Your staircase is the one part of the house you can’t just avoid for a week. Everyone uses it, every day. So when you’re planning a stair installation, “how long?” is usually the first question.
At AV Floors, a GTA flooring contractor, we build new staircases and renovate existing ones for homes across Toronto and the surrounding area. The honest answer depends on which of those two jobs you need.
Quick Answer
A new stair installation usually takes two to four days, from framing to final finish. The number of steps and whether railings and spindles are included affect the timeline. A stair renovation, such as new treads, a new railing or a carpet-to-hardwood conversion, is usually done in one to three days.
New Stair Installation: 2 to 4 Days
A new staircase is built from the frame up. That covers custom stringers, treads and risers, then handrails, spindles and balusters.
We do this for basements that have never had proper stairs, additions that need a staircase built from scratch, and full staircase replacements. Every staircase is built to the dimensions of your space, with code-compliant rise and run on every step.
What moves the timeline within that window?
- Number of steps: More steps, more building time.
- Railings and spindles: Adding handrails and balusters extends the job.
- Matching your floors: If the staircase needs to match existing flooring, the stain and species are chosen before we build anything.
Stair Renovation: 1 to 3 Days
Not every staircase needs a full rebuild. Sometimes the structure is fine and the surface is the problem.
Common renovations include new treads, a new railing, and a carpet-to-hardwood conversion. These usually take one to three days.
The difference from a new build is simple. We’re working with the frame that’s already there instead of building one.
What Can Affect Your Stair Installation Timeline
Your decisions before the build. Matching a staircase to your floor means choosing a stain and species. We bring samples to your home so you can see them side by side with your floor. The sooner that’s settled, the sooner we can start.
Material availability. Your start date depends on material availability and our current schedule. We’ll give you a clear timeline at your quote.
Doing floors and stairs together. Many homeowners update both at once. It usually makes sense, because the stair nosing gets matched to the new floor, but it’s a bigger overall project. Our
hardwood flooring installation page covers the floor side of that timeline.
What the Stair Installation Process Looks Like
- Book a visit. We come see the space in person and talk through what you need built.
- Get your quote. You get one written price covering materials and labour, with no add-ons later.
- Build and install. We build the staircase to fit your space and install it from the frame up.
- Final walkthrough. We check every step with you and clean up before we head out.
Every tread is checked for a solid, level fit before we call the job done, so your stairs are safe to walk from day one.
Prefer Carpet on Your Stairs?
If you want new carpet rather than hardwood, that’s a different timeline. We install wrapped and waterfall style stair carpet regularly. See our carpet installation services for details.
Stair Installation FAQs
Stair Installation
Near Me in the GTA
