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Steel spiral stairs

johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
Anyone aware of any steel spiral stair suppliers or manufacturers in the Calgary area?
 

kevin.decelles

Jack of all trades -- Master of none
Premium Member
Great topic. Building a set of spiral stairs from my deck to my walkout is on my retirement list. I've been stockpiling for that!

lots of good calculators out there too. lots of nice designs. Debating to go 100% metal or build in some wood steps etc.
 

DavidR8

Scrap maker
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
I think the treads would be relatively easy; a pie-shaped tread coupled to a sort length of pipe that would slide over the centre support pipe.
Like these: https://www.stairwaysinc.com/treads.php
Would also be relatively easy to make a bracket to hold a wooden tread which would be easier to make for those of us with woodworking tools.

I think the hard part is the railing. One thing I've thought about for railing is welding a thin rod (one that I could easily bend) to uprights and repeating till I had a profile I like. Could look like crap though so dunno...
 
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Tom O

Ultra Member
In the early 90’s I helper a guy that made spiral/custom railings we made a climbing router that would travel around any radius. He would cut his wood into strips then laminated them using a pegboard to shape them.
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
All I can add to this thread is negativity and terror. Please feel free to not read the rest of my post.

My parents had a metal spiral staircase built for their cottage in order to conserve space.

It was a permanent accident waiting to happen. Nobody was immune. Everyone who ever visited got skinned shins, skinned calves, or worse. You eventually learned to go up/down with both feet on each step one at a time and you never used those stairs in the dark. Everyone hated them.

I think spiral stairs have to be huge (say 5ft wide - 11 altogether) to work well.
 

Crankit

Well-Known Member
All I can add to this thread is negativity and terror. Please feel free to not read the rest of my post.

My parents had a metal spiral staircase built for their cottage in order to conserve space.

It was a permanent accident waiting to happen. Nobody was immune. Everyone who ever visited got skinned shins, skinned calves, or worse. You eventually learned to go up/down with both feet on each step one at a time and you never used those stairs in the dark. Everyone hated them.

I think spiral stairs have to be huge (say 5ft wide - 11 altogether) to work well.

Plus add wobbly pops!
 

6.5 Fan

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Jeeez i was thinking a spiral stair case would be great, then realized i ain't getting any younger and a elevator would be a better option for my knees.
 

DPittman

Ultra Member
Premium Member
All I can add to this thread is negativity and terror. Please feel free to not read the rest of my post.

My parents had a metal spiral staircase built for their cottage in order to conserve space.

It was a permanent accident waiting to happen. Nobody was immune. Everyone who ever visited got skinned shins, skinned calves, or worse. You eventually learned to go up/down with both feet on each step one at a time and you never used those stairs in the dark. Everyone hated them.

I think spiral stairs have to be huge (say 5ft wide - 11 altogether) to work wel
I can relate. My mother-in-law has a set of homebuilt steel spiral stairs to the loft of her log home that would make most people shutter. She typically has gone up them like a billy goat carry stuff in her arms at the same time. Now that she is 90 years old we have finally gotten a bit more nervous about her doing so considering the lack of safety rails and guards. I have addressed some of those concerns with some sort of temporary fixes but they still make me nervous.
Here is a picture looking down, not a great picture but you might get the idea. My mother in law is also about the same width of those rails.
 

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DPittman

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Anyone aware of any steel spiral stair suppliers or manufacturers in the Calgary area?
Last I looked Home depot had a pretty good selection of spiral cases they could order. Prices are crazy high for the things but I have no idea if Home Depots prices are competitive.
 
I’ve built several.
I used to work for an old school Italian guy doing fences railing and gates etc.


If laid out properly they are functional and not too trippy. You want the Center of the tread to be your typical rise/run and work from there.

We would use a Center post ~3.5” and a larger section that slipped over with each tread attached. Outdoor or all metal ones we would figure the size and get a local big shop to bend the tread pans out of checker plate. I’d you want wood a frame of angle iron could be made.

Once did a two story one in a converted church made into a house, that lone was pretty sweet!

What ever you do DO NOT!!!!
Order a build it yourself kit. They are expensive junk. More then a few times he would quote people a price. They would order the “cheaper” kit and then hire us to fix and rebuild it properly at close to the cost of what the original build would have been.

Want to make one again for myself one day when I have a place for it.

Just built a set a ultra steep ‘soldier’ stairs for buddy who was flipping a house. Now THAT IS A TRIPPY STAIR!! 9foot of rise in less then 5’!!
 

DavidR8

Scrap maker
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
I’ve built several.
I used to work for an old school Italian guy doing fences railing and gates etc.


If laid out properly they are functional and not too trippy. You want the Center of the tread to be your typical rise/run and work from there.

We would use a Center post ~3.5” and a larger section that slipped over with each tread attached. Outdoor or all metal ones we would figure the size and get a local big shop to bend the tread pans out of checker plate. I’d you want wood a frame of angle iron could be made.

Once did a two story one in a converted church made into a house, that lone was pretty sweet!

What ever you do DO NOT!!!!
Order a build it yourself kit. They are expensive junk. More then a few times he would quote people a price. They would order the “cheaper” kit and then hire us to fix and rebuild it properly at close to the cost of what the original build would have been.

Want to make one again for myself one day when I have a place for it.

Just built a set a ultra steep ‘soldier’ stairs for buddy who was flipping a house. Now THAT IS A TRIPPY STAIR!! 9foot of rise in less then 5’!!
I’d be interested in how the handrail was made. This is the part that kinda stymies me when I think about building one.
 
I’d be interested in how the handrail was made. This is the part that kinda stymies me when I think about building one.
Yes the hand rail is the a tricky part, well unless you’ve got a rolling machine.

( the “kits” they used to sell literally came with a roll of landscape tubing, that black coiled pipe. You were to drill holes and insert the 1/2” pickets into it)

We had something like this:
8FEF64E9-147D-4949-9585-B9127C01BA82.jpeg

It’s not just a roll though, it’s twisted roll. You have to twist the hand rail as you roll it.

We would use a 3’ piece Of flat bar Curve and twist it to sit flat on the outward edge of the treads. Then use that as a guide to roll the handrail to. We would use a moulded steel hand rail like this


EF09BE1C-E8F5-425C-AB95-9485AA260C8A.png

However if your willing to put in the work with a hammer and a piece of channel you can curve the steel by hand. I’ve done a lot like this but yeah it sucks probably part of the reason I blew my shoulder out this month :/
 
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