Joiner-Made Staircase
A staircase cut and assembled by a joiner to the measured rise and going — housed strings, glued and wedged treads, and a handrail worked to the turn. Geometry is set by the opening, not by a catalogue.
Carbon and evidence
How This Is Made
An Environmental Product Declaration is issued by a manufacturer against a declared unit. This record has neither, so it states sourced facts about process and provenance instead of a carbon figure.
The stair-joiner’s trade; housed-string construction is essentially unchanged since the 18th century
Process
Feedstock
Plant fibre
Kiln-dried solid hardwood or softwood, converted from the board rather than laminated
Process heat
Low temperature
Binder
Mechanical
Fabrication
Workshop-made
Sourcing: timber internationally traded; the cutting and fitting are local
Who Builds It
Specialist trade
Established in the UK
Site measure has to follow the structural opening, so the stair is one of the last things ordered and one of the first things needed
End Of Life
Monolithic
Glued and wedged, so it comes out in pieces rather than intact — but it is repairable in place almost indefinitely
Maintenance: Treads re-nosed or replaced individually; the whole stair is refinished rather than renewed
Specification Risk
What a specifier has to resolve before this can be built.
- Certification
- No type certification; compliance is demonstrated against Part K by drawing and inspection
- Fire
- Combustible. A protected escape stair may require a different construction entirely
- Warranty
- Joiner workmanship warranty
- Insurance
- Not normally an issue
- Supply
- Lead time is the workshop queue; a re-cut after a site change is a full remake
Read This Honestly
- •Adhesives and applied finishes are real inputs and are not covered by any declaration held here.
- •Glued construction is repairable but not demountable — do not record it as recoverable timber.
- •A catalogue stair kit is a different article and belongs in the product track.
Design & Specification Notes
A staircase cut and assembled by a joiner to the measured rise and going — housed strings, glued and wedged treads, and a handrail worked to the turn.
Material Note
The rise and going come from the structural opening, so the stair cannot be ordered before the floor is set out. That sequencing, not the material, is what makes it bespoke.
Typical Uses
- •Hardware & fittings
- •Bathroom/kitchen fixtures
- •Accessories
Key Performance
High load-bearing capacity for primary structure.
Specification Actions
- •Confirm the timber species and its FSC or PEFC chain of custody with the joiner.
- •Check rise, going and handrail heights against Part K before the stair is cut — it cannot be adjusted afterwards.
- •Wedged and glued construction is repairable indefinitely but not demountable; record it as repairable rather than recoverable.
Indicative Health & Indoor Air
- •VOCs from applied finishes
Solid timber. The finish, not the timber, is the indoor-air question.
Products in this category
1 product from 1 manufacturer. Ordered by the evidence each record holds, never by commercial standing.
Specification
- Finish
- Solid timber strings, treads and handrail
- Service life
- 60 years