People often come up to me and ask questions about how to build a staircase . Some want to know how much material they’ll need, others have questions about stairs that spiral around. This post has tips and ideas on creative ways to build a staircase , as well as standard techniques for making an outdoor stairs, a indoor stairs and some ideas on adding a landing.
1) Thought process – When building staircases and especially stairs with landings it’s not immediate clear what direction to take. Is it better to build several short flights or should you try to create one long flight? Are there any design rules that prove some designs are better than others? I will go through a thought process that designers and architects use when they start sketching out the possibilities and I will show you which options are best suited for the task at hand.
How to build a steep staircase
A landing is the area at the top of a stairway that is typically wider than the steps themselves. Landings serve two purposes: They provide a place for people to stop and rest before continuing up or down the stairs, and they allow people to turn around if necessary. If you want to build a staircase with a landing, you first need to determine how far from the wall you want your landing to be.
Measure and mark the desired location of your landing using chalk. Measure from one end of the chalk line all the way across the room to mark where your landing will be placed at the other end of the room. This is called measuring out from wall to wall (MWAW). The MWAW measurement determines how much space should be left between opposing walls when constructing stairs with landings.
Place two stakes at each end of your MWAW measurement and hammer them into place until they’re flush with the floor surface. These stakes will act as temporary guideposts so that you can accurately place your permanent stair stringers later on in the project.
Cut lengths of 2×4 lumber into equal-length pieces based on your MWAW measurement plus 12 inches for waste material (if necessary).
Use the following tips to build a staircase with a landing.
1. Get started by determining the stairway’s size and shape.
2. Select one of several common design options for your stairs: straight, curved, or even circular.
3. Decide how wide to make each step. This will depend on the weight of the staircase’s users, their height and whether they’re wearing shoes or not. The wider you make your steps, the easier it will be for people to climb them comfortably.
4. Choose between open risers (steps) or closed risers (stairs). Open risers are good for open plan living areas because they allow light to filter through them easily, but they can also be dangerous if people have poor vision as there is nothing there to prevent someone from falling down them accidentally. Closed risers are safer for those who have impaired vision as they provide solid edges for people to hold onto when walking up or down the stairs safely; however, they do take away some of the sense of openness in an open plan living area as well as making it harder for light to filter through them effectively because they do not allow light through their gaps like open risers do
If you’re building a staircase, you’ll need to consider the direction of the stairs. There are two main types of staircases:
The straight staircase is the most common type of staircase. The steps run straight up and down without any landings or curves. This type of staircase is often used in homes. It can also be used in commercial spaces to connect different floors together.
A curved stairway is made up of a curved flight of steps that allows for more floor space in smaller rooms. Curved stairways are commonly found in older homes that were built before modern building codes required minimum room size requirements for rooms.
If you’re building a staircase with a landing, you should plan for the size of each step based on how wide your landing will be. If the landing is narrow, then each step should be relatively small so that the stairs don’t feel uncomfortable when walking up them. If your landing is wider than normal, then each step can be larger so that it won’t feel cramped when walking up them
Step 1: Measurement
Measure the length of your staircase from the bottom to top and add an extra 6 inches for the landing. This will be the length of your frame.
Step 2: Cut Your Lumber
Cut all pieces to length with a power miter saw or circular saw and then sand each piece with 80-grit sandpaper.
Step 3: Assemble the Stairs
Place two 2x10s together side by side, flush at one end and clamp them together. Attach them together using deck screws. Repeat for the other side of the stairs, using another 2×10 as a spacer between them. Next, attach one of these assemblies to a 2×6 base plate using more deck screws every 12 inches or so along each board face. Do not screw through into your framing! Finally, attach your other 2×10 assembly onto the bottom edge of your first assembly with deck screws every 12 inches or so along each board face as well as underneath where they meet in the middle.
The Steps
The best way to build a staircase is with a string line. This tool is essentially a long, thin piece of string that you use to measure the length and width of each step. It’s also useful for making sure that each step is level, as well as keeping each tread (the part of the step that you stand on) at the same height.
