RHS Limited
226-228 Holbrook Lane
The Arke Klan spiral stair is the original kit spiral stair that has been around for ever and has almost certainly been installed in more buildings in more countries of the world than any other model of kit spiral stair that you can mention. It is tried and tested, excellent value for money and appealing to look at. You cannot go wrong with choosing the Klan spiral staircase at the budget end of the market.
The brand name Arke is owned by the leading Italian staircase manufacturer Albini and Fontanot, who to confuse the issue further now trade as just Fontanot. Quite what happened to Signor Albini I do not know. However after many successful years offering the Klan spiral stair, this innovative manufacturer decided to introduce a more up market luxury spiral stair to complement the Klan range. They called it the Genius and for reasons known only to themselves launched it under their Company name rather than the Arke brand
So what is the difference. Well both are based on approximately the same tried and trusted kit spiral stair design, and both are based on approximately the same size modules. There are however some significant aesthetic differences that put the Genius more into the luxury end of the market.
The difference that I like the best is the solid wood helical handrail on the Genius spiral stair as opposed to the dense PVC and acrylic wood grain film of the Klan spiral stair handrail. There is nothing wrong with the look or function of the Klan handrail but you cannot beat the looks or feel of natural wood if you are prepared to pay for it. Making a solid wood corkscrew is no mean feat and then to make it so that it can be assembled from short pieces on site is an even bigger feat, but it is also not a cheap manufacturing process.
Both the Klan and the Genius spiral stair ranges have a vertical baluster system but the Genius also offers a wrap-around stainless steel wire balustrade system that is very popular
The Genius spiral stair range has a choice of four wood shades and three metal colours, while the Klan range has just two wood colours and three metal colours
The height adjustment system on both the Genius and the Klan utilise centre pole spacer washers. These match the centre pole colour on the Klan but are see through on the Genius spiral stair. This does not sound like much but when you see it you will see that it adds a really interesting feature to the whole thing.
A feature of the Genius spiral stair range that can become very cost effective for low overall height stairs is the fact that each Genius is ordered to suit the specific height and layout for each individual customer. The Klan spiral stair range is pre-packed in a basic 13 riser kit which is the typical height range, but it does mean that you will end up paying for two spare treads if you only need an 11 riser spiral stair.
In conclusion you will never hear the old Stair Doctor say anything bad about the Klan range, as I have already said it is tried, tested and the best value for money on the market. The Genius range takes over only if you need a spiral stair that needs that little bit more class look, and you are prepared to pay extra for it. The truth is that you will not be disappointed with either of them
The Stair Doctor
If I understand your question correctly it is a good question. Lots of people design buildings making the assumption that that providing you have allowed enough space for the spiral stair to fit, then the top and bottom steps i.e. the access points can go anywhere that you like to suit the surrounding walls. This is far from the case. The overall height will determine the number of treads that your spiral stair will need. This along with the spiral stair diameter in turn will determine the amount of rotation between the bottom and top treads,such as say 350 degrees. This is because the number of degrees that an individual spiral stair tread rotates is really restricted. Too few degrees and the amount of tread that have to stand on is too small. Too many degrees and you will have plenty to stand on, but it will cause headroom problems under the overhead treads. This last part may not be obvious, but if you think about it more degrees means that the spiral stair treads ascend at a shallower angle, which in turn means that the distance between any tread and the tread above will be reduced, because you are in effect compressing the helix that a spiral stair forms.
OK this is making my head hurt as well, so just accept that you cannot play around with spiral stair rotation, what you get is there for a reason. Typically a spiral staircase will rotate around 360 degrees for a typical floor-to-floor height using a smallish diameter spiral say 1500mm. So if you say my surrounding walls downstairs determines that I have to step on the spiral stair at the bottom at 12 o'cloak, then you will have to step off at 12 o'clock at the top as well, irrespective of where your walls are located.
So let us assume the position of the top tread does not suit your room layout, we are now back to the question, can we do anything about it. The answer is yes within limits, but you will probably need the help of a man who knows, but the following are a few suggestions. In these examples bear in mind that we are assuming that the bottom tread of the spiral stair is where you want it to be, but you need to nudge the top tread either a bit further either backwards or forwards to that you do not step off into a wall.
All of these measures will only create a little movement if you are trying to say rotate 270 degrees rather than say 360 degrees it is doubtful that there is a workable solution, but you never know it worth talking to the proverbial man who knows before you panic further.
The Spiral Stair Doctor