Best Stair Builders in Timaru: Custom Timber Staircases and Balustrades

Choosing the best stair builders in Timaru comes down to who can make the flight you want and fit it properly, whether that is a straight run of MDF treads or a curved staircase with a shaped handrail. Timaru stair builders design, manufacture and install timber staircases and balustrades for new builds and renovations across South Canterbury, with Barrett Joinery and Jmac Joinery both working out of Washdyke.

1Barrett Joinery

Barrett Joinery runs a dedicated stair department out of its workshop and showroom at 204 Hilton Highway in Washdyke, alongside its kitchen and custom joinery work. The team builds anything from a simple straight flight of MDF stairs to an ornate curved staircase with custom balustrades, and stair enquiries are directed to Sean Flannery in the stair department. It suits homeowners and builders who want the staircase designed, made and finished by the same workshop that handles the rest of the joinery.

Services

• Custom straight and curved staircases in timber or MDF
• Custom balustrades to match the staircase
• Traditional timber windows and doors, including gunstock doors in western red cedar
• Pre-hung doors for domestic and commercial projects
• Custom kitchen design and installation

Highlights

• Certified Master Joiners member
• Trading for over 50 years
• Named contact for stair quotes, Sean Flannery, rather than a general enquiry line
• Showroom and workshop open weekdays 8:00am to 4:30pm, or by appointment
• In-house spray booth run by two full-time spray painters, used on its own work and for external clients

Location & Contact

Name: Barrett Joinery Ltd
Address: 204 Hilton Highway, Washdyke, Timaru 7910
Phone: 03 688 4738
Website: barrettjoinery.co.nz

2Jmac Joinery

Jmac Joinery manufactures timber joinery from its factory at 7 Laughton Street in Washdyke, and makes internal and external stairs custom to each job and each house. Established in 2006, its team of qualified joiners combines traditional joinery techniques with modern manufacturing, servicing Timaru, South Canterbury and outer areas. It suits people who want a staircase built from solid timber in a local workshop rather than ordered in as a kitset.

Services

• Internal and external stairs, made to the job
• Timber windows and doors, including French doors, bi-folding windows and doors, bay windows and double hung windows
• Custom-built timber kitchens and bathrooms
• Bespoke timber furniture

Highlights

• Established in 2006
• Member of the Master Joiners Association
• Doors and sashes manufactured in its own Timaru factory, so specifications can be matched exactly
• Kitchen design consultant Paul Albert brings 20 years of experience as a joiner

Location & Contact

Name: Jmac Joinery Limited
Address: 7 Laughton Street, Washdyke, Timaru 7910
Phone: 03 688 2725
Website: jmacjoinery.com

3Bower Joinery

Bower Joinery is a joinery workshop at 12A Bower Avenue in New Brighton, Christchurch, and it names Timaru among the places it serves. Its stair work runs from traditional closed tread flights through open tread designs to floating steps fixed on one side, with handrails custom made and glass balustrades arranged on request. Because the workshop and showroom sit in Christchurch rather than South Canterbury, allow for travel when arranging measuring and installation.

Services

• Custom timber staircases, straight or curved
• Closed tread and open tread stairs
• Floating stairs, worked through with your architect and the consent process
• Custom timber handrails with metal brackets, and glass balustrades on request
• Timber windows and doors, and bespoke kitchens and benchtops

Highlights

• Master Joiners NZ member
• Stairs made in rimu as standard, another timber if you prefer, or heavy MDF where the flight will be carpeted
• Showroom open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 4:00pm, with Saturdays by appointment

Location & Contact

Name: Bower Joinery
Address: 12A Bower Avenue, New Brighton, Christchurch
Phone: 03 388 2924
Website: bowerjoinery.co.nz

4Tom Kerr Design

Tom Kerr Design is a small furniture and joinery studio working from Hadlow Road at Claremont, on the western edge of Timaru. Tom Kerr graduated from Canterbury University with a Fine Arts degree majoring in sculpture, spent ten years on building and design projects in Auckland, then returned to Timaru in 2018. Stairs and balustrades appear among his completed projects rather than as a standing service line, so this suits someone who wants a staircase treated as a piece of joinery and is happy to commission it as a one-off.

