Floating Stairs
How floating stairs are built
A floating staircase reads as weightless because the structure doing the work is hidden: a single central or hidden side steel stringer, with treads cantilevered off it rather than resting on a visible frame. That's a real fabrication and engineering job, not a kit product, which is exactly where a real installer differs from a catalog seller. See our welded steel fabrication for how that structure gets built in-house.
The engineering has to account for more than static weight: foot traffic adds a dynamic load with every step, and a cantilevered tread needs enough embedment into the stringer to resist that load without developing flex over time.
What a floating staircase costs
Floating staircase cost sits at the premium end, driven by the structural engineering and cantilever fabrication the design requires. See our staircase cost guide for the general cost factors that apply across every style, floating included.
Tread materials for floating stairs
Wood tread on a steel stringer is the most common combination we build. A glass tread is the option for a fully open look, where even the tread itself doesn't visually interrupt the space. See wood staircase design for species options on the wood side.
Are floating stairs safe / up to code?
Yes, when engineered correctly: stringer load rating, tread attachment, and guard or handrail requirements all follow the same code as any other staircase. See our Oregon stair code guide rather than us asserting specific engineering numbers here.
How much more do floating stairs cost than a standard staircase?
Floating stairs carry a real premium, driven by structural engineering and fabrication time rather than material alone. See what a new staircase costs for the actual ranges and what moves them.
Can an existing staircase be converted to a floating design?
Usually this means a full replacement rather than a retrofit, since the existing structure typically wasn't built to carry a cantilevered load the way a floating design requires. See our stair replacement cost guide for what that project looks like.
How is a floating staircase maintained differently than a standard one?
Mostly the same routine: periodic checks for movement at the tread-to-stringer connection, plus whatever upkeep the finish (wood, steel, or glass) needs on its own. Because there's no support directly under each tread, a floating staircase is worth including in a regular staircase maintenance routine rather than assuming a cantilever design needs no attention at all.
See our build process for a floating staircase project.