Building Stairs: How to Build Stairs

A home is more than a piece of real estate. A home is seen as the very recognition of the individual. Therefore, many people sometimes prefer to add personal touches to their houses, like painting a wall, designing furniture, and sometimes, building stairs.

While painting walls or designing furniture has its own problems, building a staircase can be a daunting task to even the most experienced builder. Building stairs not only requires a builder's talent but also an eye for arithmetic and of course, a plan to build stairs. However, stair construction is pretty simple if one has a definite plan to build stairs.

Structure:
A normal staircase consists of three parts. The three parts of stairs are the stringer, riser, and the tread. Stringers are the structure that supports the staircase. The height of the individual stair is known as the riser or the rise and the width of the stair is termed as the tread. There are two stringers on each side of the staircase.

Measurements:
Like while building any structure, measurements have to be taken while building staircases. However, one should be careful while taking measurements for the staircase. Improper measurements will cause the staircase to come up longer than needed and will cause unnecessary waste of space. One should measure the vertical height of the staircase, which will be from the landing point to the level of the height of the upper floor. One should also measure the horizontal length of the stairway, which would be from the end of the staircase to the landing on the edge of the upper floor.

Calculations:
Depending on the measurements, various calculations then need to be taken. One should calculate the total rise by placing a 2 x 4 plank on the edge of the upper level. The measurements from the bottom of the plank to the ground should be taken.

The total number of steps can be calculated by dividing the total rise with a predetermined riser height. Normally, seven inches is supposed to be a good riser height. The number should be rounded up to the next greatest number. Therefore, if the total rise is say seventy inches, dividing it will give ten, which will be the number of steps required.

One will also need to calculate the total run of the staircase. Staircases normally have their first step as the ground and the floor, therefore the total treads should be one less than the riser. The exact height of the risers can be calculated by dividing the total riser height with the number of risers. The standard width of a tread is around eleven inches.

Setting the Stairs:
A framing square should be used to lay out the stairs on the stringers. Mark the longer arm at every eleven inches, and the shorter arm by ten inches. This will be the rise and run calculations.Once the run and rise has been settled on the framing square, cut along the markings with a saw. A circular saw is perfect for the job for its speed and even cutting, but one will need a hand saw to finalize the cutting.Once the first stringer is ready, it can be used as a template for the other stringer. Once the stringers are set in place, almost half the task of building a staircase is done with. Place the stringers by the base of the floor and the upper level, secure them there permanently by lag-screwing them through the brace into the rim joist. Pre-drilling for each screw is a good idea.

Once the stringers are in place, cut the treads according to calculations and fit the stringers. Care should be taken to keep at least three quarters of an inch as a drip-edge for the treads to prevent rain from falling on the stringers. Screwing or nailing the treads down into the stringers will complete the job of stair construction.