Loft conversion staircase
Roof space turned into a room: the opening framed out, a new staircase built and fitted, and a glass balustrade installed to the landing edge.
Services
Staircase Installation
Staircase installation is the piece of carpentry with the least room for error: a staircase has to fit an opening that already exists, land where the floor actually is, and satisfy Building Regulations Part K on rise, going, headroom and handrail height.
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What we install
New stairs, new treads, new balustrades
Three quite different jobs get called the same thing, and they cost very different amounts.
A new staircase is designed to the opening, made, and fitted — usually as part of a loft conversion, an extension, or replacing a flight that was never right. It has to satisfy Building Regulations and it will be inspected.
Recladding an existing flight keeps the carcass and puts new oak treads and risers over it. It transforms a hallway for a fraction of the price, does not disturb the structure, and does not trigger a Building Control application.
A new balustrade is handrails, newels and spindles, or glass panels where the light matters more than the timber. Often the single best-value change you can make to a staircase you otherwise like.
Building Regulations
What Part K actually requires
Almost no page in this market sets these out. They are not complicated, and knowing them before you design a staircase saves an expensive conversation with Building Control later.
Rise and going
Maximum rise 220mm, minimum going 220mm on a private stair. Twice the rise plus the going should fall between 550mm and 700mm. Every single step must be identical — one odd riser at the top is both a trip hazard and an automatic fail.
Pitch
No steeper than 42 degrees. This is the one that most often decides whether a loft stair fits at all, because a steeper pitch is exactly what a tight landing tempts you into.
Headroom
2 metres measured vertically above the pitch line. For a loft conversion the allowance drops to 1.8m at the centre of the stair width and 1.9m at the edge. Measure this before anything else — it is the constraint that kills more loft schemes than cost does.
Handrails
Between 900mm and 1000mm above the pitch line or the floor. One side is enough if the flight is under a metre wide; over that you need both. Landings need a barrier at 900mm minimum.
Guarding gaps
No opening in a balustrade may allow a 100mm sphere to pass. This governs spindle spacing and it is the reason a decorative balustrade with wide gaps will not pass, however good it looks.
Width and landings
No statutory minimum width for a private stair, though under about 800mm becomes unpleasant to use and hard to move furniture up. A landing at least as long as the stair is wide is required at the top and bottom.
Correct as of August 2026 for England, Approved Document K. Requirements differ for loft conversions, for stairs serving more than one dwelling, and in Scotland and Wales. Building Control has the final say — we set out to these figures and expect the flight to be inspected.
Recent work
A staircase we built and fitted
Materials
What we build stairs from
Redwood for painted stairs and for carcassing — strings, risers and hidden structure. It is stable, it takes a finish well and it holds a mitre, which whitewood does not. Oak, ash or walnut where the stair is meant to be seen: treads, handrails, newels and capping.
Glass balustrades where a stairwell is short of light, in toughened panels either clamped or channel-fixed. Steel where the design calls for it, fabricated to our setting-out and fitted by us.
Questions
Staircase installation — common questions
What does Building Regulations Part K require?
For a domestic staircase: a maximum rise of 220mm and a minimum going of 220mm, a pitch no steeper than 42 degrees, every step the same as every other, and 2 metres of headroom (1.8m is accepted over a loft stair). Handrails go at 900mm to 1000mm above the pitch line, and no gap in a balustrade may pass a 100mm sphere.
Can you replace just the treads or the balustrade?
Yes. Recladding an existing carcass with new oak treads and risers, or replacing tired spindles with a new balustrade or a glass one, transforms a hallway for a fraction of the price of a new flight — and does not disturb the structure or trigger a Building Control application.
Do you fit staircases in loft conversions?
Regularly — it is often the hardest part of the job, because the stair has to fit a landing that was never designed for it while still meeting Part K on headroom. Getting that set out right early is what decides whether a loft conversion works at all.
What timber do you use?
Redwood for painted stairs and for carcassing, because it takes a finish well and holds a mitre. Oak, ash or walnut where the stair is meant to be seen — treads, handrails, newels and strings. Glass balustrades where the light matters more than the timber.
Get a price for your staircase
Send the floor-to-floor height and a photograph of the opening and Alex will tell you what will fit. Free written estimate.