Steel Frame vs. Concrete Stairs - Pros, Cons and Factors to Consider

Both steel frame and concrete stairs offer similar functionality and are widely used in both commercial and residential buildings. However, the practical aspects of casting a concrete staircase are very different from building a steel-frame one - creating concrete stairs involves making a form-work into which the concrete is poured. Steel staircases, on the other hand are constructed on-site and the construction takes much less time - especially when you consider the 28-day setting period of concrete.

Concrete staircases are most often cast during the actual construction process of the whole building. When renovating or making architectural changes (such as adding a floor), steel-frame stairs are more commonly chosen. They usually have a more modern and stylish look compared to a concrete staircase and are stronger. Let's take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of both types of stairs:

Structural & Other Advantages of Steel Frame Stairs

Apart from their more modern look, steel-frame stairs have several structural advantages. Here are a few:

Strength - Most people would assume that concrete is stronger than steel, but in fact steel has an ultimate tensile strength of around 500 MPa, while concrete has between 2 and 5. This is a massive difference, especially when you consider that concrete is only around 4 times lighter (per volume) than steel. This explains why concrete staircases are a few inches thick, while the frame of a steel staircase is hollow and made out of only a several-millimetre thick steel. Concrete stairs almost always require a built-in steel armature to achieve the necessary strength.

Shorter construction time - Even if concrete didn't need a period of around 28 days to fully set, the actual construction time would still be shorter for a steel frame staircase. Just creating the form-work for concrete pouring may take longer than the whole construction process of steel-frame stairs.

Easily incorporated into modern architecture - There are countless design options to be chosen from when building a steel staircase. The actual threads (the part of the stairs which you step on) can be made from various materials, including wood and the finish can be any color you want. Concrete stairs are much more limited in that regard - the stairs are usually left bare-concrete and adding cladding is much more difficult.

Cheaper - Although concrete is one of the cheapest materials available, this advantage is negated by the fact that a concrete staircase takes much longer to complete and involves much more preparation. When you factor in the cost of the labor, steel-frame stairs almost always come out much cheaper.

More customizable - Adding cladding on the stair threads is much easier for steel-frame stairs than it is for a concrete staircase. Concrete stairs often aren't completely precise dimension-wise and the different threads have slightly different widths - this adds another layer of difficulty when trying to properly fit the cladding.

Advantages of Concrete Stairs

The main advantage of concrete is its great corrosion-resistance. However, this is rarely something that needs to be considered when it comes to indoor staircases. And when properly finished, steel frames can have just as good of a resistance to harsh environmental conditions. Stainless steel is naturally corrosion-resistant and requires no finish.

One advantage of concrete stairs is that the rough concrete surface is great at preventing slips and falls. However, not all concrete surfaces have this quality, which is made evident by the fact that special anti-slip paint exists specifically for concrete.

Conclusion

In almost all cases, steel-frame stairs are superior to concrete ones. The only reason to choose concrete is if it matches well with your interior design or in the case of fully-outdoor staircases exposed to harsh environmental conditions.

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