Method 11
Concrete staircase demolition in Abu Dhabi, Dubai & Al Ain
Removal of concrete stair flights and landings, cut into pieces sized to the route out. Common on villa alterations across Al Ain and Khalifa City, and on commercial refurbishment.
What it is
When to specify staircase demolition
A concrete staircase is a structural element, not a fitting. The flight spans between landings, the landings usually bear into walls or beams, and in many buildings the stair core contributes to how the structure resists lateral load. Removing one is a structural alteration and it gets treated as one.
The practical constraint is almost always the way out. A stair flight is a long, heavy, awkwardly shaped object in a space designed for people rather than for lifting equipment. The section sizes are therefore decided by the door, the corridor and the corner at the bottom, not by what is easiest to cut.
Most of this work is villa alteration across Al Ain, Khalifa City and the Dubai suburbs, where an old internal stair is being replaced with a new position or a different design. The rest is commercial refurbishment, where a stair core is being reconfigured inside a building that stays open.
Applications
What we use it for
Villa stair replacement
Existing internal flights removed to make way for a new stair in a different position or configuration.
Commercial stair core alteration
Flights and landings removed during refurbishment where the core is being reconfigured.
External stair removal
Access stairs, fire escapes and entrance steps cut free and removed from building exteriors.
Landing and half-landing removal
Intermediate landings taken out where floor levels or headroom are being changed.
Basement and plant stairs
Access stairs removed in confined spaces where lifting equipment cannot reach.
Partial stair alteration
Individual flights removed while the remainder of the stair stays in service.
Sequence
How the job runs
Check what it supports
Structural role assessed and the engineer's propping requirement confirmed. Landings supported before anything is cut.
Plan the route out
Doorways, corridors and corners measured so section sizes are decided by the exit, not by the cut.
Cut free in sections
Flight separated from landings and walls, then cut into pieces within manual or mechanical handling limits.
Remove and make good
Sections carried or wheeled out, bearing pockets in walls dressed, area cleaned and waste taken off site.
Site control
The stairwell is a confined space with a drop in it
Stair demolition puts operatives working at height, over an open drop, in a confined space, handling heavy irregular sections. That combination is why the method statement for a staircase is usually longer than the one for a slab twice the size.
We deck or net the void below the working level before cutting starts, use edge protection at every open landing, and plan the handling so nobody is carrying a section down a flight that is partly removed. Where a piece is too heavy to handle safely by hand, it gets cut smaller rather than carried by more people.
On occupied buildings the stair is often the only route between floors for whoever is still using the space. Sequencing around that, and agreeing an alternative route with building management before we start, is part of the job rather than an afterthought.
Questions