From replacing a steep Victorian flight in a Barbican terrace to building a new oak staircase for a Plympton extension, RPG Carpentry & Joinery designs, fabricates and fits bespoke staircases across Plymouth and the PL postcodes — built to current Building Regulations and to the shape of your actual stairwell.
Plymouth's housing stock makes for two very different staircase jobs. In the Victorian and Edwardian terraces of the Barbican, Stoke, Mutley and Peverell, the original flights are typically narrow, steep and boxed in behind a partition — handsome timber underneath decades of paint, but often failing modern geometry and leaking daylight from the hall. In the post-war and modern housing of Plympton, Plymstock, Derriford and Crownhill, the flights are usually standard softwood units that have simply had forty years of traffic and now creak, flex or look dated next to a refurbished hallway.
Both are worth doing properly, and both start the same way: a measured survey of the opening. A staircase is the one piece of joinery in a house that has to satisfy geometry, structure and regulations all at once, and there is no such thing as a standard size once a building is more than a few decades old.
New staircasesfor extensions, loft conversions and garage conversions are designed around the opening you have, not a catalogue size. Loft flights in Plymouth terraces are the tightest work we do — headroom is usually the constraint rather than floor space, and the answer is often a winder or a space-saver geometry worked out on site.
Full replacements suit a period home where the existing flight is beyond repair or dangerously steep. This is where the stairwell opening frequently needs lengthening to bring the rise and going within Part K, and we will tell you at survey stage whether that is a joinery job or one that needs a structural engineer first.
Refurbishmentis the option most Plymouth homeowners underestimate. If the carriage and strings are sound, replacing just the treads, newel posts, spindles and handrail transforms a hallway for a fraction of a full replacement — and it keeps the original structure, which matters in a conservation area.
Solid oak is the most requested timber for a feature staircase, and it suits the proportions of a Mannamead or Peverell villa particularly well. It takes a hard-wearing oil or lacquer finish and it is the only realistic choice if you want the treads left bare.
Painted softwood with oak or walnut treads is the most cost-effective way to get a high-end look, and it is what we most often specify for Plymouth terraces where the hall is narrow and a full oak flight would visually close the space down.
On balustrades, turned timber spindles keep a period hallway coherent, square-section spindles read as contemporary without fighting an older house, and glass or brushed-steel panels suit the waterfront conversions at Royal William Yard and Millbay where light is the point. Whichever you choose, the balustrade has to meet the 100 mm sphere rule and the handrail height requirement, which we build in from the start.
Part K sets the geometry for domestic stairs in England: a maximum rise of 220 mm, a minimum going of 220 mm, a maximum pitch of 42 degrees, and 2 metres of headroom measured from the pitch line. A good number of Plymouth's older terraces do not meet this, and the steep slate-and-lime houses climbing up from the Hoe are among the worst offenders.
A like-for-like replacement in the same opening is generally exempt. As soon as the geometry or position changes, or the flight serves a loft conversion, it becomes notifiable work through Plymouth City Council building control or an approved inspector. We build to current Part K regardless, so there is no unpleasant surprise at inspection, and we will say plainly at survey if your opening cannot accommodate a compliant flight without structural alteration.
We have worked across Plymouth's full range of housing — the out-of-square walls of a Barbican terrace, the tight loft openings in Stoke and Ford, and the straightforward standard flights of Plympton and Plymstock. With over ten years in the trade and more than 200 projects completed, we know which staircases can be saved by refurbishment and which genuinely need replacing, and we will tell you which one you are looking at before you spend anything.
Every quote is free, written and itemised, and we are happy to bring timber and spindle samples to your Plymouth home so you can see the finish in your own hallway light before committing.
A bespoke staircase in Plymouth typically runs from around £2,000 to £8,000 supplied and fitted in 2026. A straight softwood flight for a Plympton new build sits at the lower end. A solid oak staircase with winder treads and a glass or metal balustrade for a Barbican or Mannamead town house sits at the upper end. Structural alterations, building control fees and decoration are quoted separately.
Often, yes — and it is one of the most common reasons Plymouth homeowners call us. Many Victorian terraces around the Barbican, Stoke and Mutley have flights steeper than current Building Regulations allow, with a rise near 220 mm and a shallow going. A replacement is the opportunity to correct it, but the stairwell opening usually has to be lengthened, which is structural work. We survey the opening first and tell you honestly whether it can be done without involving a structural engineer.
A like-for-like replacement in the same opening normally does not need approval. Changing the rise, going, width or position of the flight does, and so does any staircase serving a loft conversion. Approval is handled through Plymouth City Council building control or an approved inspector. We build to the current Part K geometry either way, so the flight passes inspection when it is checked.
Allow four to eight weeks from survey to fitting. The first visit is a measured survey, fabrication then takes three to six weeks depending on timber and balustrade lead times, and installation itself is usually two to four days on site. You keep the use of your stairs until the fitting week, and we make the flight safe every evening.
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