As an eye-catching design element, a spiral staircase will turn heads

Nothing seems to add grace and beauty to a home like a staircase.

So much more than a way to move between levels, a well-thought-out and executed staircase, no matter its size, can add character, quirkiness or elegance to a home.

The final look is simply a matter of what the homeowner prefers and can afford.

Earlier this summer John Miller of Bartlett chose to improve the outdoor spaces of his townhouse by enlarging a second-floor deck that extends over his patio. He replaced a builder-supplied straight staircase linking one outdoor space to the other, with a spiral staircase.

The new staircase he chose came in a kit from The Iron Shop, which has a showroom in Elk Grove Village, but is based in Broomall, Pa.

"My wife and I are tickled pink with the results," Miller, 72, said. "We had the builder who extended our deck install the staircase, but I watched the DVD instructions and I could have done it myself if I were a bit younger. It was relatively easy to install."

"We wanted to be able to go from the patio to the deck without going inside. So when we made the deck larger, we decided to follow the lead of another person in our complex and put in a spiral staircase," he said.

The treads on the staircase the Millers chose match their decking material and are not at all slippery when wet, which was one of their main concerns.

The cost of the staircase kit was about $3,000 and having their contractor install it added $500 to the project cost, Miller estimates.

Homeowners in all walks of life are currently choosing to improve their homes instead of selling them and moving on, thanks to the difficult housing market, said Mark Toline, sales and project manager for Lake Shore Stair Co. of Libertyville and Ingleside (lakeshorestair.com or (815) 363-7777).

And in many cases, the improvements chosen involve replacement or improvement of a staircase, he said.

Those with lots of space and a generous bank balance often choose Lake Shore Stair for those improvements. In business since 1932, Lake Shore Stair specializes in high-end custom and circular staircases. And while they design, construct and install staircases of all kinds, "we are primarily a wood shop," Toline said. Complicated ironwork, for instance, is done by a subcontractor.

Installation of Lake Shore Stair systems is anything but a do-it-yourself endeavor.

"We like to be responsible from start to finish," Toline said, so while very simple, straight staircases between two walls can cost as little as $3,500 to construct and install, a straight staircase with open railings and banisters usually ranges from $7,000 to $10,000.

On the other hand, the nice, wide curved staircases that you might see in a home of $750,000 to $1 million generally cost somewhere between $18,000 and $25,000, Toline said, while the stair budget for $8 to $20 million homes with multiple staircases, bronze balusters and stone treads can be anywhere between $60,000 and $100,000.

"We offer staircases in many different woods, metals, stones and glass," he said. "Our metal balusters come in copper, stainless steel, iron or bronze and we offer both smooth and hammered surfaces in about 150 different profiles."

When it comes to wood, red oak is still the most popular, but other woods - like white oak, American walnut, maple and cherry - are also popular. Brazilian cherry and Honduran mahogany were both popular for awhile, Toline said, but environmentally conscious homeowners no longer want to use these woods so they are, instead, opting for lyptus and bamboo. Lyptus looks a lot like mahogany, but is much more replaceable. Bamboo has a contemporary look and wears exceptionally well, he said.

And while Lake Shore Stair designs and installs open-riser, contemporary staircases for those who want them, they are installing fewer because small children and pets are often afraid to climb and descend those types of staircases and because new national codes require no opening between stairs greater than four inches, which defeats the purpose of getting additional light to the staircase, according to Toline.

To comply with this requirement, Lake Shore Stair builds thicker treads on their open-riser stairs and adds a lip to those treads to further reduce the open space between steps, he said.

All of the more budget-conscious, do-it-yourself kit staircases sold by The Iron Shop, on the other hand, are made in the open-riser style to make homeowner-installation easier.

While the vast majority of staircases sold by the Pennsylvania manufacturer are spiral, they do sell a set of straight oak stairs and a set of floating metal stairs in a straight configuration.

In business since 1931, The Iron Shop (theironshop.com or (847) 952-9010), a division of M. Cohen and Sons fine metalworkers, is the largest manufacturer of spiral staircases in the world, said Sam Cohen, vice president. They have had a showroom and warehouse in Elk Grove Village since the mid-1980s.

"Spiral staircases take up half the floor space of a straight stair; they are prettier and they take less maintenance," Cohen explained, "so they are very popular, particularly in cities where space is at a premium. They are also very popular outdoors off a deck, for instance, or as a secondary staircase because national building codes will not allow them to be used for required egress."

"Outdoors our galvanized steel and powder-coated aluminum staircases are often used because they can go 10 years without repainting whereas pressure-treated lumber, used on a lot of decks, needs to be refinished every few years," he said.

All-metal Victorian-style staircases are particularly popular as an outdoor adornment to houses because they add detail and character to a home, Cohen explained. Even those with contemporary homes often choose a Victorian staircase for their exterior, landing on a patio, lower deck or concrete pad.

The cost of spiral staircase kits from The Iron Shop depends on the diameter chosen for the staircase, as well as the materials the homeowner wants to use. A small diameter staircase with minimal material costs can go for as little as $700, Cohen said, and it climbs from there.

"A combination of wood and metal on staircases has been extremely popular the last 10 years or so," he continued. Red oak is considered heavy duty, but white oak, hickory, maple and cherry are increasingly popular, as is bamboo. Available, but not as popular are Australian cypress and cumaru, Cohen said.

For outdoor use, ipe (also known as ironwood), mahogany and red cedar are the most popular woods because they weather well, expanding and contracting without cracking.

"Most people still want to match the treads of their stairs to their flooring or decking," Cohen acknowledged, "but more and more are mixing their hardwoods to add character and to introduce something different to the look of their home."

While standard online kits are available from the local warehouse or for delivery within two weeks by common carrier, custom staircases can take from six to eight weeks to be delivered, Cohen said.

"Our staircases are designed for the Weekend Warrior who wants to do it him- or herself. They all come with easy-to-follow pictures, diagrams, words and a video. You can even call an 800 number and talk to a person," he said.

And the staircases are engineered to stand-up to earthquakes in California, so they are very safe and reliable, Cohen said.

A nice option for The Iron Shop staircases is a lighting kit that comes with white or black fixtures and can be included in the staircase's initial construction or added later. The option costs $475 and is primarily being used, Cohen said, for interior staircases located in dark areas where extra light would be helpful.