How to measure and build stairs
Let’s learn how to make a beautiful and precise stairway for homes or decks. Building stairs seems difficult, but it’s really fairly simple if you use the right formula. This is how you measure and construct professional-looking stairs with accuracy.
Before we can start putting up the stairs, we’ll need to take a few measurements. We need to think of it this way: we have so much height that we need to reach and we have to do it within a certain length. The part of the stairs that will help us accomplish the height is the risers. The length part is the treads. The part of the stairs that will hold all the weight will be the stringers.
The treads are usually around 10-inches. That’s kind of standard, but the risers completely depend on the height from the bottom floor to the top floor.
Now we need to get an exact measurement from the bottom floor to the second floor, including the second floor particle board. Now, we use the formula for getting the height of each stair riser. Suppose the distance from bottom floor to top floor including the thickness of the second floor is about 9 feet or 108 inches.
108 divided by 7 equals 15.428. That tells us that 15 risers will be needed. Next, let’s divide 108 by 15 and we’ll get right around 7 inches or the exact height each riser needs to be. The treads need to be right around 10 inches. The amount of treads will be one less than the amount of risers, so to find the total run or length of the stairs, we just multiply 10 by 14 and that tells us that our stairway will be 140 inches long.
Now, select a knot-free 2 X 12 stringer. We can get prefabricated wood or a cheaper selection can be a strong softwood like Fir or pine. It needs to be about one foot longer than your stair distance. This would need to be 120″ or twelve feet long.
Lay the board flat on a level surface and measure up the board about 8 inches to mark the first stair tread. For accuracy, you will need to use a carpenter’s square to measure 10-inches over (the tread) and 7-inches up (the riser). We’ll do this on each step until we finish each stair. When that is all done, well need to go back to the bottom of the board to measure, mark, and cut out the first riser. The carpenter’s square can help to make the stair cut exactly 7-inches high by 10-inches wide.
Once this is all marked we can cut out the stairs with a Skilsaw. We can cut almost to the inside corner, but we’ll need to complete the cut with a hand saw to get into the corners. When we get that done we can use it as a pattern for the other stringers by tracing in the steps.
Once everything is all cut out and the stringers are identical, we can stand them up and secure them with screws or nails. Once the stringers are screwed or nailed securely in place well put the tread plates on and then the riser plates if we want enclosed stairs. There are special tread boards available that are rounded in front. Theyre made for carpeted stairs. Many people like to have hardwood stairs that are exposed; in that case we would want to use high quality oak or some other quality hardwood. That’s how we make stairs for our home interior or our decks.
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