Cost of Iron Stairs: Spiral vs. Straight
We’re installing stairs from our deck down to the garden. Our plans initially called for a spiral staircase – 3′ wide steps, going down like 9′, and this is what was in our contract. We’ve decided a straight stair makes more sense for a lot of reasons, and our contractor is saying this will be…
We’re installing stairs from our deck down to the garden. Our plans initially called for a spiral staircase – 3′ wide steps, going down like 9′, and this is what was in our contract. We’ve decided a straight stair makes more sense for a lot of reasons, and our contractor is saying this will be a lot more expensive – more than double. A lot of the job seems exactly the same, and some parts seem easier w/ the straight stair (covering the metal treads w/ wood would be a pain on pie wedge steps). Does this change seem reasonable? Advice welcome. Thanks!
op here. I realize that spiral is pre-fab, but the stair is pretty basic – so it seems like it should be a days work to weld together. I wasn’t surprised the straight stair was more, I was surprised at the magnitude of change. We did a CO to back the stairs out of the contract, as permitting for the stair / deck was taking forever, and I think we were credited too little. Cottontop – we had 3 estimates from people I found here on the site, they ranged from $5K to $8K. Email me at jbusky at gmail if you’d like more details.
Spiral stairs come in kits, and the kits are able to be adjusted for the height – I’ve seen shows on HGTV illustrating the installation of spiral stairs. The straight ones might need to be made to measure for your space.
Call Victor Iron Inc. 718-930-3883 He did a wonderful job in building a deck and putting straight stairs. All my neighbors love his work. Tell him the house on St Marks Ave.
Is it the cost of the iron stair, or the framing cost of the opening?
We have put circular stairs down square openingsthat would not be long enough for a straight stair (in terms of head room.
Seeing as code now requires the opening to be iron (not Metal C joists) the structural could be more expensive.
OP: would you be willing to share your estimates? I need the same thing and have pondered both straight and spiral.
Yes, spiral stairs are almost prefab – much easier. But I’d shop around for bids on the steps if you can back out of the agreement.
Spiral is actually a lot easier to install. It’s almost like a kit, the treads are pre-fab, they have a sleeve, you slip them on the center pole, add a spacer, slip on another tread. Everything is pre-measured and cut, almost fool proof. Even the railing can be ordered pre-bent. On a straight run, the rise and pitch are going to be different for each job so there’s more planning, cutting and welding, so while it seems counter intuitive, I’m not terribly surprised that spiral stairs are cheaper.
Not to me it doesn’t seem reasonable. A straight stair should be a lot easier (cheaper) than a spiral. Has the job started? Is this a change order? Have you signed a contract? Get other prices. Who is the contractor?