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April 26, 2011

What is the maximum height of a concertina electric loft ladder?

It all depends on the manufacturer but most pantograph electric loft ladder manufacturers can supply a 12 rung ladder with a maximum floor-to-ceiling height of around 2200mm to 2250mm. There is at least one manufacturer who will go to 13 rungs giving a maximum of 3400mm. Bear in mind that these very high ladders need a longer hatch size typically a minimum of 1300mm long.

Personally I would be hesitant about going up to a 13 rung electric concertina ladder it must be at the very extreme limit of both the electric motor and the drive mechanism to cope with the load. It might be theoretically within limits but I have my doubts about the life span at such extremes. Fortunately it is very rare for domestic ceiling heights to get anywhere near this height. I think commercial situations that require such a height are probably better served by the more expensive sliding or folding wooden electric operated ladders. However even these would probably need special heavy duty gearing to operate successfully at such heights.

The staircase Doctor

April 18, 2011

Where can I buy an external wooden tread spiral staircase kit?

Sorry I do not think there is one on the market. I can understand why, timber treads would not last long enough for any manufacturer to risk producing an external spiral staircase kit with wooden treads. Some Scandinavian manufacturer may one day prove me wrong but I doubt that the demand would warrant it.

What about all the medieval timber framed buildings, timber fences not to mention neolithic Wood Henge I hear you cry. Yes you are right wood has proven to be durable and long lasting, but not in kit spiral stairs. I am sure if you tried you could get someone to manufacture something out of a treated telegraph pole and old railway sleepers that would last a while, but I am not sure that it would appeal

External spiral stair kits are really limited to zinc plated metal as are most external staircases. It may not be the look that you want but at least you will get some mileage out of it before it becomes unsafe to use. You have to bear in mind that even galvanised metal will eventually rust if it is not protected. However you will certainly get your monies worth out of a kit spiral stair like say the Arke Civik Zink, these start at less than a £1000.00 at 2011 prices. I have never really understood how these can be manufactured exported and retailed at such a cheap price. I would certainly hate to have to make one for that sort of price.

Sorry I cannot be of more help

Barney Flintstone The Spiral Stair Doctor

April 12, 2011

Building control insist I install a loft ladder to my loft instead of a stair, why?

The questioner is building a new property and wants to put a stair up to the loft storage area rather than a loft ladder.

I think the problem is that once you put a staircase up to the loft space, that loft space could then be considered as a habitable room. Habitable rooms have requirements for light, ventilation, minimum ceiling heights,protected fire escape routes etc. So it all gets a little complicated. To be honest I can see their point of view, although I understand that your intention is just to get better access to loft storage area, it does make it very easy to use that area as say a bedroom at a later date. In principal there is nothing wrong with that, but bedrooms on the third floor can become death traps in the event of a house fire, so the regulations have quite strict rules requiring a protected escape route to cover that eventuality.

I do not think that they can say "you cannot put a staircase in" but they can make you do a lot of other things to make the room served by the stair become habitable. This extra work may or may not be possible depending on your house design, but I suspect that the head clearance height in the loft and the protected escape route may be problematic and almost certainly expensive to achieve. If you are determined to have your stairs I think you can as long as the project complies with the Building Regulations, but be prepared to carry out lots of extra work to keep 'they who have to be obeyed' happy.

The Staircase Doctor

April 04, 2011

What are the regulations for the top landing from a spiral staircase with a 60 degree central landing that leads to a doorway of a bedroom.

The landing requirements of Part K of the Building Regulations for England and Wales state that length of landing should be at least as wide as the stair width. Therefore if you are using a category A spiral stair serving say one bedroom it would need to have a minimum clear width of 600mm and be about 1500mm in diameter(see BS 5395). So the 600mm clear width between handrail and centre pole would probably be maintained on your 60 degree landing, and as the length of the landing is at least the radius of the stair i.e. 750mm then in my opinion the stair landing itself complies with Part K. This assumes that the door at the top opens into the bedroom and not over the landing. I say in my opinion because the Regs as far as I am concerned are not that clear on the definition and do not specifically mention landings on spiral staircases. Different inspectors may have other interpretations of what the Regs mean , so I would always advise getting the opinion of your specific local Authority Building Control Department before you go too far with your plans.

The Staircase Doctor