How to Build Stairs | A simple way to mark and cut stringers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- Learn about an old school technique to mark and cut stairs stringers without ANY specialty tools or calculators. This is ONE of the many ways you could do this, but I think it’s Worth learning and having in your memory bank in case the Internet ever stops working. This video is not all inclusive but will give you a great head start on the math and fundamentals of building stairs.
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I’m also a contractor. I always try to “dumb down” building methods when trying to teach a novice or homeowner. This video will now be a point of reference when a customer asks how to build stairs. Awesome job fellas!
What's the tool called that he uses to "finish cut" the stringers out? I'm part of the way through redoing my deck (reinforcing, replacing the deck boards), and I'm at a standstill at the stringers, mainly because they're 8 steps and that's not a commonly-stocked size.
Some call it a Japanese saw, or flush cut, or pull saw. Depends on who u ask.
As for the stringer issue: go get a 2x12x10 and a small piece of prefab stairs. Trace the small stringer onto the 2x12, and move it accordingly until you get 8.
@@mickieknox4086 thanks! I already have stairs in place I need to replace, so I'll just remove one of the stringers and use that as a template.
That is the fastest, easiest, and best construction tip I think I have ever seen, hands down. I'm sitting here trying to do a set of stairs for the first time in over 20 years, and I could not figure it out or remember what to do.
Life saver.
You know someone has confidence & is an expert at their trade when they can explain it in simple terms for anyone to understand. Not many channels out there like this one !
L
Learn how to do something the right way,
Just as simple.. 10th grade geometry
I've never done stringers but your video gave me confidence to do it, you guys are amazing.
Already knowing how to frame stairs, it’s nice to just watch it be done again. Love their professionalism
My thoughts exactly! Very straight to the point and the jig is a nice touch
Thanks a million Perkins bros.! Just finishing up my 3 flights. Triple stringers and I used mechanical brackets at top and bottom for piece of mind (14ft ceiling don't want to fall from that height)
I also put r21 on the underside to cut that echo sound when walking!
I've been a carpenter for 21 years and always have used a square, but I like the way this works
Same with me. This is my new favorite way
Really
Just here giving myself a refresher.
6yrs in a factory told me to go back to what I enjoy doing. Slinging my tape measure!!
Good video!! 👍🏽😁👍🏽
That was just what I needed. The light bulb came on and build a set a stairs. 1st time in my life.
Just did my first ever staircase from this video. A total of 10 treads and mailed it on the first layout. Thanks!!
I need to do a set of steps for a new garage loft - ground to 8’. I’m hoping to get it right the first time out!!😊
been about 15 years since ive built one, was just drawing a complete blank. Thanks for the refresher course!
Dealing with an inspector, nice enough guy. He told me that most stringers that you buy from the big box stores are cut incorrectly. He suggested cutting my own stringers. This is a great help. Thanks.
Glad I bought this one th-cam.com/users/postUgkxT9ExVpR-3A-9rpRqx8vzXKZ3BMMTg_KH . I had a customer looking for a shed that didn't look 'prefab' and was rustic, but "cute" (her term). I showed her the cover of the book and, with a few modifications, she was sold. I've never built a shed but I do have some framing knowledge. The info on roofing is very helpful to me. I was also psyched that the section for the shed on the cover had measured drawings for the trim boards and keystone pieces for the gable ends and over the windows. Should make life a little easier for me.
The guy is a spammer. Dont click this link.
Hi there👋 I'm a carpenter 30 yrs in the trade learned by doing it. retired but still do it lil slower now but hey.what do you want @ 67 yrs ALWAYS USED THE FRAMEING SQR. NOW! THAT'S SLICK YOU PROBABLY HELPED LOTS OF GREEN ONES WITH THAT JIG.☺ 👍👊💪🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💗🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😎👍
I just hope they teach the young ones the old ways to. Jigs and tricks are nice but they need to understand why the tips and tricks work😉
This video is awesome. I am in the trade , have been for roughly 8 yrs. Never get a chance to build steps and Just seems no one will ever take the time to show me how to , I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and passing it on. Thanks Much 👍
I have to build a long staircase in a portable building for loft access,this has been most helpful of all the videos I've seen,never done this before,thank you so much.
I’ve been building custom staircases for 25 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a pattern board used like that. Genius! Y’all got it going on
lol...Asleep for 25 years???
@@jackscenic nope wide awake
25yrs and you are watching a video for a complete novice?
@@kevinblanchard611 I’m self taught, never had anyone around me that knows anything other than driving truck or water plant operating. So anytime I can pick up a tip I’m all about it
You must be fucking joking. There is no way. You have spent that long building stairs and never heard about that.
