How to Choose a Loft Staircase

When you begin to outgrow your current home, there are two options: move to a new home, or increase the space of your current one. As many of us know, moving house is often a stressful, expensive, and lengthy process. Likewise, constructing an extension can cause considerable and costly disruption, in addition to taking up a valuable chunk of your property’s garden.

Instead, the ideal solution to this may be just above your head…

Lofty Ambitions

Loft conversions are a popular home improvement choice, particularly in cities like London where space is at a premium. Not only do they add square footage without taking up ground space, but they can also add significant value to your home. Nationwide Building Society reported that adding a loft conversion that incorporates a double bedroom and bathroom can add more than 20% to the value of a three-bedroom, one-bathroom property.

In addition to providing extra space, whether you decide to use it as a bedroom, office or just extra living space, converting your loft is an opportunity to create a unique and unusual room with characterful sloped ceilings and sky-gazing windows.

But how should this space be incorporated into and accessed from the rest of the home?

One of the most important decisions when designing a loft conversion is the design and position of your staircase. It can affect the layout and feel of both the new loft space and the floor below. So, getting it right is essential!

As with any staircase, a staircase leading to the loft must meet the regulations outlined in Building Regulations Document K. However, whilst staircases usually require clear headroom of 2 metres, this can be reduced slightly for loft conversions to at least 1.9 metres in the centre of the stair width, reducing to 1.8 metres at the side of the stairs to allow for the sloping roof. The limited head height at some parts of the loft area also needs to be taken into consideration when considering how a person will enter and exit the loft space down the stairs. These limitations, along with the existing upper floor layout will inform where the staircase can be located, thus affecting the final layout and functionality of the conversion.

Walking Through the Options

There are several access types to choose from which satisfy the Building Regulations. Traditional straight staircases may seem like the most straightforward option if you’ll pardon the pun, but they take up a large amount of floor space and are difficult to position. On the other hand, fixed ladders and space saver staircases may not take up much floor space but these are extremely steep and cannot be used if serving more than one room and bathroom.

In many cases, a spiral staircase is a great solution to access your new space. On a practical level, their small footprint doesn’t intrude on your newly created living space and allows them to be moved into a position that suits the spaces above and below. Railings around the staircase will enclose the edge of the loft floor, making it safe without spoiling the open space.

The staircase can also be customised to fit your home’s design and requirements, with a number of styles, shapes and materials available to make sure your spiral staircase is not only functional, but a part of your home. There’s also something quite mystical about a spiral staircase leading up to the rafters.

Whatever your design tastes, it’s essential to choose a company that will work with you to create a safe and compliant spiral staircase bespoke to your home and requirements. You can contact us to discuss your project in more detail, or to arrange a viewing at our showroom, by emailing us at sales@britishsc.co.uk or calling us on 0208 341 5975.