Prefab Staircases

9 years ago

Hi, we are in the midst of a major renovation of our older home in the Greater Toronto Area. Among other things are digging the basement out to create more headroom and we need to replace the stairs leading down to the basement.

We have been trying to find out what the options are for ordering prefab wooden stairs. We are hoping to save a bit of money that way, as opposed to having them built for us on-site. So far I'm very confused. It seems like you can only order the individual parts that you must then assemble (or have assembled for you). Or you can get them custom built, which I'm guessing is not really different cost-wise from having your contractor build them. This may be a really dumb question, but is there such a thing as just being able to order a standard "length" of prefab stair? We don't need these to be fancy --- just functional.

We are total neophytes, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Comments (4)

lyfia
9 years ago
In my area it would be cheaper to have the framers build them on site.
worthy
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Building and renoing in TO since the '80s.

Check out Central Fairbanks at 1900 Steeles West and their affiliates.

If it's just a straight set of stairs, the framers should be able to build them, though most don't bother any more.

*****

If you're underpinning, I hope this is in accord with a structural engineer's plans that are followed to the letter. Underpinning is no place to economize.
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Each stair is built so each riser evenly divides the run, so that a person with a 100" rise can't use the same stringers as a person with a 101" or 99" rise. Sure, you can cheat at the top and/or bottom, but now you're making a code violation when any riser deviates more than 3/8" from another. Different riser heights ruin your gait and that leads to falls.

Unless you install a completely adjustable spiral, I don't see how you're getting out of a custom stair.
Kliph Block
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, guys, for the helpful advice! Learning as we go...