Bespoke oak staircase for bungalow loft conversion

The Brief:

It’s always a pleasure to work with local clients, and this job was just 15 minutes from our workshop in the seaside village of Pagham, West Sussex.

The task was to turn a small bungalow loft hatch into a large opening to accommodate a full size bespoke oak staircase that would lead up to the new and very spacious loft conversion.

Action taken:

First, we had to create the large opening in the floor/ceiling to accommodate the new staircase. This was easier said than done because this kind of project requires the perimeter of the opening to be reinforced with steel beams. The timber alone just doesn’t have the strength.

To ensure we met building regulations we worked with our preferred structural engineer and the local building control. Getting the long heavy steels into the loft required us to put some small scaffolding up outside and make a small hole in the end wall of the house to pass the steels through safely.

Outcome:

Once the steels were in place and secure we were able to cut the large opening into the floor/ceiling. The staircase build itself took place in our Chichester workshop. This particular project was an oak construction, but as the customer wanted carpeted treads and risers we kept the cost down by using plywood behind the carpeted sections.

The bottom two steps of this staircase featured what we call oak “bullnoses” this is the two circular protruding bottom steps – it makes for a comfortable first and second step from whatever direction you come to the stairs, and adds a little design flair to the project.

We also formed a small office/study room downstairs alongside the right of the staircase which involved erecting a wall and hanging a new door. In addition, we fitted a small oak under-stair cupboard for handy storage.

Materials Used

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  Oak

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  Plywood