about us
35+ years of experience
Who we are
We began making the Original Stira almost 37 years ago and because of our experience in manufacturing, installing and maintaining the Stira stairs, the Original Stira one of the most robust attic stairs available to buy.Our reputation has been built on the quality of our product and the efficiency of our fitting team.
What we do
We also manufacture most of the parts. Many of the larger machines that make the Stira stairs are in our factory in Dunmore, Co.Galway, so that we have total control over product. We source our timber from mills in the US and Canada that are committed to harvesting the highest standard timber in a sustainable manner.
Why choose us
Our fitting team has fitted Stiras in every type of building imaginable for over 16 years. When we cant fit a standard Stira our fitter and engineers will work together and developed a bespoke Stira.
That’s why there’s a Stira in every type of home in Ireland from the traditional cottage bungalow, to modern 2 story houses, to the Áras an Uachtaráin (the residence of the President of Ireland).
Where it began
" I looked at it and immediately saw the problem and an opportunity. The problem was obvious, inferior material was used on the arms; the opportunity was that the product was a great idea it was just poorly made. As I had an engineering background it did not take long to build a prototype and test it out. I saw the problems with the design and began making improvements. It took six months to get the design sorted out but when I was finished with it I had a strong safe product to try out on the market."
When Michael had the design of the product ready he bought an old hay barn from his parents and began manufacturing the stairs on a small scale. The stairs were an immediate success in his local county Galway. In the first few years of the business little was spent on advertising, instead Stira relied on customers referring the friends and family to us, To this day we still get a large portion of our sales through referral and reputation.
Michael Burke continued to develop and upgrade the Stira to be the highest standard attic ladder on the market, until his death in 2010.
The Next Big Step
More sales
With this huge influx of new customers changes needed to be made to the factory and the way it operated to keep up with demand. This was the stage that Stira started to look towards international standards in manufacturing and invested a lot of money redesigning the factory and training employees in the new practices. This process took Stira the best part of 10 years and we are now members of the BSI and one of the only attic stairs/loft ladders in the world to be accepted.
Constant Improvement
Over that time modifications were made to the stairs; greater time and attention was spent on safety, strength and durability. Since the initial Stira was produced in 1982, the product design has changed dramatically. The timber Parana Pine was substituted with Southern Yellow Pine in 1989 making the ladder lighter and slimmer while still having the robust strength and durability that sets the Stira Folding Attic Stairs apart from the competition.
Expert Engineers
All components used on the Stira are produced within the company. Our highly trained and experienced fitters cover the whole of the island of Ireland. This gives us unique insight into attics, our team of fitters have been giving feedback from the 140,000 installations they have done and can talk directly to our engineers back in the factory.
Experience
Because our fitters, sales staff, engineers, and management are all in the same building we can solve issue quickly and use our 35 years of experience to continue making the highest quality attic ladders for our customers.
Stira Shown On The Late Late Show
Community Focused
Stira are proud sponsors of our local GAA club Dunmore MacHales. As well as some shirt sponsorships, we recently donated €20,000 to help fund their new clubhouse build project. GAA clubs play a vital role in the health and wellbeing of Irish people in small and large towns so we are delighted to play our small part in something that is so positive and beneficial for so many people in our community.