A garden that steps down twice, and a contractor who wanted the metalwork made properly and delivered to site to fit themselves. Three things went out to this job in Bristol: a powdercoated steel staircase from the lower patio up to the raised deck, a System 1 stainless steel glass balustrade around the deck edge, and a Canterbury frameless glass Juliet balcony to the first floor.
Supplied only. We drew it, made it and delivered it. The construction company fitted the lot.
Project overview
- Client type: Construction company, domestic project
- Location: Bristol
- Scope: Supply only, fitted by the client
- Staircase: Powdercoated steel staircase, pan treads with timber decking infill
- Risers: Round bar infill, chosen by the client over our bent tread riser
- Balustrade: System 1 stainless steel glass balustrade to the deck edge
- Posts: Custom stainless angled bracket where the run sat on the top course of the brick wall
- Juliet balcony: Canterbury frameless glass Juliet to the first floor window
- Fabrication: BS EN 1090-2, UKCA marked
Get a price for something similar
The staircase on this job is our galvanised and powdercoated steel staircase, made to your rise and going and supplied anywhere in the UK.
Pan treads, and why the timber comes from you
The treads on this stair are steel pans rather than solid plates. Each one is a tray, and timber decking board drops into it.
The point of that is matching. A steel stair rising onto a timber deck looks wrong if the stair treads are a different material to the thing they land on. Fill the trays with the same board the deck is made from and the two read as one piece of garden rather than a deck with a fire escape bolted to it.
It also means the wearing surface is replaceable. Timber outdoors has a life, and when a board has had enough it comes out and another goes in. The steel underneath is untouched.
Two ways to close a riser gap
An open riser stair has a gap between one tread and the next, and on most buildings that gap has to be closed enough that a 100mm sphere cannot pass through it.
We normally do that with the tread itself. The pressed tread tray is folded down at the back, which closes the riser gap with no separate infill, and nothing extra is needed.
This client wanted it done differently. They chose round bar infills across each riser instead, which keeps the back of the stair more open and lets light through the flight rather than reading as a solid line under each tread. Both do the same job. One is part of the tread, the other is a visible detail in its own right, and the choice is about how you want the stair to look from underneath.
What any particular stair has to satisfy is confirmed by its building control body. Our staircase building regulations guide covers the sphere rule and where it applies.
Where the posts had nowhere solid to land
The deck balustrade is standard System 1, stainless posts with toughened glass between them, except at one point along the run.
There the balustrade had to sit on the top course of the brick wall. A base plate bolted down into that course alone is not enough to hold a balustrade post. There is very little brick to fix into, and the line load acts at the top of the post, which means the fixings are being asked to resist a lever rather than a straight pull.
So that post got a custom stainless angled bracket. It still fixes down into the top course, but the upstand takes two more fixings horizontally into the timber joist behind it. The post ends up held in two planes instead of one, and the load has somewhere proper to go.
That is the part that is hard to buy. A balustrade system covers the conditions it covers, and then a real building turns up with an edge that is not in the catalogue. Making the one piece that does not exist is the difference between the run finishing where it should and finishing wherever the standard parts happened to run out.
The Juliet upstairs
The first floor window got a Canterbury frameless glass Juliet balcony, which is the one with no posts and no visible frame. The glass is held on brackets at each side and the opening stays clear.
On a house like this it is the right choice for a simple reason: anything with uprights would have put bars across a window that was put there to let light in. Frameless keeps the window a window.
A Juliet is a barrier across an opening at height, so it carries the same 0.74 kN/m line load as a full walk out balcony on a house. Our balcony and Juliet building regulations guide sets out the heights and loads.
Supply only, and what that means in practice
Everything here was made and delivered. The client fitted it.
That suits a builder or a construction company with their own trades on site, and it is how a good share of our work goes out. What we supply is the metalwork, the glass, the fittings and every fixing needed to assemble it, with a drawing issued for approval before anything is cut.
Wall and floor fixings are not supplied on a supply only order. The right anchor depends on what the building is made of, which is a call for whoever is fixing it rather than for us. Fixing points come drilled ready.
Where an edge is awkward, as it was here, tell us at drawing stage rather than on delivery day. A bracket designed in is a part. A bracket needed on site is a delay.
Our UKCA marking under BS EN 1090-2 covers the steelwork we fabricate. It does not extend to somebody else's installation of it, and our certification page sets out exactly where that line falls.
Get a price for something similar
Send a drawing, or the rise, the going and a photograph, to sales@diomet.co.uk, or call 0114 243 9009. If you are a contractor pricing a job, say so and tell us what you want supplied.
- Galvanised and powdercoated steel staircase, the staircase on this job
- System 1 stainless steel glass balustrade, the deck balustrade here
- Canterbury frameless glass Juliet balcony, the Juliet here
- Galvanised steel access staircase, where the stair is for access rather than a feature
- System 10 powdercoated glass balustrade, where the balustrade should match the stair rather than contrast with it
- Decorative metal deck panels, an alternative tread infill to timber
If you are not sure what to send, our how to get a price page sets it out.
Before you order
- Staircase building regulations
- Glass balustrade building regulations
- Balcony and Juliet building regulations
- Glass balustrade fixing guide, methods and substrates
- Our certification and what it covers
- Material finishes
- Installation
Frequently asked questions
What is a pan tread?
A tread made as a steel tray rather than a solid plate, so an infill drops into it. Timber decking is the usual choice on a garden stair because it matches the deck, and the board can be replaced later without touching the steel.
Can I use my own decking board in the treads?
Yes, and most people do. Tell us the board thickness when you order so the pans are made to suit it.
How is the gap between treads closed?
Normally by the tread itself. Our pressed tread tray folds down at the back, which closes the riser gap with no separate infill. Round bar across each riser, as on this job, is the alternative where you want the back of the stair left more open.
Can a balustrade post be fixed to the top of a brick wall?
It depends what is behind it. A base plate bolted into a single top course is usually not enough on its own, because the load acts at the top of the post and tries to lever the plate off. Where there is something solid behind, such as a deck joist, a bracket can pick that up as well and hold the post in two planes. What any particular wall will take is established on site, not from a photograph.
Do you supply without installing?
Yes. A good share of our work goes out supply only to builders and contractors, with a drawing issued for approval first and every fixing needed to assemble it in the delivery. Wall and floor anchors are not included, because the right one depends on the building.
Why frameless for a Juliet balcony?
Because a window is there to let light in, and uprights put bars across it. A frameless Juliet holds the glass at the sides and leaves the opening clear.
Does your certification cover my installation?
No. Our UKCA marking under BS EN 1090-2 covers the steelwork we fabricate. How and what it is fixed into on site is the responsibility of whoever installs it.