how big a deal is it to go from side stair to center stair?
I am in escrow on a 16.57×26 ft brownstone and am thinking of changing the staircase from going along the side to going up the center in the way that it makes a c shape and so takes up less space. Does anyone know if that is a) possible and b) how big a deal…
I am in escrow on a 16.57×26 ft brownstone and am thinking of changing the staircase from going along the side to going up the center in the way that it makes a c shape and so takes up less space. Does anyone know if that is a) possible and b) how big a deal it is? I renovated a farmhouse upstate and put in a new staircase up there, but everything seems more daunting in NYC…
A straight run stair takes up less space than a split stair because you don’t need extra space for the landing of the turn. The staircase has to overlap onto itself to take up less space.
Your problem is that you have to reframe the beams on each floor at the staircase to accommodate the new width. Which means a new relieving beam, new supports for that relieving beam, and a lot of new ceiling work — all of this before you get into the new stringers, risers, treads and handrail.
It’s a job that needs a lot of planning. Easier to do if the rest of the place is getting a gut.
–an architect in Brooklyn
hilarious, 10:57.
to actually answer the question: we were recently given a rough estimate of $10-15k to remove a side stair case and replace it with a spiral or “c” staircase like you describe. this was only for one floor, though, so multiply this amount by however many floors you want to alter in this fashion.
horrifically expensive. Think over a million bucks. Basically to even get the right person interested (and there are only 5 right people working at the moment, and you don’t know who they are) you have to spend $29,500 just to get them to come look. Then, if they don’t like the street parking situation they’ll turn the job down. In order to start (you do have another home to live in during this, don’t you?) they need a non-refundable $150,000 good-will deposit wired to their swiss bank account. It gets more expensive from there. Good luck! let us know how it all works out!