RHS Limited
226-228 Holbrook Lane
Modular spiral stair kits are the equivalent of Ikea type flat packs in that they are all pre-boxed ready for sale. This makes huge savings in both manufacturing and transport costs, which in turn reduces the price you pay. In fact typical kits like the Klan spiral stairs retail at less than half the price of typical made-to-measure spiral staircases. There are however limitations, the whole spiral stair design has to allow for the various elements to fit into a transit crate of an acceptable size to transport without increasing transport costs. Full helical handrails manufactured in any material are both expensive to make and extremely difficult and expensive to transport without damage. Imagine a huge curly-wurly taller than yourself and big around, though not particularly heavy it takes up a lot of volume on a lorry and is difficult to stop rolling around.
For the reasons just mentioned, there are no modular kit spiral staircases on the market that have one piece helical wooden handrails. All handrails are made up of sections joined together, each section usually approx 1000mm long, that incidentally being the longest length that you can pack in crate of a standard Euro pallet size.
Most of the cheaper modular kit spiral stairs that are on the market do not actually have wooden handrails at a, but use a flexible PVC, usually with a soft aluminium core and an outer acrylic wood film to match the real wood treads. This allows the sections to be stored straight and then formed on site to suit the required helical shape. There are for their sins even kits on the market that use what I can only describe as a kind of black corrugated plastic land drainage pipe that is supplied in coil. They are certainly cheap and are OK if you do not mind plastic drainage pipe in your living room.
The more expensive modular kit spiral stairs do use real wood in the handrails but this will put the cost up. You have to bear in mind that bent wood is expensive to produce and you cannot have one size fits all, every spiral stair diameter requires a different radius in handrail. Technically a true helical handrail section will need to curve in two directions and one of them will vary depending on the height of the stair. As the heights of kit spiral stairs are adjustable this double curve is not possible to produce in a kit, but the clever manufacturers get over this conundrum usually by using clear tapered washers between each section.
In conclusion, you pays your money and takes your choice. Full wooden helical handrails look superb but are very expensive. Wooden section handrails are not far behind in looks, but do not discount the wood look a likes, if cost is consideration they are not a bad option. Just forget the drainage pipe style.
The Spiral Staircase Doctor
In a way the real question is, do you have the room for a permanent space saver stair on the landing? If the answer is no then a loft ladder or an electric loft ladder is the answer. If the answer is yes then I suppose the next question how much do you want to spend? Less than £.1000.00 on a space saver stairs or around £.2000.00 for an electric loft ladder.
Having decided that you are rich enough to have either, then it really comes down to comfort and ease of usage. Both are quite steep but you will be amazed how comfortable both are to climb. Although you have to remember that you come down an electric loft ladder facing into the ladder, where as space saver stairs are descended face out like any other stairs. On that basis I think space saver stairs win for comfort. However having the electric loft ladder folded up out of the way does save even more space, and do not forget the wow factor when you zing it down to you show your friends your etchings in the loft.
From the installation point of view there is not much to choose, space saver stairs are more complicated to erect and will almost certainly require you to extend your existing loft aperture. However your loft aperture will probably also have to be made bigger for an electric loft ladder, and though they are easier to install electrically operated loft ladders also require an electrical power point nearby in the loft.
If space is at a premium I personally would be quite happy with either a space saver stair or an electric loft ladder it is not really a question of which is better but more which works best in your particular circumstances.
The Stair Doctor