Replies

1. 
   calvin | Jun 15, 2011 02:55pm | #1

   Buster

   There are numberous you tube video's and several how to's online if you google Cutting Stair Stringers.  There's even a US govt publication that was produced a long time ago that you can still access (online probably) that spells it all out.

   To explain it here I'd probably leave something out.

   However, you need to know the finished height of the upstairs FLOOR, the finished height of the basement FLOOR to lay them out.

   The rise and run added together should come close to 18".  That's for a comfortable 7/11 stair.  You evidently cannot get that comfy going into the basement.

   So, take the number you get from finish floor to finish floor-say 94".  Divide by the 7 you'd like to have as the rise.  That equals 13.4, so you know that either you'll ;have 13 or 14  of them if you have the room.

   94 divided by 13 = just under 7-1/4" of rise.

   You need to figure where 12 treads (your upper floor is the 13th tread) take you out from the opening onto that stairway WITHOUT banging you head.  That's why basement steps in older houses were steeper, you can't get there from here w/o banging your head on a comfortable stair.

   Once you have the rise figured exactly and calculate your tread width you can proceed to lay it out on a stringer.  This is why following a step by step written guide is so much easier and important.

   There you'll find that you need to drop the whole stringer the thickness of the tread in order to make the bottom step the same as the last one up top.

   Best of luck.

1. 
   BUSTER | Jun 15, 2011 06:02pm | #2

   Thanks!

   You gave me alot of great information to use to get these stairs done right! Now I am not feeling so shy to get these done. As for the "head banging": I had enough room to already increase the opening so the headroom issue is no more!

1. 
   calvin | Jun 15, 2011 10:14pm | #3

   Believe me, it's all in the numbers and that's not that hard.

   You can do it. 

   The figuring is important, spend your time there.  Cutting should be precise-don't overcut the stringer, finish the cut of your circular saw with either a hand saw, jig saw or artistic sawzall.

   You can also use a sacrificial pc of wood to check the top plumb (or whatever) cut and the bottom level cut, just to verify where you start, end up and perhaps the real rise/run and head room.

   Best of luck.  The first time is the hardest time.

1. 
   madmadscientist | Jun 20, 2011 01:11pm | #6

   You know I was wondering

   What if when you cut that inside corner with the jig saw if you didn't do a sharp right angle but made a nice radius?

   I wonder if that would cut down on the splitting-cracking that seems to originate from that area?

2. 
   DanH | Jun 18, 2011 08:55am | #4

   There are several stair calculators online.  Eg: http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/stairseng.aspx

   When it comes to cutting stringers I prefer not to -- I use cleats instead wherever possible.

3. 
   Hokuto | Jun 18, 2011 12:12pm | #5

   Cleats, aw, that's woosin' out, Dan ;)

   I've consulted the Youtubes and other sites and I'm almost ready to tackle my first set of outdoor stairs; only hair in the ointment left is that they've got a 10 degree sideways slant and I'm not sure how I want to deal with the treads. Come to think of it, using cleats would be just as difficult.