How to Build Stairs

When you're planning your staircase, you need to think of it this way, "I have a certain height to reach from the bottom floor to the top floor and I only have just so much length to do it."

When you measure the height from the bottom floor to the top, make sure you include the second floor joists, subfloor, and flooring material. Take the total height in inches.

Now here's where the formula comes in. Take the total height that you just measured from bottom to top floor. Divide that number by 7. For example, if the total height is 108-inches, then the answer would be 15.428. Don't worry about the numbers after the decimal.

This tells us that there will be 15 risers used in the staircase. Risers are the vertical part of the stairway. Now we need to know eactly how high to cut each riser so that we have even steps all the way to the top floor. We get this number when we divide the floor height in inches (108) by 15. This gives us 7.2 which on a tape measure is about 7 3/16-inches.

Now the second part of the stairs is the tread or the horizontal step. This is usually around 10-inches deep. The number of treads will be one less than the number of risers. In this case there will be 14 treads. To find out how long our staircase will be we need to multiply the tread length which is 10-inches, by the number of treads which is 14. This tells us the staircase will be exactly 140-inches long.

The third part of the stairs is the stringer. This is a board that you cut the steps into and it extends to the top floor. This is usually a good quality 2x12 free of knots. Lay the board flat on the floor. Start from the bottom of the board and measure up to the height of the first riser which is 7 3/16-inches. From that point lay a carpenter's square on the board and make sure the inside of the square measures 10-inches over and 7 3/16-inches up. Mark the steps with a pencil. Continue until you reach the top of the board.

This board can be cut with a skilsaw and a reciprocating saw to get into the corners.

You will need at least two more stringers to make a strong stairway. Use the stringer you just made as a template for the other stringers. Once that's finished, you will need to saw the bottom off the stringers at an angle that matches the slope of the stringers starting from the length of the stairs on the floor(140-inches) to the top of the second floor.

Secure the stringers in place with joist hangers and then put all the treads in place. The risers can be put on later or not at all if you want open stairs.

http://www.make-my-own-house.com

Larry Angell is the author of Sweat Equity, building a house at half cost. His experience working with low income families to attain affordable housing has started him on a crusade to help other people learn how to build homes for a fraction of the cost. He teaches the advantages and benefits of becoming new homeowners with high equity.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Angell