Spiral staircases - any opinions?

abankerbutnotafatcat

Thanks for all the replies. Don't worry @Muskoka - I'm after opinions!! @Whitewing - there's no problem carrying food between the dining room and kitchen as they're on the same floor, in fact if we get the spiral (helix?!) they'll be in the same room!! It's the lounge that's upstairs and so there will be glasses of wine, nibbles etc. to be taken between the two floors but we have to tread very carefully doing that at the moment anyway - especially me after I took my bumpy ride down them - i'm still very wary!!

gnimia

I have a spiral staircase between my ground and first floor. I like it and it looks great but I do appreciate some of the practical problems people have suggested. but sounds like you've got that
Ultimately there's simply not space on the landing for a proper set of stairs so have to make do.
Some guests have expressed concerns about them on the grounds that it looks less solid but they are usually running up and down in no time so i wouldn't worry about that!

Yorkie1

I've lived in houses with both, although I didn't have to use the spiral staircase often.

I would probably avoid a house with a spiral staircase for the reasons given here - although the main one about moving furniture around wouldn't apply so much in your case. However, I did like to hold onto the bannister for safety - which makes it difficult to hold anything else such as trays and perhaps cups.

I had a very steep staircase in a Victorian terrace. I did fall down the final steps a couple of times in 13 years but generally felt far safer on that.

I would have to think very hard about buying a house with a spiral staircase but not so hard about the steep straight one.

Doozergirl

We rented a house that had a spiral staircase. I say "had" because even just renting, people were non willing to rent it because of the spiral staircase, despite the house being very nice. We rejected it as well based on the spiral staircase. Despite it being something that I'd have thought I wanted, looking at one, you see exactly how dangerous they can be, especially with children in a family sized home. We obviously weren't the first, because they had the LA call us and ask if we would rent it if they changed the stairs.

The Building Regulations dictate that you need at least a 2m head height above any step - this means that unless you have an exceptionally high ceiling that your footprint and opening between floors is going to be massive and involve significant structural changes.

There is a reason why you don't see many spiral staircases. As wistful as they might make a person feel, the practicality of them is terrible. How do you move bulky furniture up a spiral staircase in a normal home?!