Creating the Heritage Staircase

At The Stonemasonry Company Limited we pride ourselves on our ability to be flexible. Adapting to any scenario in order to achieve the best results for our clients. Although we have written in the past about our reinforced stone staircases no two are ever the same. Our work on the traditional style stone staircase at was no exception; making this project a great example of how anything can be overcome to produce beautiful results.

This elegant reinforced stone staircase, now completed and beautifully incorporated into this stunning country home, hides all of this complexity with perfect grace. Looking at this finished piece one would not suspect the intricacies that lie beneath.

One of the most interesting features of this solid stone staircase is the series of winder steps that travel across the windows of the property (as pictured above and below). Each of the steps in these two separate groups of five unique winders was complex and needed pinning to one another from both the front and the back, so that they would effectively stay together. However, as they are winder steps, each at different angles, they needed to be highly engineered. Overall there were 60 different pins needed for installation, 30 for each group of steps. Each of these pins was individually designed, analyzed, specified and manufactured.

After the manufacture of each of these elements was finished our next challenge was to complete the careful sequence of work for the installation. This was important due to the fact that the holes and pins on each side of the steps needed to be carefully slotted in to position and resin then needed to be carefully injected to make sure that the steps were adequately fixed and to make sure that the holes and pins were not visible or clashing. This process works, as all of our installation does, one step at a time, in this instance the last step of the section was the hardest to position, as it needed to be fixed to the proceeding 4 steps that were already pinned and glued to one another; in addition there are small tensioned cables and small plates for additional reinforcement in this section, all hidden within the steps, alongside the pins.

The tensioning cable that was required for this project was something of a complexity in itself, as it was a different size to that which we usually stock, and the quantity that was required was so small that our usual suppliers were unable to fulfill the order. Ultimately we managed to source this elusive material from one of our suppliers’ customers, who was able to refer us to one of his customers. Although this is not our preferred method for sourcing materials this is an example of the lengths that our team will go to in order to be able to reach the best solution for our clients. This also shows that not only are our finished products completely bespoke, the uniqueness of what we create often means that off the shelf solutions are frequently not fit for our purpose. Not only are our designs and our shaped pieces of stone complete one off items but also the plates, fixings and inner workings are often manufactured or sourced especially for the project they are used on.

This is but one example in a series of unique projects that The Stonemasonry Company Limited has had the pleasure of working on. For more information on this project, and others, please visit our projects page

As always, we hope you have found this an enjoyable read, and if you have any questions about any of our work, or you have a project of your own in mind, don’t hesitate in contacting our team