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Planning your staircase to perfection
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Placement, design are major factors that need to be considered while planning a staircase
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— Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam
Style statement: A model staircase.
Any house built on more than one level has at least one staircase that serves as its vertical thoroughfare. In most situations, a staircase is an integral part of the home’s design and style. Whether the staircase is of solid wood and classically elegant or spiral-shaped, its location within the house and the carpeting that covers it can result in a kind of beauty that will not fail to attract the eye of residents and visitors alike.
Placement and design are the two major factors that need to be considered while planning a staircase. The placement will be affected by the intended purpose of the stairway. For example, if you have rented out the other levels in your home, you have to make the staircase accessible to the tenants also. In such a situation, it makes sense to place the staircase outside your living area.
Design aspect
A stair’s design is heavily affected by its function. An entry stairway that handles all up-and-down foot traffic and is placed in a highly-visible location is bound to be much grander than a stairway to a hardly-ever-used basement or where economy is imperative. Availability of sufficient space is another factor that determines the placement as well as the design of the staircase. The shape of the staircase is often dictated by the space you can afford for it. A straight staircase occupies the maximum space. L-shaped and U-shaped stairs occupy lesser space and are most practical.
At the same time, staircases must be safe. Steps and risers must be built in such a way as to avoid overly steep ascents or descents. Children, adults and the elderly should all be able to use your staircase with relative ease. Because they are relatively economical and take up minimal space, spiral stairs are popular where access is needed to newly-remodelled basements or attics or added spaces away from the home’s central staircase core. The spiral-shaped staircase is nothing short of spectacular. But it presents problems. Its very shape, attractive as it may be, makes it most difficult to move large objects and furniture from one floor to another. Please remember that the elderly often find spiral staircases very difficult to use.
A staircase can also be one of the primary mood-setters of your home, a place where you can announce your individual style. The best way to make a style-statement through your staircase is by paying a little attention in designing the decorative elements of a stairway, such as the handrail or banister, the vertical support balusters, and the anchoring newel post at the base.
The newel posts are the taller posts on a stairway at the head, at the foot, or when the stair changes directions. In a spiral staircase, it’s the central post or column around which the steps wind, providing support for the entire staircase. To make the most of your staircase’s beauty, be sure that newel post is not only sturdy and strong but also reflects your style.
Newels can be square and imposing or they can be larger versions of the other stair rails. They can be turned in similar shapes as the rest of the stair or they can have distinctive shapes or carvings. Top them off with an interesting shape —the caps on top come in countless shapes such as balls, acorns, pyramids or simply square or flat. Newel post caps can even be custom carved to reflect your interior.
Chandrasekhar Yadavilli, Hyderabad
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