Advise needed on staircase

[marsaday]

A joiner looks like he has let me down on building me 2 new staircases and so i am trying to sort something out. Time is not a problem, but i just want to sort it all. I have bought all the newel posts and spindles etc from howdens and this joiner was going to use these neweel post and put them on the staircases.

Now i am thinking of ordering 2 straight flights off ebay and then get a joiner to put the newel posts on, on site.

Is it ok to do this or should it all be done when the stairs are being made ?

Does anyone know any joiners who make stairs here in York and will fit ?

I cannot use a york company as they are far too expensive and the joiner i had was from leeds.

All prices in york for the 2 staircases (6 and 7 steps) are pretty much the same so i realise they all charge the same prices irrespective of demand it seems. prices in mdf are £600-700.

Now on ebay i can get the same made in softwood for £300-400 (even less in mdf). So this is what i am aiming for. I know the fitting will take 2 days and i am happy to pay the daily rate, plus i want to help so i can learn what is going on. I have built my loft conversion pretty much myself so i know what i am doing.

 

[adidat]

a lot of work goes into staircase making. and assembling them can be a pain in the ar*e.

adidat

 

[tomatwark]

If you can it is better to get the posts jointed when the staircase is made.

If you buy them on Ebay get the joiner who is fitting them to measure them, and also make sure he has measured a flght of stairs before as it is very easy to get them wrong.

If they are made wrong you may not be able to alter them and you will have to pay the cost to remake them.

I might be wrong but I guess the people you spoke to in York will come and measure them.

If they are remember that if they are wrong it is their problem to sort out.

Stairs are a long job to make, even with a router jig, unless you are a staircase maker with all the machines to make the sides up.

I won't do stairs anymore and always send my clients to staircase maker.

Tom

 

[Mattty]

A joiner looks like he has let me down on building me 2 new staircases and so i am trying to sort something out. Time is not a problem, but i just want to sort it all. I have bought all the newel posts and spindles etc from howdens and this joiner was going to use these neweel post and put them on the staircases.

Now i am thinking of ordering 2 straight flights off ebay and then get a joiner to put the newel posts on, on site.

Is it ok to do this or should it all be done when the stairs are being made ?

Does anyone know any joiners who make stairs here in York and will fit ?

I cannot use a york company as they are far too expensive and the joiner i had was from leeds.

All prices in york for the 2 staircases (6 and 7 steps) are pretty much the same so i realise they all charge the same prices irrespective of demand it seems. prices in mdf are £600-700.

Now on ebay i can get the same made in softwood for £300-400 (even less in mdf). So this is what i am aiming for. I know the fitting will take 2 days and i am happy to pay the daily rate, plus i want to help so i can learn what is going on. I have built my loft conversion pretty much myself so i know what i am doing.

Hello there,

We may be able to help/do the work. We can both make and install the stairs, though i would advise against buying a premade stairs and retro fitting newels. Contact details are on the website- www.yorkshirejoinery.co.uk
Our lead time is around 6 weeks at the moment though and we can not do it any quicker.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[RogerBoyle]

a lot of work goes into staircase making. and assembling them can be a pain in the ar*e.

adidat

A straight flight of around 13 treads is actually quite simple to make
Its the fitting of them that can have you pulling your hair out and throwing hammers around LOL things like Walls out , Flooring out , Measurements way out LOL
In my experience it can take longer to fit a straight flight than it takes to make..

Where it gets difficult is when you have different landing levels and the stairs turn around or you want extra wide treads for some strange reason
Or an Architect that knows nothing about the property's of wood and specifies some rare exotic wood which is going to cost more than the house is worth. etc. etc.

Marsaday

The spindles and hand/base rail will have no impact on the fitting of the stairs

If you want to fit your own newel posts then you need to make this clear to who ever is making the stairs so they can leave tenons on the stringers top and bottom. and supply you with the top tread and riser loose
I will assume that the Newel posts you have will need to routered out to accept

1. A mortice for the tenon from the stringer
2. A mortice for the top tread which hooks onto the landing
3. A mortice for the riser to help support the top tread

If so i would advise either replacing them with some from the stair manufactures or sending them to the stair case company for these mortices

If they already have these motices then you will also need to let the stair manufacturer know this as you can get up to 30mm difference between companies

Like most things in life The actual cutting and fitting of the wooden parts is really straight forward when you have been shown as I said earlier its usually the other bits that staircases go near that create the problems LOL

Roger

 

[RogerBoyle]

Seems like we all were typing at about the same time LOL

I Personally would take up the offer above LOL
rather than go for an unknown from Ebay

Roger

 

[bosshogg]

Your first staircase fitting can be a b**ch, if I were you I would take up the above offer. Many a first time job turns out to be well over budget due to having to correct mistakes, an experienced fitter allowing you to help, at least on one staircase would give you an insight, you may be able to persuade said fitter to allow you to install the second set under their supervision, like a very short apprenticeship. Only thing...brush up on your expletives (*!-c..*** etc. etc.) always an essential to fitting a set of stairs :wink: ...bosshogg

No man is an island

 

[marsaday]

Thanks all. Food for thought.