How to Measure for a Straight Staircase

A straight staircase is generally the easiest type of staircase to measure for.

1) Floor to floor;

AKA ‘finished floor to finished floor height’ or ‘total rise’.
This is the dimension measured from the top of the floor downstairs, to the top of the floor upstairs, it is important that this dimension is accurate.

2) Total floor space;

AKA ‘total going’
This is the physical length that the staircase takes up as measured along the floor.
If you do not know this size, don’t worry, we can calculate it for you.

3) Opening length;

AKA ‘well length’
This is the length of the floor opening.
If you have no yet cut out the floor opening then do not worry, we can work out this for you.

4) Opening width;

This is the width of the opening,
we would recommend that this should be;
Staircase without posts; 15mm wider than the staircase
Staircase with posts; 100mm wider than the staircase, this is to allow for room for the fingers once the handrail is installed.

Also remember to account for plaster when working out the width of the opening.

5) Floor to ceiling;

Floor to ceiling, if you need us to work out the headroom for us we will need this dimension, this is the dimension from the ground floor to the underside of the finished ceiling (usually plasterboard)

Other Tips;

Two meters headroom is required all the way up the stairs, because of this it is important that the total floor space isn’t too much bigger than the opening length, call us for advise on this.

In old buildings, sometimes the floors are not level, please call us for advise with this.