A stair is the most expensive piece of furniture most houses will ever own, and the one clients budget for last. Here are three we drew in the last two years, with what they actually cost.
The straight flight
Softwood carcass, oak treads, painted stringers. Built by the main contractor in four days. It is the cheapest stair we have drawn and it is perfectly good.
The folded plate
Blackened steel, folded from a single sheet and bolted to the wall. The fabrication was reasonable; the structural engineering and the site welding were not.
The one that cost four times as much
A curved timber stair with a continuous handrail. Every tread is different, every joint is hand-fitted, and it took a specialist joiner eleven weeks. It is beautiful. It was also a choice the clients made with the numbers in front of them.
Price the stair in the first month, not the last.
Studio rule
