On a recent mezzanine order, we asked if the customer wanted stairs. They were a little surprised… one guy even said “why don’t you just ask me if I want tires with my car?”
To a degree, I understand, because on the surface you’d think mezzanine stairs were a must. But in more than a decade of building and selling custom mezzanines, we’ve learned about the only thing they all have in common is a floor. Stairs, while present on most mezzanines, are definitely an option.
Case in point: This one warehouse we worked with had a row of offices on one side that overlooked the warehouse floor. They wanted to add a few offices, and felt the best way to do it was to expand “outward” and over the warehouse floor. And yea, while we’re building, let’s have a decent landing deck for additional storage too.
In other words, a custom mezzanine.
But the warehouse floor was busy. There was no good place to put stairs without disrupting the flow of traffic. Every place they wanted to put the stairs posed an issue. So finally, we said “well, WHY do you need stairs? You are going to have multiple points of access from the existing bank of offices.”
It was a “ding ding ding” moment for them. You see, they were under the impression that they HAD to have stairs for the mezzanine. But no, they don’t.
In their case, a forklift could easily reach one edge of the additional platform for storage, which we installed a removable safety rail. No need for stairs there. A hole or two in the walls of the offices provided easy access to the other side… in plain terms, a mezzanine without stairs was exactly what they needed.
So yes, mezzanine stairs are definitely an option. A good option, mind you, but an option nonetheless. It’s true that a car is pretty useless without tires (until we get the flying cars… and why aren’t they here yet?), but depending on your needs, a mezzanine without stairs is perfectly acceptable.
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