Thermwood M53 Cutting Stair Stringers

I’m a complete newbie when it comes to building stairs so I thought I would evaluate some of these stair building sites to see if anyone can provide me with an explanation that would allow me to do this myself. So I typed in “building stairs” in google to see who was number 1. Survey says - askthebuilder.com. I went to the page at the following url: http://www.askthebuilder.com/215_Building_Stairs.shtml.

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I am now moving down to the number 2 Google search result for “building stairs” and it is the webpage located at http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/decks/deck_11.htm.

I’m trying to determine if anyone gives an online tutorial that would allow me to actually build a set of stairs. Hometime.com purportedly shows me how to build a set of deck stairs. Let’s see how far we get, shall we?

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The Hammerzone.com is the first site (I’ve reviewed) that suggests either the use of CAD software or laying out your stair building design on paper with drafting tools. The Hammerzone.com also suggests using a stair stringer calculator to do the measurements and design your stairs, like the one at www.shalla.net. Maybe building stairs is more complex than suggested by askthebuilder.com and by hometime.com.

The Hammerzone.com lays out the stair building process in 11 steps.

1 - First determine the total rise of the stairs by measuring the total height to be spanned. Here I think the first mistake is made. The Hammerzone.com indicates to take the total “run” and divide by the riser height. I think he means divided the total “rise” by the riser height. Do this to determine the total risers needed. He does note that the number of risers does not equal the number of steps as you get one free riser.

2 - Next determine the thickness of the stair tread material.

3 - Next determine the heights of the upper surfaces of the treads. Subtract your riser height from the top of, in this case, the finished deck surface. Then subtract the riser height from the top of the first tread and so on.
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Doug Adams offers some stair building tips that I have not seen on other building stairs sites. For example,

1 - He stresses the importance of construction materials and indicates that you should find stair building material that is free of knots and and voids so that stairs will not crack down the road. He states that lumberyards carry stock specifically for building stairs.

2 - He stresses quality construction when it comes to building stairs. Apparently, many builders cover the stairs with carpet to hide imperfections and poor construction. He implies that builders shouldn’t assume that no one will see the finished product.

3 - He actually cites to and uses building codes requiring a riser height of 7 3/4 and a run of 10 inches.

4 - He emphasizes the need to account for proper headroom when building stairs. I haven’t seen this emphasized to this degree on other sites.
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[tags]building stairs, stair stringer calculator, stair building, stair treads, rise run, stair stringer spreadsheet[/tags]

Decks.com Stair Stringer Calculator

InspectUSA offers a staircase calculator to determine the rise and run.

Shalla.net offers an Excel spreadsheet program for designing stairs.

Blocklayer.com has a stair calculator that’s a bit more advanced than your average rise and run calculator.
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Using 2×4basics Insta-Step+ Stair Brackets for Decks, 2-Pack, Black, and your lumber, you can custom build a set of steps onto your deck that fits your deck and lifestyle requirements. You can integrate your steps into your deck design with much less measuring, cutting, and fitting than making them from scratch. Strong and very durable, Insta-Step+ Stair Bracket for Decks can be used for new installations or retrofitted onto existing decks. Made of maintenance free structural resin. Can be used with 2×4, 2×6 or 4×4 lumber stringers. Black in color.

When designing or building stairs, the most critical figure is the rise per step.
Most building code requirements set this number at ‘less than’ a certain amount and that amount is usually around 7 3/4 inches. Sometimes, it is over 8 inches, like 8 1/4 or 8 1/2, but sometimes it is under 8, like 7 3/4 or 7 1/2. For seniors or children this is a good number and this is what the requirement is designed for. For healthy strong adults a rise of 8 or more is fine, but staircases have to be designed for the lowest common denominator. Aging knees and small bodies prefer the mid-sevens.

Initial stair building calculations

To start with your stair building project, calculate the number of steps you need. Take the total rise and divide it by 7. If your total rise is 96 inches, divide it by 7. This gives 13.7. This number reflects the number of stairs at that rise.
Since you can’t have “.7″ steps or treads, you have to decide if you want to go up or down to 13 or 14 steps when building stairs. If you pick 14, your rise will be less, if you pick 13, your rise will be more.

Pick 13 (go down). 96 divided by 13 is 7.38, or about 7 and 3/8. This is a good rise for your stair building project, and will most likely fall into code requirements for your locale. Code is almost always satisfied by less than 7 1/2, and usually by 7 3/4. This is all calculated by several online stair building calculators. Some are free and some cost a few bucks. You get what you pay for. There is an excellent calculator for building stairs at www.Shalla.Net that works it all out for you. There are a few free calculators for building stairs that give you rise and run but don’t give you a step by step measurement process. Pick one, and mark your stringers.

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