Clear and to the point, just like all your videos. You guys are really crushing it with all this new content! That jig trick is slick for anyone without stair gauges.
Yea but the bolts are like 2.99$.
@@joe5834 Just go to IKEA, they have free bolts at the front of the store for anyone sorted in bins, serious it's amazing. I don't understand why they give bolts away, at least in Halifax Canada they do... Not just bolts, all their common fasteners free.
Short and sweet. Six minutes of practical knowledge! Good job on the video.
Very well done! Thanks for demystifying the whole stringer design, layout and cutout process.
Im too dumb for this
Dude. My last comment was 2 years ago here. . . . Annndd I'm still nowhere to get anything done. Hahahaha I guess I'm too dumb for this too . Fuckk
This is also my 3rd time watching this video...
You're NOT dumb. You just don't do this stuff every day. I'm a highly paid cabinet maker and I'm watching this because I completely forgot framing stuff and have to help out a friend next weekend 😅. I watched for a minute and it all came back to me only because I had done this many times and many moons ago.
😂
@jpmorphhilson Exactly, sometimes a refreshing course is needed. Best to try first using scrap wood laying around before cutting the wood intended for stairs. 👍
Hey guys, I'm at that point where my project require me to cut stringers for my new deck. I've been really cautious (scared) to cut my 2x12 knowing its going to cost me a arm and leg to get a replacement piece of lumber this year. Your video was the easiest on the TUBE to understand and follow. Thanks.
Is that a two by twelve? Damn, I just bought two by tens.
Stair stringers 101....class is now in session.
You guys are awesome thank you for your help and shared knowledge.
I'm a theatre teacher who teaches kids to build stuff and this video has been a l ife saver when making stairs. Thank you!
I was taught years ago when very green by my uncle to make a jig whenever possible to make sure everything matches, and he showed me this exact method for cutting stairs in my very first house build. Good job on the tip for account for the bottom tread, otherwise you end up with a trip step like they used to put in Scottish castles to trip up enemy who were running up the stairs.
Is that true? About the Scottish stairs?
Josh Daly yes. In the stairwells up to towers/higher levels where the bedrooms etc were for the royals they would often have a couple shorter or taller steps, they often coupled this with a low arched ceiling so they could easily defend with spears against a swordsman who couldn’t swing their sword overhand or overhead due to low ceiling. A great example of this is in the Crathes Castle which is technically what they call a Tower House. Very cool stuff
This makes it so much easier! There are alot of videos like this but so so complicated. You made learning so much more fun. Thanks guys!!!!
Dude, you guys are great!!
Since I have a finished deck height of only 21" this made it simple for me to use the template you described. Thanks much for the tip.
Great video guys! I appreciate in the description that you mentioned "not all inclusive", I watch a lot of stair building videos not to be critical but to learn anything new that I didn't already know and something missing from them all is factoring in the calculation for the stair nose overhang. Most codes require a 1" nose overhang and you need to take this into consideration when doing your layout. Keep up the good work.
Boys you have done it again clear, simple and to the point! We likely alot big thumbs up from Ireland 🇮🇪
Cutting stairs always frustrated me. Thanks for this video it will help
I have been cutting out these damn thing for ever ,using a square, never thought there was any other way ? Old dogs can learn new tricks. Thank you so much..I rang the bell, See Ya Texas
HELLO FROM ALAMO,TX ..THIS WAS EXCELENT..NO SARCASAM ,NO BULL,,RIGHT TO THE POINT
I enjoyed watching this, but what I really like is the fact y’all don’t take yourself too seriously. Thanks for taking time to make the video and I look foreword to more in the future!
This is getting to some Larry Haun-ish tips. Love it.
Larry is the MAN!
Larry was THE MAN! RIP Mr. Haun. The Perkins boys are pretty darn good too.
@@mikemorgan5015 Yup. Happy I came across these cats!👌🏾 Good evening and keep the hammer swinging!
@@MrKelly-ll1lx I didn't see your post before I commented. Great minds think alike I guess. HA! I got the companion book to Larry's video series. Really good stuff!
@@mikemorgan5015 I gotta get it! Thanks a million!
I never SEEN A VIDEO as clear as ever. I looked at so many videos, and i thought i was the dummiest person ever, but i never gave up I always thinking about a different approach to how to calculated. imagine how many children in schools they mark them for ever for being having learning disability, IT SHOULD BE TEACHING DESABILITY. great job boys!!, i never new the difference between a bee or a swap they look the same to me.
