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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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.

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 [...]

Tools needed for building stairs
tape measurecircular saw
electric drill with screwdriver attachment
hammer
straight edge (ruler or T-Square)
lead pencil
hand saw
framing square
stair gauges (optional)
stair stringer design software
CAD software (optional)
safety goggles
work gloves
ear plugs
[tags]building stairs, stair stringer calculator, stair building, stair treads, rise run, stair stringer spreadsheet[/tags]