Fitts Wood and Iron Stair Components

identify the architectural theme It is first important to identify the architectural theme of the home. Pages 65-68 outline several common

select your preferred species of wood (or wood & iron combination)

home styles to help you with your determination. The wonderful part about designing your staircase is that you can customize it even further by picking the colors on your palette. What we attempt to do is aid you by offering suggestions to add consistency to your design.

The majority of this catalog shows raw, unfinished red oak stair components. Red oak, because of its timeless beauty and durability, has long been the standard choice for flooring and stair parts. Many people choose their wood species based on flooring options, availability of the specie, cost, and even matching the wood of their furniture. We have also provided several stain color options on the inside back tab of the cover to show what effect stain can have on your specie of wood - often changing the look altogether. In addition to wood, Fitts’ iron is available in eight unique finishes to further accent the beauty of your home.

choose your accessories

icing on the cake

Sometimes the perfect shoes make the outfit. Do you want wood treads? Carpet? Do want to match your wall rail brackets to your door hinge color? All of these choices are the icing on the cake. Be fearless. Be bold. Let your stairs take your home to the next level.

choose post-to-post or over-the-post Page 69 shows a simplified

example of a post-to-post (PTP) and an over-the-post (OTP) stair case. The choice is completely up to you! If your style draws you to the clean lines of continuous handrails, then an OTP system would be the way to go. If you prefer the look of box newels, or newels with decorative tops, then the PTP system may be a better option for you. You can also make rail transitions more decorative by combining the two styles and utilizing fittings that transition into the newel rather than running over the top of it. This is known as a railing that runs post-to- post with fittings.

s i mp l e

s t e p s

creating your

perfect staircase

choose your handrail something to hold on to Once you have selected your newel post, you will notice that we have created systems of products that work in conjunction with one another. This does not limit your handrail or baluster selection to one particular family. It is your design! These systems simply work together based on size proportion and availability of fittings for the handrails. Ultimately it is important that if you have chosen an OTP rail system that the profile of handrail you have selected has corresponding fittings available. Certain rails do not have fittings due to their sizes and the limited geography where they pass code. Always check local building codes before purchasing or installing stair parts.

choose your balusters

choose your newels make a statement

accent the design

There are many systems of products that work together in families. If you are choosing wood products, you can easily select balusters that match the turning of the newel post you have selected. You can also mix and match, selecting square balusters with no turning details. If you are looking for different materials, iron is a great option. Iron balusters and the variety of details that they offer can provide a unique layout pattern option for your home. You can also go bold and create your own design. See page 88 for a preview of Fitts' new interactive baluster layout simulator for ideas.

Selecting a newel post can very quickly determine both your rail orientation (PTP or OTP) and streamline your stair system decision. If you are choosing box newels or a newel with a ball top detail, you have already selected a post-to-post rail system. If you decide you are set on an iron newel post or a round Sheraton F4454, this will lend itself to an over-the-post railing system. Factors including size of the newel and visual impact that it will make at the beginning of the staircase are important to determine.

F6710

F4091-FP

f i tts | seven steps