Thanks. I am using rough cut 2 x12 white oak lumber with only one straight side. This video will help me make a better stringer mock up. All of my measurements I ended up with 1/8 - 1/16 variance in my drawing on my yellow pine 2x12 mock up piece. Thanks for making this video. If I watched it yesterday my full stringer jig would have been made already. Really glad I didn't cut anything yet. My steps will 8 high x 16 deep, roughly 22 1/2 degree angle.
Another learning video!! Humility with hard hat Orientation was great. We all make mistakes and I appreciate genuine real life videos.
Easily the best instructional video on TH-cam. Good job.
I purchased the items at the end of the video but I think I will return them now that I have a simple way to build stringers! Thanks guys!
Holy Smokes! You guys made this video EXTREMELY easy to understand for DING-DONGS, One-Day a month warrior like me. I watched to other videos and my head was spinning trying to figure out what language they were speaking because I had no clue what it said. I'm going to re-do a back porch with two steps. When the porch was made years ago, a store bought 3-stepm springer was purchased and the bottom portion was cut uneven. So now I am going to pur on my big boy pants and build my first set of stairs.
When I heard the name Arlo, I knew he'd have red suspenders on!!
You nailed it
Did you know that he would not know how to wear a hat?
@@jeffstanley4593 please explain. I went back to look at Arlo's hat. What's wrong with it?
@@cassidy5099 I don't know what I was talking about.
Hands down best one out there. Straight to the point and I feel like I can go and build now compared to the other videos which just confused the F out of me even more.
That jig is genius. I’m a plumber/ HVAC/ electrician by trade but I need to build stair stringers for my brother’s deck and that will be a huge help!
THANK YOU! I need to sister a couple stringers on my stairs and now I know how to copy what I have. Thank you!
Oh the pain and blow to my ego 😖! After having built 100’s of stairs and teaching 10’s of apprentices how to, I must admit, I have never seen this layout technique. And I kinda like it! Not gonna change, but an old(er) dog learned a new trick.
-I like how you sketched out the stair on that scrap block, in detail, just to make sure nothing was being forgotten.
-Try laying out the stringer in consecutive diagonals (hypotenuses) to increase accuracy.
-Use your razor knife instead of your carpenters pencil to increase accuracy.
-If using your framing square, and one (or both) of the stair buttons comes up missing, use a pair of vice grips instead.
🤜🤛
👍🤘
That was seriously very helpful ! Thank you out of everything i can half way do right, stairs are not one of them i always have a hard time.. thank you
This helped simplify things for me. I'm okay with some basic carpentry, but I have not had the opportunity to make stringers for stairs.
Thank you for the video
Thanks to your help guys I successfully made my first stairs.God bless you
I've cut many stairs and I've always just used either divide by 7 or 7.5 then go from there. The Bottom Step is the only step that Inspectors give any leeway to as it does not have to EXACTLY match the other steps; just as long as it's close. Another thing to consider is how much room is required for the Run of the Step if the Rise is going to be 7 or 7.5 the Run is typically 9; so in this case 9 x 6 is 54"... Anyone that has cut stringers knows this all too well... Sometimes you might not have 54" to land the steps and this is where your day gets interesting, very, very, VERY, INTERESTING... LOL.....
9" makes for a steep set of stairs!
Please reference the code section which would exempt the bottom step from the riser requirements.
Just use a framing square with "Starrett" gauges. Super accurate.
Do what is best for you.
Joel Heaton
Many people don't know how to use one, I know, and we both scrat h our heads asking why not. They said they use one. This was a demo on, if you don't want to use one or don't know how to use one. I personally use one myself. Fast easy to use, and simple.
@@gensherman2984 10-4
Great video! Thanks! Building stairs for a basement. This did the trick.
This was the perfect video to find. Rebuilding front stair's and was going to trace old stringers, but the cuts on it are so off and bad. (30 year old work ) we know how things were done back then. I know the numbers but was wondering how to to it easy for myself. Not a pro and after seeing this trick and I am like, holy hell, I can do that, works great for me lol. Thanks for the video and your time.
Thanks for the great video. One of my dad's favorite lessons was stair calculation . And to let you know the first thing that attracted me to watch was the name of the video, and might have passed, as I know how, but when I saw the name, I had to watch. My dad was Darwin Perkins, a master carpenter.
Thanks, nicely explained and a much simpler method than I have ever used. For some reason I found stairs extremely daunting.
great video on cutting out my stringer never cut one before and it came out perfect. Can't thank you guy's enough
Thanks guys. This is the best practical example I found so far!
