Staircase change advice - buying a property

[grumpypj]

All,

We are considering buying a property. Family's gripe is with cramped staircase. they seem to have been done on the cheap and it actually felt unsafe on stairs.

If bought, major renovation works will take place, extension and refurbishment etc. Landing on 1st Floor isnt v wide and 2nd floor is a loft conversion.

I enclose 2 pictures

1. ground floor staircase view. The red red arrow shows tight headroom for even average height people. Width of steps won't let shoe size 5 step safely.
2. Floor layout of property.

Question - with major works in plan, to what extent can we re-do staircase ? we will want wider staircase, safer headroom and wider steps.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

What's the question?

 

[jj4091]

What's the question?

I think it's in the title of the post. But I'm not sure how you could improve it in such a tighht space. Without dimension of the red arrow can't tell if it meets building regs

 

[Deluks]

Change it for a lift?

Difficult to advise, maybe get a staircase designer to come and have a measure up. The loft staircase above may limit what you can do.

 

[jj4091]

Change it for a lift?

Difficult to advise, maybe get a staircase designer to come and have a measure up. The loft staircase above may limit what you can do.

Probaly about the same price but will make furniture moving difficult . Actually just thinking about it, are you allowed to have a lift as a means of escape in case of fire in a domestic property

 

[Deluks]

Would you be prepared to sacrifice bedroom no.5? And redo the loft stairs from a new bigger landing?

This all sounds very expensive, here's the cheaper option.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Once you've bought the place then you can measure stuff and work a new staircase into the refurb, otherwise this is just a waste of time.

 

[^woody^]

You are limited by the height of the first floor and the width of the stair flight opening in the first floor.

You will need to conform to current regulations for stair dimensions - tread depth, step height, minimum angle and head heights. Those tend to govern the sizes of the flights, and altering these will involve extending the flight into the room and altering the structural opening in the first floor - which may be onerous or impractical.

As you have a second storey, fire safety regulations and means of escape will apply - so check you won't have to end up enclosing the flight completely if altered.

If this stair issue is important to you , you need to know what if any options are available before committing to buy, as you may find you can't alter things the way you want

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Looks lovely. Move in, relax and enjoy yourselves. I doubt it could be improved without massive structural work, and probably losing a couple of rooms.

There's no sense in remodelling that, you'll spend a fortune either adding no value or making it worth less than now. Buy a cheap old wreck if that's what you want. Or just buy something you want to live in as-is.

 

[grumpypj]

Thanks everyone for the replies. yes, for the size of the property the staircase is a bit weird. I get the point, without sacrificing a room we cant increase the landing on first floor and loft stairs will still be tiny as I dont see many options in that.

it is important because there will be an old parent in this house and we want to keep them safe.

 

[Old Salt]

Why not buy a house that ticks more boxes

 

[foxhole]

Depends on you plans for refurbishment , plans are not accurate so difficult to judge but you could increase the head room on stairs but may need another turn or pass under the current window.