Every staircase has a story and from time to time customers share their staircase stories with us. Mr & Mrs Avery are two such customers, a shortened version of their story can be found in our casestudies but details of their full journey could better help you to imagine how the process could work for you. They’ll take you from their first steps of shopping around, the design and installation process, right through to the completed project.
“Hopefully, the text is not too long but we were keen to express just how delighted we were with the whole experience.” – Mr Avery
Why a new staircase?
Having progressively updated the rest of our 1970s house we felt that the original Ranch Style staircase was due for a facelift. We also wanted to create the impression of a larger and brighter entrance hall.
Inspiration:
A number of years ago we looked at the possibility of a total replacement of the staircase. Apart from the expense there was also the inconvenience of major work in the house. At that time we had not seen (nor been aware of) the option to re-model the stairs. A magazine and TV advert by another company re-kindled the desire to upgrade the stairs and we contacted the company and requested more details and a quote.
Decision making process:
We were more than a little shocked by the size of the first quote we received from the other company so we decided to look at alternative suppliers. When we viewed Abbott-Wade’s web site we found it very informative and it was particularly interesting to see the pictures and description of previous customers’ experiences. It was really helpful to find a near identical stair layout to the one we had in mind so a quick phone call to Abbott-Wade and we had an pretty good idea of how much our renovation would cost – and it was very significantly cheaper than our previous quotation! On that basis we booked an appointment for a representative to call and firm up the quote. We spent a very informative hour or so with Janet who talked us through the process, the company history, described the various design options, showed samples of materials and just about everything else short of actually doing the job. At the end of the meeting we were given our quotation and we were very pleasantly surprised by the figure! Janet was also able to provide approximate dates for installation and again we were pleasantly surprised how soon the job could be done.
Style choice:
Given our objective of creating a brighter hallway and an impression of a bigger space we had always planned on having glass panels. Originally, our stairs were open tread and we wanted to change that to a closed step and with carpet. We also decided to use light oak for the timber elements, again to keep the whole structure as light as possible; oak is also a really beautiful wood!
End result:
Our new staircase install was finished exactly 4 weeks after Janet’s initial visit. Given that the intervening period included Easter, we found that an incredible service.
Lee, Mark and Rob arrived at about 9.00am on a Thursday morning and by 4.00pm the following day the job was done. I have rarely witnessed a better coordinated team of workers. Each man knew what he was responsible for and got on with his particular job. There was no time wasting, disruption was minimal and the standard of their work was excellent. By the end of the first day, the staircase was substantially complete and totally usable. Day two concentrated on boarding the back of the stairs cleaning the glass panels and making sure that everything was as it should be. The whole process was totally painless and the lads were a pleasure to have in our home; if we had one criticism it would be that not one of them can sing in tune!
Now that we have had the stairs carpeted we can now enjoy the finished project. To say we are delighted would be an understatement. From start to finish, Abbott-Wade were a pleasure to deal with and we would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending them for your stair renovation.