After struggling with this for hours I eventually figured it out. I wish I would have found this video before I started lol. Way way easier route than I took
If someone asks me, ' how come you never learnt to mark stringers ? '
Cordially I will respond to the guy, ' cause, no one ever explained like "Perkins Builder Brothers" '
Thank you, boys (Perkins Builder Brothers)
The brothers remind me of my counstruction teacher who him and his brothers own
Thank you. I'm training in a new job and needed to show some fundamental skill and this helped. I mean this and other TH-cam guys reined me in
Thanks for posting this replacing old stairs in a basement and this was very helpful to me.
Also, make sure and glue every tread down before screwing it, this way you'll keep yourself from having those annoying squeaks later on. I've been using F-26 for this for years, I also do the same when putting down the plywood for the floors, which I use 3/4 " tongue and groove.
I had the glue & screw method beat into my head by the guys l learned from,one guy was a stifler for adding ( gluing & screwing) 1/2"/3/4" plywood to the stringers cur the exact same way to prevent warpage.Mostly exterior but steps that we did that to far outlasted ones that weren't done that way.Been around awhile and never seen this easy method.👍👍👍👍
Go ahead and take the thickness of your finish riser off your top riser.
.....details
:D :D :D
Good morning guys you made my job of building a stair very simple. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Dang I needed this a month ago! But I will need it again - thanks guys - you make it so simple!
Great video. I was taught that the device toward the end of the video is a carpenter's square. It's not to be confused with a speed square.
If you mean the tool with the brass nuts, that is a framing square.
For stair stringers , roof rafters...
@@patrickgeary5195
Correct. I do not mean that tool
Thank you. This was a simple, clear, practical lesson. You guys are awesome.
Wow by far the easiest method to built stairs . Way to go young man u took the cake god bless
I seen this method 4 years ago and have been using it ever since. Thank you P bros
Get outta here!! I'll have to practice this.
Lol, I've been building stairs the hard way all along.
Haha.. well there is no REALLY easy way.
Helpful video. I love it when a jig can be made. Perfect camera positioning.
🙏
I love carpentry, but carpentry does'not love me so , i just hire someone to do the work. great video guys. i love seeing brothers working together well. more vlogs. thanks guys - Romy from Philippines.
What’s up ya’ll! Im Nixy, a new GC in The Bay Area and I had to thank you guys so much for all your knowledge in the trades you are uploading on to TH-cam! As if building wasn’t enough work! All the edits and time taken to make these videos is much appreciated! Stairs are one of the first things the inspector checks in a rough in, so it’s important to do it right. Best of luck with your business. The houses you’re building are saucy!!
Great content, incomplete instructions.
Left out how to install the stringers, bottom tie into floor ( concrete or wood) & top tie in to landing.
Thanks for sharing 😉
Thanks man… Yeah it’s in the description that this is not a complete instructions on how to do it. That would probably take a couple hours :-)
Mansard Manor just back cut the bottom of the stringer the depth and width of a 2x4. Then nail down the 2x4 to the floor and screw off the stringers into the 2x4.
You guys made it so simple, even I'll be able to do it for my outside porch
I have to say I just used the jig you showed and it is the slickest jig I have ever used. I made mine from a scrap of Russian Birch plywood
Divide the total height of the stair case by the height of the riser and it will tell you how many risers are needed. I.E. 45÷7.5=6
So then what do you do when it doesn't come out evenly? Say the rise was 49 inches. 49 inches of total rise divided by 7.5=6.533. How do you do .533 risers? ALL the risers need to be equal or people will be falling down regularly both going up and down them, even if one is only off by 1/4 inch. Seriously! So you would take 49/6 riser and get 8 5/32 inch riser. Too much for a comfortable stair, so go to 7 risers and you get a nice comfortable and even 7 inches. But it could be a quite uneven number like 55 inches. The old 18 inch rule works well. Rise plus run = 18 inches. What you find may be counter intuitive, but if you have a 4 inch rise, that means a 14 inch tread. Small steps mean bigger treads. This is because as the rise is shorter your horizontal speed increases when navigating steps. Taller steps mean you move much slower in the horizontal and don't need a larger landing surface for your foot. A newer formula of 2x rise plus the run = 25ish. Both make for easy navigating, comfortable stairs. This is but one of the little nuances of construction that people take for granted or don't even notice or think about. It is why we have skilled craftsmen and building codes. Things like door knob, light switch and counter top height, hallway width, counter top to cabinet distance, distance from a toilet to the walls, etc. There are very good, time tested reasons for these dimensions. That said, an apartment for 7+ foot NBA stars would likely have custom and wildly different dimensions for doorways and counter and vanity heights. Good luck to them when it comes time to sell..... Major renovations will be needed to meet code.
