STAIRS

Stairs are a set of steps inside a building which go from

one floor to another.

BASIC COMPONENTS

When designing a staircase these are the basic components. There are
Stringers, Treads, Risers, Newels, Winders and Landings, Handrail’s and
Balusters.

Stringer – The inclined boards in which the treads and risers are enclosed.

Tread – The top or horizontal surface of a step.

Nosing – The visible front of the treads.

Riser – The board that forms the face of the step. The maximum individual rise
for domestic flights is 220mm.

Newel – The larger vertical member, plain or decorative, is usually located on

either ends of the balustrade, or at each bend.

Newel Cap – The ornamental top of the newel post. Often carved shaped or
turned.

Landing – A resting place, or wide step anywhere within the staircase or top of
a flight of stairs. Landings are often used to change the direction of a stair.

Handrail – A protective rail designed to prevent people or objects from falling

into an open stairwell. A moulded rail following the pitch, or rake of the
staircase – which also forms the top/upper edge of the balustrading.

Baluster – The vertical member, plain or decorative, that acts as the infill
between the handrail and Channel (or tread if cut string).

CONSTRUCTION METHODS
This section contains our most common staircase construction methods
and the styles that will suit.

Riser
Closed Rise
A Closed Rise staircase is the standard construction for a timber staircase,
by having the treads closed it allows the space beneath the staircase to be
used for storage. This sort of construction is most commonly used by
budget conscious builders and low-income clients.

Open Rise
An Open Rise staircase is defined as a staircase in which has the riser
board is removed to create an opening through the staircase. These are
most commonly used in a foyer as they allow the viewer to see straight
through the staircase into the rest of the home.

Stringer
Closed Stringer
A Closed string staircase is the most cost effective construction method,
the treads and risers are grooved into the stringer and then glued &
wedged to create a solid flight.
 Closed Rise/Closed Stringer

Open Rise/Closed Stringer

Cut Stringer
Cut String staircases are used when the client wants see the end-grain
detail of the treads and/or risers. A Cut stringer is defined as a stringer,
which is cut in a sawtooth fashion to allow the treads to overhang the
stringer.

Capped Cut Stringer

 Closed Rise/Cut Stringer

Cut stringer with Frets

Open Rise/Cut Stringer

Mono Stringer
Mono-stringers stair designs tend to be one of the more expensive
construction methods. As they are open in design. The stringer itself tends
to be less apparent due to its located centrally and underneath the treads
themselves. The ability of mono-stringer to promote a sense of lightness
and openness is regarded as a desirable property. When compared to
traditional closed or enclosed stairs, mono-stringers demand the use of
relatively stronger materials in order to be structurally sound.

Steel Stringer
By using dual steel stringers, the staircase is allowed a sleeker look,
because of the strength difference between Steel and Timber you can
obtain a cleaner fixing. More often than not, this design is part of an open
rise construction and is most suited to modern homes.

Curved Stringer
Curved Staircases are one of the most labour intensive build’s requiring a
complete 1:1 replica of the clients wall to be constructed in our factory. The
construction of a common curved staircase requires in excess of 25+
hours of labor.
Tread Nosings
The treads are the material on which you walk, at OzStair we offer 5 basic
nosing profiles which can be used to change the style of your staircase to
match the surroundings.

Half Round
A half round nosing is defined by having two partially rounded edges with a
flat surface between this flat surface creates a desirable look which can be
used on virtually any surface and so is easily repeated.

Full Round
A full round nosing is easily noticeable due to the fact that it contains a
continuous curve on the front edge of the nosing. This is the most
common design choice when producing a staircase due to the ease of
creating this profile.
Pencil Round
A pencil round nosing is designed to match the curve of pencil at the
exposed edge’s of a tread. See above for an Example.

Square Aris
A square aris nosing is typically used with a modern style construction
staircase. This detail is characterized by its sharp lines which are created
by giving the edges only a 1-2mm champher providing the contemporary
look that is highly sought after.

No Nosing
A staircase with no nosings is generally constructed using a combination
of Pine and MDF this is due to the availability of MDF components and
their cost effectiveness. This means that when we are requested to
construct a staircase for use with flooring materials we will provide a
timber frame ready for you to lay the material on. e.g. Timber strip flooring.