Marty Day, marketing manager at StairBox, discusses the use of staircases when building and selling a home.
When readying a home for sale there are a massive number of things to consider and far too many times the staircase gets left behind, chucked to one side as though an inconvenient afterthought. However, a staircase needn’t be a thorn in your side, but can instead be a major selling point of a house.
When a buyer enters a house, it’s no different to meeting someone new for the first time – first impressions count. Creating that initial ‘wow’ factor can mean the difference between someone falling in love with the house, or moving on to the next. There are many ways to create that ‘wow’ factor – an impressive kitchen, top notch bathroom, etc. However, an alternative inexpensive and effective way of doing this can be to include a unique staircase, which is far easier than most developers consider.
Over the past few years the staircase industry has undergone a renaissance. Shifting from just another necessity of the home, it stairs are fast becoming an element that many choose to maintain as an outlet for character and creativity. With this shiftings of paradigms comes a deluge of new styles, designs and, let’s be frank, costs.
Designing
Often when it comes to deciding on a new staircase, developers can get a little apprehensive, thinking that it will be a difficult and time consuming job to design the flight, never mind the waiting time for the staircase to be delivered.
The fact is, there are lots of tools now available online that can help in the design and measuring of a staircase, without the need for a pushy salesman. The industry has become a lot more transparent with pricing available online and help readily available to those that need it.
A few years ago, waiting times could be in the realm of months, but recently waiting times have been reduced massively, taking a couple of weeks in the majority of cases, and sometimes earlier if it’s really needed.
The fact that the staircase industry is more competitive than ever has lead to some strict regulations and schemes to ensure quality. When you are looking for a staircase manufacturer, check if they are members of bodies such as the BWF Stair Scheme and the Timber Stair Association (TSA). These bodies require a certain standard of staircase to be made, beyond that required by UK Regulations.
Next, you simply need to decide upon the style of staircase that you would like. There is such a vast choice out there at the moment that is beyond anything previously seen in this industry. Whether the development would suit staircases of a period style or ultra modern chrome and glass, there will be a company out there that will be able to help.
Big impressions
Essentially, no matter what you need or how small or large the work you are looking to do is, there are companies out there to help. The staircase is an opportunity to make a big impression – don’t let it slip you by.