How Much Does a Bespoke Staircase Cost?

The short answer

A bespoke staircase is not a product with a price list, which is why nobody publishes one. It is a structural component, made once, for one opening, and the number depends more on the shape of your house than on anything you choose from a brochure.

What we can do is explain honestly what moves the number, so that when you get a quote you can tell whether it is reasonable and what you would be giving up to make it cheaper. That is more useful than a figure with no context, and a lot more useful than a figure that turns out to exclude the balustrade.

Broadly: a straight flight in painted softwood with a simple spindle balustrade sits at the bottom of the range. A curved or cantilevered staircase in oak with a glass balustrade sits at the top, and the gap between them is larger than most people expect, several times over rather than a few percent.

What actually drives the price

Five things, in roughly descending order.

The shape. A straight flight is the cheapest thing we can make. Every turn adds cost: a quarter-landing adds a little, a winder (where the treads themselves turn) adds more because each tread is a different shape and each has to be set out individually. A curved or helical staircase means laminated strings bent to a former, and that is a different order of work entirely.

The timber. See below; it is the biggest single material decision.

The balustrade. Also below. People routinely underestimate this one.

The finish. Painted, stained, oiled or left bare changes both the material and the labour. Painted work needs more preparation, not less, because every joint has to be filled and sanded to invisibility.

The fitting. A staircase going into a new build with a clear opening and a level floor fits quickly. A staircase replacing one in a 200-year-old Devon cottage, where nothing is square, the ceiling height varies and the opening has moved over two centuries, takes longer and needs more survey time up front.

Timber: the biggest single variable

Painted softwood is the most economical, and for a staircase that is going to be painted anyway it is often the sensible answer; there is no point paying for grain you intend to cover.

European oak costs significantly more and is what most people picture. It is harder, it wears better underfoot, and the grain is the point. American white oak is paler, straighter-grained and takes a stain more evenly.

A common and sensible compromise is mixing them: oak treads and handrail where hands and feet go and where the timber shows, painted softwood strings and risers where it does not. You get most of the look for a good deal less than an all-oak flight, and an oak staircase is a combination we make often.

The balustrade is half the job

This is where quotes diverge most, and where comparing two quotes gets difficult.

A simple turned spindle balustrade in painted softwood is straightforward. A glass balustrade (toughened panels, stainless or timber fixings, all meeting current building regulations) costs considerably more, and our guide to wood versus glass balustrades sets out the trade-offs. Bespoke turned or carved newel posts add more again, because each one is turned individually.

The important practical point: when you compare quotes, check whether the balustrade is included. It frequently is not, and a quote that excludes it can look dramatically cheaper than one that does not for exactly the same staircase.

Where a staircase gets expensive

In rough order of impact:

• Curves and cantilevers. Laminated strings bent to a former, and cantilevered treads needing structural calculation and often steelwork in the wall.
• Full-height galleries and landings. More balustrade than staircase.
• Hardwood throughout, including risers and strings.
• Carved or bespoke-turned newels.
• Difficult access. If a finished flight cannot physically get into the house, it has to be made in sections and assembled on site.

What you get for the money

The honest case for bespoke over off-the-shelf is not that it looks better in a photograph. It is that it fits.

A made-to-measure staircase is set out for your actual rise and going, which means every step is the same height, something stock staircases in old houses frequently fail at, and something you feel every single time you use it. Building regulations set limits on rise, going, headroom and balustrade gaps, and a bespoke staircase is designed to meet them in your opening rather than approximately.

It also lasts. A well-made oak staircase is a fifty-year component, not a fifteen-year one.

How to get an accurate number

We cannot quote a staircase from a description, and anyone who does is guessing. What we need is the opening: the floor-to-floor height, the available run, the width, and what is above and below. Photographs and rough measurements are enough to start a conversation; a survey is what produces a fixed price.

Send through what you have and we will tell you honestly what is realistic in the space, including where spending more is worth it and where it is not.