ᐅ Additional Costs for Oak Stair Treads Instead of Beech – Excessive Overcharge?
Created on: 23 Jan 2021 13:33
S
Silvia79
Hello everyone,
We have a concrete platform staircase in our house that is contractually supposed to be covered with beech wood treads. The standard railing is planned with a wooden handrail and stainless steel round balusters.
The staircase has 6 straight steps, followed by a rectangular landing of about 3 square meters (32 square feet), and then another 8 steps. The stairs run parallel with about 20 cm (8 inches) of space between them, so no guardrail is needed at the landing; the 20 cm (8 inches) gap can be bridged with a post instead.
This concerns one floor because the basement stairs will be tiled.
We now want to change the material from beech to oak because we have many oak elements in the house and beech just doesn’t match. For the railing, instead of stainless steel rods, we chose white lacquered square wooden balusters and also want a rounded handrail.
The stair builder also offered to match the wood color to the wood-look tiles, which are quite close to the original oak tone—so nothing unusual.
We initially budgeted about 4,000 euros more. Based on my own research online, I found material cost increases for oak to be around 50–100 euros per step. Plus the higher cost for oak parquet instead of beech parquet on the landing, and the changes for the railing.
The quote, however, completely shocked us: nearly 9,000 euros in additional material costs for one floor. They calculated 280 euros more per step in material costs. For the risers, which are now white lacquered multiplex panels instead of beech, the extra cost is about 80 euros per riser.
At first, we seriously thought they had offered us the stair covering for two floors, with only one floor requiring a railing and without extra costs, but for a complete staircase. That would have been realistic or even quite reasonable. But this is not the case.
Six years ago, we paid 11,000 euros for a three-floor staircase made of beech wood with a railing, including two 2-meter (6.5-foot) long glazed guardrails on the ground floor and first floor, fully installed.
So, I really feel that the price increase quoted here is almost excessive. I just fear it will be difficult to find another stair builder.
Do you have any ideas?
Best regards
We have a concrete platform staircase in our house that is contractually supposed to be covered with beech wood treads. The standard railing is planned with a wooden handrail and stainless steel round balusters.
The staircase has 6 straight steps, followed by a rectangular landing of about 3 square meters (32 square feet), and then another 8 steps. The stairs run parallel with about 20 cm (8 inches) of space between them, so no guardrail is needed at the landing; the 20 cm (8 inches) gap can be bridged with a post instead.
This concerns one floor because the basement stairs will be tiled.
We now want to change the material from beech to oak because we have many oak elements in the house and beech just doesn’t match. For the railing, instead of stainless steel rods, we chose white lacquered square wooden balusters and also want a rounded handrail.
The stair builder also offered to match the wood color to the wood-look tiles, which are quite close to the original oak tone—so nothing unusual.
We initially budgeted about 4,000 euros more. Based on my own research online, I found material cost increases for oak to be around 50–100 euros per step. Plus the higher cost for oak parquet instead of beech parquet on the landing, and the changes for the railing.
The quote, however, completely shocked us: nearly 9,000 euros in additional material costs for one floor. They calculated 280 euros more per step in material costs. For the risers, which are now white lacquered multiplex panels instead of beech, the extra cost is about 80 euros per riser.
At first, we seriously thought they had offered us the stair covering for two floors, with only one floor requiring a railing and without extra costs, but for a complete staircase. That would have been realistic or even quite reasonable. But this is not the case.
Six years ago, we paid 11,000 euros for a three-floor staircase made of beech wood with a railing, including two 2-meter (6.5-foot) long glazed guardrails on the ground floor and first floor, fully installed.
So, I really feel that the price increase quoted here is almost excessive. I just fear it will be difficult to find another stair builder.
Do you have any ideas?
Best regards
I am aware that there is a difference between usury as it is commonly understood and usury in the legal sense.
Of course, you can see the difference between beech wood and oak just by looking at the grain, as they are simply different. The base color is different as well, and staining won’t help with that. We have everything oiled oak, and the tiles have a similar look.
Yes, and I no longer want a beech staircase, not just because of the appearance, but also because the wood is much softer and more prone to dents, scratches, and the like.
We had also considered having it done later. However, the staircase builder actually called again, and it turns out there are no extra material costs, but rather the costs cover the entire staircase, meaning the general contractor will credit us for the staircase costs. I’m still not sure what to make of that, but it sounds more reasonable. Let’s see how it turns out in the end. But the fact that the staircase builder didn’t tell us this earlier today when we asked three times would have saved us a lot of gray hair.
Of course, you can see the difference between beech wood and oak just by looking at the grain, as they are simply different. The base color is different as well, and staining won’t help with that. We have everything oiled oak, and the tiles have a similar look.
Yes, and I no longer want a beech staircase, not just because of the appearance, but also because the wood is much softer and more prone to dents, scratches, and the like.
We had also considered having it done later. However, the staircase builder actually called again, and it turns out there are no extra material costs, but rather the costs cover the entire staircase, meaning the general contractor will credit us for the staircase costs. I’m still not sure what to make of that, but it sounds more reasonable. Let’s see how it turns out in the end. But the fact that the staircase builder didn’t tell us this earlier today when we asked three times would have saved us a lot of gray hair.
Silvia79 schrieb:
However, the staircase builder actually called again, and as it turns out, these are not additional material costs but the costs for the entire staircase,The staircase builder called this afternoon? Saturday afternoon? Now that’s what I call service 🙂H
hampshire24 Jan 2021 10:02ypg schrieb:
I wonder if it is even possible to tell whether it is beech or oak when they guarantee the color for you.Besides color, there is also the grain and texture.F
fach1werk24 Jan 2021 13:18Such a change could be arranged directly with the craftsman, bypassing the general contractor. This should result in a more favorable outcome. The contract with the general contractor remains unchanged; only the wood used would be different. We had a similar approach for certain details—not the staircase—and it was satisfactory.
Best regards
Gabriele
Best regards
Gabriele
Silvia79 schrieb:
Yes, and I no longer want a beech staircase, not just because of the appearance, but the wood is much softer and more prone to dents, scratches, and similar damage.I agree with you about the grain and color – they can’t really be compared. However, hardness is not an argument here. Beech and oak are rated with exactly the same hardness!
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