7. Materials and techniques

Despite the specialization to which the high quality of craftsmen has led them, there are few techniques that are really specific to staircases. A staircase builder will be commissioned far less often than a good carpenter, joiner or locksmith. A good architect is needed to coordinate the multiple contractors involved in a complicated luxury project. Crawlers themselves are increasingly rare, as are the carved wooden handrails that once required their expertise.

The techniques used are those described in other articles of this treatise: wood or metal framework, joinery in all materials, masonry or reinforced concrete, etc. Only the shapes to be produced are specific and defined in a drawing to a scale commensurate with the quality required: a stair nosing or handrail profile must be drawn to scale 1.

It seems that all you have to do is choose...