You’ll need to cut your lumber according to these measurements. The bottom tread should be 1/2″ wider than your string line, while the top tread should be 3/4″ wider than the bottom one. The risers (the vertical pieces of wood between steps) should be 3/4″ higher than their corresponding treads.
The Stringer
The stringer is what holds your staircase together and makes it look nice from below. It should be installed flush with the front edge of your stairs and make sure that there are no gaps anywhere in between boards or planks — this will ensure that water won’t get trapped behind them and cause rot over time.
Next, you’ll need to install some blocking between each riser so that all of them are level with one another — if not, your stairs will look crooked! You can do this by placing 2x2s
You can build a stairway with a landing using the same techniques as when installing a single-flight stairway. But if you’re building a stairway with landings, here are some tips to keep in mind:
• Build the bottom tread first. Then measure from the bottom of the stair tread to the finished flooring surface and mark this measurement on each stringer. Cut off any excess material with a circular saw or jigsaw. If necessary, use a chisel or sledgehammer to remove any remaining wood between the marks left by your circular saw.
• To install new stringers, measure from one side wall to the other side wall and cut off any excess material with your circular saw. To ensure that your stringer is plumb (straight up and down), use a framing square and check it again after you’ve installed it on both sides of the room.
Building a stairway is a fairly simple task, and one that you can do yourself with the right tools and materials. A staircase is essentially a set of stairs that’s attached to a wall. In general, staircases are built for one-way traffic. That is, people can go up them but not down them. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, in some homes there might be an open landing on the second floor where people can stop before going up or down the stairs. This allows for easier access for elderly people or those with physical disabilities
Staircases are typically built by attaching boards to the walls of your house using nails or screws. The first step in building a staircase is measuring the height of your walls so that you know how high you need to make each step as well as how far apart they should be from each other
You’ll also need to measure the width of each step so that they fit well together when they’re assembled together. This will depend on where exactly you want your staircase placed within your home
It is easy to build a staircase. The first step is to determine how many steps you want and how high they should be. You will also need to decide whether the stairs will be going up or down and the angle of each step.
Before you begin building your staircase, make sure that you have all of the necessary tools and materials on hand. You will need at least one helper who can help with leveling the steps and installing them properly.
If you are building a flight of stairs, start by measuring and marking out the area where they will go. This will give you an idea of how much lumber and other supplies that you need for this project. Depending on the type of stairs that you are building, it may be necessary to frame in an entire section of wall and flooring before installing them permanently into place.
When framing in an area for stairs, it is important to make sure that there is enough room around all sides so that they can be easily removed if needed later on down the road. The best way to do this is by making sure there is at least two inches between each side of the stairway and any nearby objects such as walls or other pieces of furniture
There are a few ways to build a staircase. You can construct one out of wood, metal or concrete. However, the most common type of staircase is a wooden one. This type of staircase is relatively easy to build and is relatively cheap compared to other types of stairs.
Concrete Stairs
Building concrete stairs is a bit more difficult than building wooden stairs. Concrete is heavy and hard to work with, however it makes for an attractive and durable staircase that will last a long time.
Metal Stairs
Metal stairs are also very strong and durable, but they are also very heavy, which makes them difficult to install on your own unless you have help from another person or two. Metal stairs do not look like traditional wooden staircases because they do not have any handrails or other decorative features that make them look more like real wood than metal, but they still have all the same advantages as wood staircases in terms of durability and strength
Building a staircase is not a difficult task, but it does require some planning and attention to detail. All the parts of the stairs must be in perfect alignment for the structure to work correctly.
Over time, stairs can sag or bow because of the weight of people walking on them. You can prevent this by making sure that your stairs are properly built and maintained.
Stairway Construction
The first step in building a staircase is to determine where it will go and how large it needs to be. You need to make sure that there is enough room for people using the staircase and that they won’t bump into anything when they use it. A good rule of thumb is that there should be at least two inches between each riser (the upright part of a stairway) and each tread (the horizontal part).
You can use stairs with more than one flight (one set of risers leading down and another leading up). In most cases, however, stairs are built with only one flight because this makes them simpler and easier to build than those with multiple flights.