Building Stairs

Building stairs is a key carpentry technique. This tutorial will show you how to build stairs and calculate stair stringers. (Stair building is also part 5 (of 7) steps in the 10x10 deck example).

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Design	Framing	Footings	Decking	Stairs	Railing	Stair Railing

Designing and cutting your own stringers for your stairs will guarantee that each step(tread) is the exact height(riser) and depth(run) for your structure. If these terms are new to you, don't worry. By the time you finish reading this tutorial, you will have all of the knowledge you need in order to design and build a perfect set of stairs.

Design Considerations

Use the stair section diagram below for reference.

The mathematical relationship between the rise and run of each step is very important in stair design. One generally accepted rule for calculating step rise and run is: the sum of two risers and one tread should be between 24 and 25 inches.

For example, if you have a step rise [F] of 7 1/4 inches, you could calculate your step tread [B] width by using the following formula:

Riser + Riser + Tread = 25

7.25 + 7.25 + 10.5 = 25

The result is a tread width [B] of 10.5 inches.

Calculating Rise and Run

To calculate the number and sizes of risers and treads (minus the nosing) for a given stair run, first divide the total rise [A] by 7. For example: if the total rise [A] of a deck or landing is 36.25", the result would be 5.17. Since the number of risers must be a whole number, pick the one closest to 5.17 (5) and divide it into the total rise:

36.25" / 5 = 7.25"

Number of risers = 5

Riser Height: 7.25"

The number of treads will always be one less than the number of risers. Previously, we calculated a tread width [B] of 10.5" for a set of stairs with a rise [F] of 7.25". Use the following formulas to calculate the total run:

Number of treads: 4

Total run = 4 x 10.5"

Total run = 42"

The above stair run will have 5 risers at 7.25", and 4 treads at 10.5" wide and a total run of 42".

Stair Section Diagram

Now that the number of treads (4) and size of each tread (10.5 inches) as been determined, and the height (7.25 inches) of each step has been determined, we have the information that we need to begin laying out the stringers.

You can also use the stair calculator to calculate the rise and run of each step, as well as some useful information related to stringer layout.

Laying Out Stringers

A very important part of building stairs is the layout of the stringers. The stringers should be cut from 2 x 12 framing lumber, #2 grade or better quality, free of knots. The images below show how a framing square is used to lay out the stringers [C], and a how the first stringer is used as a pattern for the remaining stringers [D]. This is very important, because if you layout each stringer separately, not only does it take more time, but the second or third stringer may not match up to the first if there are any variances in the shape of the board. Using the first stringer as the pattern for all of the remaining stringers will eliminate this potential stair building problem.


[C] 2x12 Stair Stringer Material		[D] Stringer Pattern

Cutting Stringers

The tools that you will need for laying out and cutting stair stringers are:

Framing Square
Carpenter's Pencil
Circular Saw
Jigsaw or Handsaw

Now that you have the stringer laid out, you can make the primary cuts using a circular saw. To avoid over-cutting too much into the stringer with the circular saw, the last part of the cut can be made with a jig saw or a hand saw. This is an important part of building stairs - cutting too much into the stringer can compromise the stair structure.


[E] Circular Saw - Use a circular saw to start the cut. Cut up to the layout marks, but not beyond.	[F] Jig Saw - use a jig saw (or hand saw) to finish each cut.

[G] Finished Stringer

You should now have all of the information that you need to design and cut stringers for your own stair building needs. Of course, these are just the basics of stair building. Building stairs with multiple landings and spiral stairs will take a considerable amount of design and planning.

Here's a couple of pictures showing building stairs in action.

[H] View from the underside of a set of rough framed stairs.	[I] Side view of a set of rough framed stairs.

What next?

Continue to step 6 (of 7) - (Railing)

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