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Stair Supplies

Stairs

by Andrew Kozlov

Even simple staircases are relatively tough to build. There are so many components and measurements involved in staircase construction, that even seasoned carpenters get confused about process. The first thing to do when laying out your staircase architecture is to measure the rise of the stairs. This is the height difference between the floor at the bottom of the stairs and the floor at the top of the stairs.

Once you've calculated the rise of the overall staircase, you need to calculate the rise of the individual steps. In general, for domestic staircases, this measurement should be approximately six inches. If you're building a community staircase, restrictions are usually more rigorous. Individual steps for private homes should never exceed 220 mm. Institutional stair rises max out at about 150 mm or so, depending on building codes.

Measuring Your Stairs

To calculate how many risers you need, you simply divide your step-rise measurement into the rise of the flight. Once you figure out how many rises you need, you can easily calculate the number of treads--it's just one fewer than the number of rises. For instance, if your staircase needs 19 rises, then you're going to need 18 treads.

Your next step is to calculate the pitch of your staircase. This is the angle between your rise and your tread. For domestic staircases, your pitch should never exceed 42°. For institutional staircases, you really shouldn't have a pitch that's more than 38°. After you've calculated these basic measurements, you can then pick up your lumber and get into the details of putting the stairs together.

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