If the total height is 49” the rise is 7” with 7 steps. MoroseMacabre is right.
@@CritterStyle Of course the math works out AFTER you have it figured out. But how would he get the tread height to begin with? This is why you start with the number of risers first. It will always work out evenly. Starting with the riser height as he did and it won't work out evenly most of the time. You can't just pull a riser height out of your butt and get even steps for a total rise of 113 11/16 inches. It's a simple math problem with 2 variables. The number of risers will ALWAYS be a whole number. Instead of pluging a bunch of fractional measurements into the equation, you plug in the easy to work with whole numbers and the exact riser height will be spit out of the equation. If that number is too large, like 9 3/16, add a riser. If it's too small, like 5 3/8, subtract a riser. So, for my wild example of 113 11/16 I guess 18 treads and get a riser height of 6 5/16. Thats a bit short so I go to 16 risers and get 7 3/32" risers. Nice comfy stairs. Who would pull 7 3/32 out of their hat? It's math, not magic.
@Rowdy you plan on dying on those stairs lol
Unless I missed it, you forgot to show how to cut the top angle.
Pretty neat trick/tip. Makes it easy for those who can't. To be more precise, each time you move the square/jig, butt your tape into the square/jig, and measure to the last riser you marked, make it 10" (or whatever desired run). That way you know you're dead on
This is the easiest method I have ever seen, and I've watch dozens. I can do this!
The one-shot math, no guess way to get your rise height:
Divide your overall height by 7 (optimal stair height) to get the number of steps. In this case, 45” / 7 = 6.429 then round up/down. So 45” height divided by 6 steps = 7.5” rise per step.
u guys make it SOOOO simply!!! thanks you as i am not a PROFESSIONAL as you are. thanks again
Woooooooooooooooow. The perfect stair stringer video has been made!
From this old wood butcher....I like that you guys use the KISS principle when doing your layout.
Hat looks good. Just don't let OSHA visit your site, lol. Just Joking. I learn something new. You make building stairs look so easy. Got to rewatch this video until I know it one hundred percent. Then I am going to help build new stairs for my daughter's patio
Thanks for share your knowledge. I appreciate that.
I laid out stringers for my son with a piece of paper. I simply marked 10.5 along one edge & 7 5/8 along the other & cut the diagonal line with a utility knife & it made the perfect pattern. Not the way I normally do it but I didn't want to drive 40 miles to get my tools.
Thanks used the jig to build to build deck stairs today. Worked great!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Made things easy for me.
Other carpenters throughout the years . Used to say I was an idiot for not using a framing square to layout stairs .. This is precisely how I do mine ..I do one thing different Instead of stepping it off .. I lay out the diagonal for increased accuracy .. The diagonal on 7.5/10 = 12.5 .. so I'd input 12.5 as a constant . 12.5.... 25 .. 37.5 etc .. Another neat piece of info ..Cut the line of the center riser on the stair carriage .. Makes it easier to install the treads .. If the center is even a millimeter proud of the perimeter stringers .. Then you have to tap the sides to mate ... Next week . Let's do a freestanding double helix spiral staircase LOL ...You guys give good info for even professional nail benders
@ IVORY123100 - Yes! You beat me to it! Laying the diagonals (hypotheses) out on the stringer will definitely increase accuracy. Also, use your razor knife instead of your pencil for marking (in this particular case). The mark from a carpenters pencil is almost an 1/8th inch thick! - 4 marks could make a 1/2” difference.
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*edit - (hypotenuses)
@@psidvicious It's like hippopotamus and the plural can either be Hippopotamuses or Hippopotami .. So Hypotenuses or Hypoteneni !!! .. LOL ..
That was one of the best videos for cutting stringers I've seen Great job
This is killer guy's. The best explained way to make risers. You guy's rock 😎
Great video, guys! I am about to build my first stairs!! Ya'll made it look pretty simple! Thanks!!!!!!! 😊
Your brilliant mate
Love your passion and your pace
The hints are spot on
Keep up the great work! from Trelco Uk 👊
Explained simple and clear thank you from Phiiippines
You made that very simple! Love your work and videos
Very helpful video one of the better ones I've seen great job guys and thank you I'll be building mine this week the same way
I wanted to share a picture my first stair stringers with you but I can’t figure out how. But, thanks to your video advice I was able to cut 3 stringers with 10 steps from wet 2x12 pressure treated boards. I added 2x4’s as you recommended as well. Thank you.
You explain it in a fun and simple way .. good teaching …
This is the best video on TH-cam. Period.