Giffnock, East Renfrewshire
Staircases and balustrades in Giffnock
Giffnock's inter-war villas usually have a better staircase than their owners realise: solid timber, a generous width and often a half landing with a window. What has dated is nearly always the balustrade and the four coats of gloss on it, not the stair.
Decide what the house wants first
In a 1930s villa there are two credible directions. You can restore: strip back the original handrail and newels, repair what is damaged and fit spindles in a matching profile. Or you can contrast deliberately, with glass and oak against the period joinery. Both work. What does not work is a half-measure, where a modern rail meets an original newel and neither looks intended.
Half landings and the window
Where there is a stair window on a half landing, the balustrade is standing directly between it and the hall below. That is the single best argument for glass in these houses, because the light is already there and only the spindles are in its way.
Stripping original timber
Under decades of paint, the original handrail in these houses is often good hardwood worth bringing back. It is slow work and not always successful; sometimes what is underneath turns out to be softwood that was always meant to be painted. We will take a test patch back before promising you a stripped rail.
Meeting current guarding requirements
Original balustrades frequently have gaps wider than current standards allow. Where we are renovating rather than repairing, the new arrangement is set out to the current requirements, including the 100mm sphere rule, which sometimes means more spindles than the original had.
Before & after
Opening Up a Dark Stairwell With Glass and Oak
Swapping a run of painted timber spindles for toughened glass and an oak handrail pulled daylight back into a landing without touching the structure of the stairs.