Modeling
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Modifying Stair ?

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi,
I'm building a ss
tair and having a little problem in modifying it on plan view.
In my attached filed, I have a little corner of a landing that I want it to be cut off. But I don't know how.
Please help.
Many thanks
31 REPLIES 31
Anonymous
Not applicable
Nice Stair for sure.
However, don't think the balusters would
pass the: (4" sphere shall not pass through)
test here (Calif) anymore. Kinda sad.
(actually 4-3/8th on stringers)
Possibly 8" above 36"??
I'll have to go look that one up.
Of course hard to scale from image.


Curious, what code are you on in Salem?
thats right. the stair is not to code.

The part of the code I hate the most is extending the hand rail to 12" past the end of the stair. The 4" sphere test is just plain stupid.

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Anonymous
Not applicable
Yeh, sometimes I think the new stair codes suckk just as much as the stair tool itself.
Thanks Steve for the stair parts tip, that's a great one.
I'm going to have a field trip to our local hardwood stair builders showroom and pick out my first set of stair parts to make objects of.
Just for fun, here's a wacky railing that does meet code, even though it does not look like it at first.
Go figure?
Anonymous
Not applicable
You'd be hard-pressed to slide down that one
Anonymous
Not applicable
Steve wrote:
Sooner or later you will need to make a section and some details for that stair. Then you will realize that it would have been faster just to model the stair in the first place. I don't think any of those stair tools are very useful.

Model the stair exactly as it will be constructed, keeping in mind what things you need to show up in your sections and details.
why go to that much detail on a stair anyways?? the guy building the stairs should know how to do it with out you telling him all that info.. if he dosnt then i wouldnt be employing him to build it in the 1st place.
GeNOS wrote:
Steve wrote:
Sooner or later you will need to make a section and some details for that stair. Then you will realize that it would have been faster just to model the stair in the first place. I don't think any of those stair tools are very useful.

Model the stair exactly as it will be constructed, keeping in mind what things you need to show up in your sections and details.
why go to that much detail on a stair anyways?? the guy building the stairs should know how to do it with out you telling him all that info.. if he doesn't then i wouldn't be employing him to build it in the 1st place.

Lets apply the same reasoning to your details.

If you don't know what information is necessary to have in a detail in order to cut the stringers then you shouldn't be making plans in the 1st place.

You can't cut the stringer correctly unless you know what materials are going on it, and what the materials are at the landings.

What information in that detail above does the carpenter not need to know ? This is not a "drafted" detail where every line is individually drawn. This is what a live section of the model parts looks like.

Also, keep in mind that the carpenter is only one of several people who need the information in a detail. I will spare you the list, and a lesson on how information from the details is extracted to the schedules,list, specifications, etc...

The point I am trying to make with the detail is that I can model a useful detail faster than I can make a stair using any of the Stair Tools I have used. And my details are useful to me, the details generated with the Stair Tools are not useful to me.

If the stair detail is so unimportant that you can get buy with what the Stair Tools can do, why make a detail at all?

Why not just make a little note on the site plan that says " build house here". This is exactly what many of the builders who come to me for plans want. A bare bones, down and dirty permit set that will not keep them from building it any which way they want.
The "permit set" is kept nice and clean in the tube at the job site and will never see the light of day.

Good plans however, are for protecting the Client from builders like that.

Good details are also for showing the builder the reason why he is not at liberty to deviate from the plan.

A good set of plans and details is what keeps the tail from wagging the dog.

I make paper templates of the stringers. They role it out on the 2x or LVL and make a nail hole at the points of the notch. They have it cut and installed faster than they can even lay it out using the other way.

Sometimes I make paper templates for the sink and bathtub holes as well as for archways. Sometimes there just isn't a good place to draw it out with a string on site.

I also make paper templates for the foundation anchor bolts. They tack it to the plywood and drill the holes right through it. It has a centerline mark and a 3d drawing (Simpson detail ) of how that anchor is to be used.

I have used paper templates for many other things I do not trust Bubba to mark out with his fat keel.

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JaredBanks
Mentor
Does anyone else use complex profiles to make stairs? I used to model the treads and risers individually, but found one complex profile can typically take care of an entire run of stairs. And it can have as much sectional details as necessary. Steve's whole stair could easily be one complex profile.
Jared Banks, AIA
Shoegnome Architects

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JaredBanks wrote:
Does anyone else use complex profiles to make stairs? I used to model the treads and risers individually, but found one complex profile can typically take care of an entire run of stairs. And it can have as much sectional details as necessary. Steve's whole stair could easily be one complex profile.
Complex profiles are great. I use them a lot. However, it is harder to re-use them from project to project than parts that you can just stretch to match the new width of the stair.

The idea of using parts is that you can use them for modeling the entire stair if you need that, or for just one step that you multiply/distribute with elevation offset to construct a detail or section.

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25

Anonymous
Not applicable
Steve wrote:
"The part of the code I hate the most is extending the hand rail to 12" past the end of the stair. The 4" sphere test is just plain stupid."

Well here at least on residential we only have to get "guardrail" (no more mention of "hand" rail in our code) to the start and end of last riser/tread.

However much I also dislike the 4"/4-3/8" sphere restriction, I guess small children have choked to death after getting their head stuck in balustrades.
So for kids sake only, I agree with it.
lec1212 wrote:
Steve wrote:
"The part of the code I hate the most is extending the hand rail to 12" past the end of the stair. The 4" sphere test is just plain stupid."

Well here at least on residential we only have to get "guardrail" (no more mention of "hand" rail in our code) to the start and end of last riser/tread.

However much I also dislike the 4"/4-3/8" sphere restriction, I guess small children have choked to death after getting their head stuck in balustrades.
So for kids sake only, I agree with it.
Dont let them play on the stair. Then make them ware a helmet. Surely there is some sort of little OSHA outfit they can ware.

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25