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Cantilevered Staircases also known as floating stairs can help you to add a touch of elegance to your home.
Appearing to be floating mid-air, a cantilevered staircase is suspended from the wall without any additional support. This type of staircase is fixed onto a straight wall so no visible fixing element can be seen. It is then down to personal preference if there is no railing at all or a minimalistic glass or stainless steel railing can be added.
If you are considering adding a cantilevered staircase to your home, Glass and Stainless have a wide range of options available to you including different shapes, materials and finishes.
Designing Your Cantilevered Staircase
At Glass and Stainless we have a wide range of options available to you when designing your cantilevered staircase, however, the first question to ask yourself is how quickly do you want the stairs installed? If you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing floating staircase but you need them within a 4-12 week period, then our range pre-designed cantilevered staircases might just be for you!
Our pre-designed floating stair range still gives you the ability to choose from a wide range of different materials, colours and finishes, however, it does not allow you to be ‘one of a kind’.
However, if you are looking to really make a statement and have an idea for that one off staircases that you have always been dreaming of, our team have many years of experience and can help you every step of the way, from technical drawings, to full designs and installation.
Fully Bespoke Cantilevered Staircases
Pre-Designed Cantilevered Staircases
FAQ's
What is a floating staircase?
Why choose a cantilevered staircase?
When deciding on the type of staircase design for your home, there can be a lot to consider. Opting for a floating staircase can offer a number of benefits versus a traditional staircase, both in terms of design and function.
If you are looking to best utilise your space, a cantilevered staircase may be an option to consider. Floating staircases take up less space than traditional staircases, making them a great option for smaller homes where space may be at a premium. Floating staircases also offer an abundance of versatility. They are able to be customised and amended to suit a wide array of aesthetic preferences. Whichever design ideas you may be opting towards, floating staircases will certainly allow for it.
How are cantilevered staircases installed?
This is the part where we break the magical illusion of cantilevered staircases!
Each tread of a cantilevered staircase is secured to the wall with a concealed attachment. The type of attachment used will depend on the position of your staircase and the state of the load-bearing wall.
Glass cantilevered staircases are easiest to install when a brand new wall is going up. The earlier you get us on the project, the better. That way we can inform the construction team about how the steel-reinforced wall specifically needs to be built. We would recommend that you insert prefabricated anchor pockets into the framework of the wall, over which the concrete can then be poured. This will ensure that the necessary spaces will be created for the treads to slip in. When the concrete has sufficiently dried, these frameworks can be removed. You can then use some temporary tread inserts to keep the holes clear while you plaster or clad the wall. The real treads can easily be added in later.
An alternative option is to use a stud partition wall and steel string. In order to distribute the weight more evenly across this weaker form of wall, a steel string is firmly affixed to the wall and anchored to the floor with a steel foot plate. Each tread is then individually attached to this string. For added strength, metal sheeting can be used to reinforce the wall. All of this metalwork can be covered over with your desired finish.
Glass cantilevered staircases can be retrofitted into a property but you should seek the advice of a structural engineer prior to doing so.
Do I need to follow any building regulations when installing my cantilevered staircase?
In the UK, you must comply with the following building regulations when installing a cantilevered staircase into your property.
When you’re planning the placement of each tread, the maximum rise for each step is 220mm and the minimum is 150mm. The width of each step from nose to nose (also referred to as ‘the going’) must be a minimum of 220mm and a maximum of 300mm.
Arguably one of the biggest fears many people have about cantilevered staircases is that they will fall either through the gaps or off the edge. The regulations outlined above take care of the former issue and the latter is solved by the use of a balustrade.
Under UK building regulations, a staircase in a domestic property must feature a handrail with a minimum height of 900mm. This balustrade can be made from a whole range of materials in a wide variety of styles, so long as there are no openings through which a 100mm sphere could pass.
In order to maintain the illusion of your floating staircase and not to detract from it’s elegant design, we would recommend choosing a frameless glass balustrade so that the unique architecture of the stairs remains visible.