stair part is most commonly made from a hard wood species. A plowed handrail is one where a machined recess in the bottom part of the handrail accommodates the top part of the balusters. This provides a tight and secure fit, increasing strength and safety all around.
Handrails are naturally shaped so that they are comfortable to grip. This is the part that we hold on to when ascending or descending the staircase. They can be flat, round or more oval shaped, often with ornate design elements incorporated.
Handrails, provided next to stone steps for stability and safety, have been found as far back in history as the Assyrian culture in southern Iraq; they are certainly nothing new, but they remain one of the more important custom stair parts for well designed staircases.
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