Staircases in Australian homes only became a common thing from the 1970's onwards, due to land prices increasing to the extent that it became cheaper to build up rather than build out.

Sydney and Melbourne were the 1st cities to experience this change; followed by smaller cities such as Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Those early staircases were predominantly all timber with turned or fluted balustrade being the norm. This was pretty much the case throughout the 1970's, 80's and early 90's until we started to see different materials used for balustrade such as wrought iron, wire cable and more recently, glass.

If a home is built during this era, then structurally it is probably still good, so from a cost point of view it is likely to be cheaper to renovate the home rather than bulldoze it and start again.

One of the most difficult things to renovate in a home is the staircase, as in many cases the staircase is part of the structural integrity of the home, so the process of trying to remove it and replace it with something totally new is likely to be cost prohibitive.

Here at HAMMERSMITH we specialise in providing a variety of staircase components that can be used to make the renovation of an existing staircase a far more cost effective process.

As you can see in the photos below, the tired looking painted staircase with fluted balustrade has been modernised with a new handrail (polished rather than painted), pyramid style post caps and round wrought iron balusters.

As well as that, the carpet was removed from the stairs and the steps have been converted to a more modern polished look.

The posts have not been touched (apart from a fresh coat of paint), as these form an integral part of the structure of the staircase and would have taken an enormous cost (and effort) too replace.

If you have a staircase that needs renovating, please take the time to look through our online shop to see if you can find the parts to make this happen.