How to make a winding concrete staircase

Winding staircases are usually constructed where the space is constricted. This is when a straight flight with a normal landing is not possible. The house design will have the upper floor with a normal height as for a straight flight stair. It is important that the head room is maintained. This will prevent hitting the upper floor slab with the head when walking up or down the stair well. The finishing over the concrete can be done with many products.

Winding concrete stair cases can be made to be economical on reinforcements and other materials. This does not need to have a full sized tread of minimum three feet. The tread width can be one and a half wide and having a normal riser height. This height is usually minimum six inches high. The winding can be through three hundred and sixty degrees or less. This will depend on the point of landing. The number of treads is eighteen including the landing.

The construction of a winding concrete stair commences by measuring the floor to floor headroom. The height of nine feet headroom will give eighteen risers of six inches each. Starter bars are first cast onto the ground floor slab. The intended width is one and a half feet. The form work is then made to the top of the upper floor. IT is curved round up to the next floor. The height of each riser is marked onto the form sides. The reinforcements are then tied and joined with the exposed upper floor steel.

After the steel is in place, the riser form work is then fixed as marked while winding. This is repeated and adjustments done until all treads are equal to the top. Concrete is cast and vibrated. After fourteen days the form work is removed. Timber treads of two feet wide are screwed onto the concrete. This give a stair width of two feet. Once the treads and risers are fixed, varnish is applied. Winding handrails are fixed on both sides to the top for safety.