A client in VA was renovating a home from the basement to the attic. Part of the renovation was for a custom stair to provide an egress point from the basement to the grade level. The client chose the stair design to be a beautiful classical ironwork staircase design. However, the client debated between a plain picket design or forged pickets with a center boss design. The client ultimately selected the forged center boss railing design.
The stair tread design was a four-leaf clover pattern. We laser cut this design into the treads for ultimate appeal. The stair layout was much more intense of a process than we anticipated. This is because code dictated a specific rise and run at the walk line of each stair tread. At the bottom of the basement stairs was a door causing a very tight space. The stair then had to go upward and turn 180 degrees, then continue to travel up to grade level.
The major challenge was to minimize the tread length and maximize the riser height. A standard switchback stair design did not accomplish this goal, so we ended up creating a custom platform with integrated treads instead.
The entire custom stair design was created in aircraft grade aluminum. We then powder-coated the project in a matte black to emulate a wrought iron staircase. The stair stringer was designed with a solid 1” X 12” aluminum bar. The custom stair tread was created in ¼” thick material with the laser cut design for an old world look. We added integrity to these stairs by forming a front edge of the tread that went downward and the bottom edge of the tread that went upward.
At the grade level, we designed another custom landing and the stair continued up to the kitchen door. This door was located directly above the basement door, which means we needed to curve the stair an additional 90 degrees. After this turn, the custom stair design spun a complete 270 degrees from the bottom of the steps to the top. The stair railing was 2 ¼” caprail with a 1 ½” X ½” bar channel at the top and bottom.
The forged pickets with the center boss had 5/8” square ends with a 2 ½” dia center bosses. The main stair railing posts were 3” square with a post ball cap on top for authenticity. We created the custom stair design in 3 pieces. We were able to maneuver the stair structure into place with only a small lift due to the rigidity and lightweight of aluminum. With the non-corrosive properties of the aluminum material all while being indistinguishable from traditional wrought iron, this classical ironwork staircase will last for decades to come!