Services

• Timber stairs and balustrades, shown among completed projects
• Bespoke furniture design and making
• Kitchen design, build and installation
• Custom joinery and interior fit-outs

Highlights

• Fine Arts degree majoring in sculpture, Canterbury University
• Ten years of building and design work in Auckland before returning to Timaru in 2018
• Works in New Zealand native timbers alongside modern materials such as plywood, steel and stone

Location & Contact

Name: Tom Kerr Design
Address: Hadlow Road, Claremont, Timaru 7974
Phone: 027 216 4081
Website: tomkerrdesign.co.nz

Stair Builders in Timaru at a Glance

How to Choose the Right Stair Builder in Timaru

• Check whether the workshop manufactures the flight itself or orders it in, because an in-house workshop can match a tread profile or a handrail detail to the rest of your joinery
• Ask which stair types the joiner has actually built, since a curved or floating staircase is a very different job from a straight flight of closed treads
• Settle the material early: solid timbers such as rimu are finished to be seen, while heavy MDF is the usual choice where the stairs will be carpeted
• Confirm who takes responsibility for the balustrade and handrail, and whether glass or metal components are supplied by the joiner or arranged separately
• Ask whether the quote covers measuring, manufacture, delivery and installation, and who will be on site to fit the flight and trim it into the opening

Frequently Asked Questions About Timaru Stair Builders

What does a stair builder in Timaru actually do?

Most are joinery workshops rather than separate stair companies. They measure the opening, work out the rise, going and tread sizes for the space, manufacture the flight in the workshop, then deliver and install it along with the handrail and balustrade. Some also make the kitchen, windows and doors for the same project, which is why a single workshop often handles all the joinery in a new build.

How much does a custom staircase cost?

Joinery workshops price staircases job by job rather than from a list, because the cost turns on the number of treads, the material, whether the flight is straight or curved, and how the balustrade is built. A straight MDF flight destined to be carpeted sits at one end of the range and a curved solid timber staircase with a shaped handrail at the other. Ask for the quote to be broken into manufacture, delivery and installation so you can compare like with like.

Should I choose timber or MDF for my stairs?

It depends on the finish. If the treads and stringers will be on show, a solid timber such as rimu or oak is the usual choice and can be stained or oiled. If the staircase is going to be carpeted, heavy MDF is a common and considerably cheaper option, since the material will not be seen once the carpet is laid. Handrails are usually made in timber whatever the treads are.

Do staircases have to meet the Building Code?

Yes. Stairs in a home are an access route under the New Zealand Building Code, which sets requirements for the rise and going of each step, the width of the flight, and handrails and barriers. A joinery workshop that builds stairs regularly will design to those dimensions as a matter of course, but it is worth confirming when you get the quote. The requirements are published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment at building.govt.nz.

Do I need a licensed building practitioner to install a staircase?

It depends on the work. Replacing a flight in a way that affects the structure of the house, or building stairs as part of a new build or an alteration that needs a building consent, can fall under restricted building work, which must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner. You can check whether someone holds a current licence on the public register at lbp.govt.nz, and your local council can tell you whether your particular job needs a consent.

Which parts of Timaru and South Canterbury are covered?

Washdyke, on the northern edge of Timaru along Hilton Highway and Laughton Street, is where a good deal of the district’s joinery manufacturing sits, and it is an easy run from the central city, Highfield, Marchwiel and Gleniti. A workshop at Claremont covers the western side of the city and the rural areas beyond it. Canterbury workshops based in Christchurch also travel to South Canterbury, so if you are further out towards Temuka, Geraldine or Waimate it is worth asking about delivery and installation before you compare quotes.

How long does a custom staircase take to make?

Longer than most people expect, because the flight cannot be manufactured until the opening has been measured on site, and that usually means waiting for the framing and the floor levels to be finalised. Curved and floating staircases take longer again, and a floating design needs an architectural plan and a consent before anything is cut. Talk to the workshop early in the build programme rather than once the rest of the house is closed in.

Can a joiner match new stairs to an existing staircase?

Usually yes, and it is one of the advantages of using a workshop that machines its own timber. A joiner can copy a tread profile, a newel post or a handrail section from the original so a repaired or extended flight reads as part of the same house, which matters in Timaru’s older villas and bungalows. Take photographs and, if you can, a short offcut of the existing handrail to the first meeting.