Opening enclosed stairs

adamleucine

I can guarantee the upstairs is as per the floor plan. The porch section runs along the front of the house and along the front of the garage and the 3rd bedroom has a dormer window (outside picture for reference)

GDB2222

I assumed that you just want to open the wall up a bit. You don't want to do away with it altogether, surely?  It would make the stairs rather dangerous, for a start. 

adamleucine

Yeah, a traditional bannister up to wherever the correct height reaches the ceiling 

Bendy_House

adamleucine said:

Can you visualise it with that end wall edge still remaining as a 'pillar' (so the light switch on the stair side can also remain there) and effectively a large sloping triangular shape cut out of the main wall, following the stair string, and opened up almost to the ceiling? That would allow you to insert a banister of your choice.

If so, then even if 'structural', this would/should be a very straightforward job for a builder as you'd reinstate a support beam and post.

If this wall is structural and you wish to have this wall removed in its entirety, then most likely something more complex will be required.

Either way, a BC 'minor works warrant' (I think) and an SE is required.

GDB2222

You can get some pretty stunning effects just by cutting large ‘portholes' in a wall.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Can you visualise it with that end wall edge still remaining as a 'pillar' (so the light switch on the stair side can also remain there) and effectively a large sloping triangular shape cut out of the main wall, following the stair string, and opened up almost to the ceiling? That would allow you to insert a banister of your choice.

If so, then even if 'structural', this would/should be a very straightforward job for a builder as you'd reinstate a support beam and post.

It's worth noting how far forward that end is compared to the first riser.  Which is one of the reasons why I suspect there is something structural in that wall - it doesn't appear to be an 'architectural' feature, and that suggests the wall ends where it does because there's something above it to support.

What it might be supporting was difficult to work out from the floor plans because the location of the cupboard on the first floor relative to the bottom of the stairs wasn't obvious.  The picture from the top of the stairs helps clarify that, but leaves uncertainty over what exactly might be above the wall at the very end.

Its a situation where you'd really need to lift some of the landing floor to get a better understanding of how the first floor is supported around the stairwell area.

If the nose of that wall is there for some structural purpose then it also means that the easiest way to open the stairs out by using a 'structural' newel post supporting a beam (or the 'pillar' approach you suggest) would still require that support to be some distance forward of the first riser.  Technically it could be possible to do, but it is very likely to look 'odd' and clumsy.  In which case GDB2222's suggestion might be the more aesthetically pleasing approach.

Doozergirl

Our stairs.  There was a structural
stud wall in place.  This is stronger than what was there, but gives a better sense of space.  

I went for 100mm posts because there is a 100mm steel in this lot (holding up the roof) and I wanted it all to blend in seamlessly, but you can go for thinner wood as long as you meet the regulations and don't space them at more than 100mm apart.  

GDB2222

I suppose that, if it’s structural and you remove the plasterboard cladding, you would need to think about how any remaining timber would stand up to a fire?