Stone stairs and balustrades

Which stone takes a stair?

Granite is the hardest and the best fit for outdoor stairs and building stairwells, while Egyptian marble suits an indoor stair, provided the edge of each step has a finish or grooves that reduce slipping. Here is the comparison in detail:

Before you choose, ask for a large sample in the finish that will actually be installed, polished or honed, and try it wet. Where you can, see the slabs themselves at the showroom, because colour and veining vary from block to block.

The step details that make the difference

The difference between a fine stair and a tiring one is usually in the small details, not in the stone alone:

• Tread and riser: the tread is the surface you step on; the riser is the vertical face of the step. Treads are usually cut thicker than risers because they carry the traffic, and they project slightly over the riser below.
• Nosing (the front edge): rounded or chamfered rather than left as a sharp arris, because it takes the knocks, and a sharp edge chips quickly and can cut.
• Anti-slip grooves: two or three machine-cut grooves near the nosing, or a strip with a rough finish. They are essential on outdoor stairs and in building stairwells.
• Skirting: cut from the same stone alongside the stair, either stepped with the treads or as one straight raking line, protecting the wall from shoes and mopping.
• Landings: cut from large slabs where possible to reduce joints; with veined marble, the veins can be book-matched like a mirror.
• Built-up edge: to make a step look thicker, a strip is bonded under the front of the tread with a 45-degree mitre, so it reads as one solid piece.
• Solid block steps: on some outdoor or feature stairs, a single solid block replaces the tread and riser. It is heavier and needs planning for handling and setting.

Order of work: from concrete to handover

A good stair is prepared before the stone arrives, because most stair problems come from the concrete and the levels, not from the marble.

1. Check the concrete

   Inspect the concrete steps for cracks, broken edges and differences between one step and the next, and repair them before any cladding.

2. Fix the floor levels

   Set the finished floor level at the bottom and the top of the stair before cutting. If the floor build-up changes afterwards, the first or last step ends up a different height from the rest, which is the most common cause of trips on stairs.

3. Measure every step

   Concrete steps are rarely identical, so each one is measured on its own and the differences are taken up, so every finished step has the same height and depth.

4. First-fix lighting and balustrade

   Run conduit for the stair lighting and set the positions and base plates of the balustrade posts in the concrete before the stone goes on, not after.

5. Cut and set

   Pieces are cut to the measurements and bedded on mortar or a suitable adhesive that fills the whole back, because voids under a tread make it crack under load.

6. Protect until handover

   Cover the finished stair with boards or heavy card, because the other trades will be carrying materials and tools up and down until the job ends.

Indoor, outdoor and building stairs

Each stair needs its own specification, because the traffic, the water and the sun differ in each case.

Balustrades: iron, stainless or glass?

Choose a balustrade for safety first and looks second: the right height, gaps too narrow for a child to pass through, and posts fixed into the concrete itself, not only into the stone.

Avoid horizontal rails that a child can climb like a ladder, and keep the handrail continuous from the first step to the last wherever you can.

Stair lighting

Stair lighting is for safety before decoration, and it is planned before the stone is cut, because some options need a recess or a channel in the stone itself.

• Small wall lights set low beside the steps, lighting the treads without dazzling you on the way down.
• A concealed LED strip under the tread nosing or inside the skirting, which needs a channel planned before cutting.
• Two-way switching at the top and the bottom, so the light can be turned on and off from either end.
• In a building stairwell, a motion sensor or a timer, so the lights do not burn all night and nobody climbs in the dark.
• The driver placed where it can be reached for maintenance, not buried behind stone.

Itmam and stairs

We visit, measure every step and give you a written, itemised quotation before work starts: the stone, its thickness and finish, the nosing and grooves, the skirting and landings, and the balustrade type and how it is fixed.

The stone is templated, cut and installed by the same team, and balustrades and other metalwork are made in our own workshops. You can choose from a catalogue of 94 Egyptian stones — marble, granite, quartz and onyx — or visit the showroom in El Deresa, Alexandria. Supply-only is available if you have your own installer.

On the North Coast we hold to the specification we write for the sea: 316 stainless steel, hot-dip galvanised steel and marine-grade hardware. On a finishing contract you pay each supplier directly and the tax invoice is in your name; our fee for supervision and execution is agreed in writing before we begin.