Beginners Guide to Building a Stair Stringer

alright this is just gonna be a really quick video on how to make stair stringers so if you're building a deck or if you just need a set of steps really anywhere you know out of the back door or it could be if you have a landing in the garage it doesn't really matter so this is how you make a stair stringer so stick I'm working on that's where I'm at now steps so I mean I already did the math but let's say you got so I mean we got almost what you're gonna want to do is go to just the frame underneath the decking but just to give you an idea so right there we had 28 inches so doing the quick math I know that I'm gonna have five steps total and the steps are gonna be five and a half inches but don't base it off of the measurement from the ground right at the deck so if you know you're gonna have five steps there's going to be four stairs on the actual stringer and then the fifth step is going to be up onto the deck so what am I saying so so five steps so you know there's gonna be four stairs on the stringer then what you need to do is figure out what you're gonna use for your stair tread this one here it's just gonna be decking just to give you a you know quick idea figure 2 pieces of decking you got like 11 and a quarter I always do one inch overhang so my stair tread is gonna be ten and a half so if you take ten and a half inches and multiply it by four you have what 42 so what you're gonna want to do is measure sorry work with one hand here so what you're gonna want to do is measure away from the deck 42 inches so put us out there right so at 42 inches take your level and level straight off until I mean I already did this so I'm not gonna show you but you know level it level it off the deck or whatever your surface is 42 inches out and then measure from where it's level straight down that's gonna be really the height that you want so mine it wasn't 38 like back there it was uh I think 37 and a half so it worked out to five and a half inches all right well let me get the square set up I can show you that so my stringers I always use I've seen people use 2 by 10 I don't recommend 2 by 10 but let's use 2 by 12 he just had more more meat into the stringer so really the only two things you'll need to set the stringer up just your carpenter's square or a framing square or whatever you want to call it and I would invest in set of these stair gauges so let me get these set up and I will show you how that goes all right so this is what we got so our let's turn it around so our rise we said it's five and a half inches so you see if we can get the Sun on it so you set the stair gauge right there so that the inside is at five and a half inches and then your run we said was ten and a half inches so you put it just like that that's what you got right all right so we're gonna it's gonna be a really shaky video cuz and we have one hand so I apologize alright so you're just gonna push that until the two edges touch right and then you will mark your I always try to go as close as you can to the edge because you're gonna have a little bit of waist over here because you're gonna mark this this rise first so once you mark hair than me I'm gonna set the phone down and I'll come right back first mark here just on your on your rise and then I also I like to make a little mark let me get this back on here to show you properly so I also like to make a little mark there to where my run is going to be so then what you'll do is now you put it on the top till they touch because your angle will still be exactly the same slide it over until you meet that mark right there make a line there you go so this would be the top of the very top step so now or I'm sorry nope I'm backwards so that'll be your bottom I apologize so again with one hand but alright so bring it back down to this side same way slide this over so you're ten and a half inch mark lines up with that first line and then you're gonna mark the outside edge on both sides I can't really hold this but you're gonna mark this triangle and then continue that down each step for the amount of steps that you're gonna have so let me mark those and I will show you the top of the step what that looks like see what we got so I have these all laid out so what I like to do is just you can count so this is your first step it's two three four and then you're gonna stop at four because the fifth one you step up onto the deck so just like the bottom I make a little mark you'll move the square back to the bottom of the stringer slide it over to that mark there right [Music] make a mark I'll go clean this up off-camera once I have two hands so now if you look at it this way know if you can see with the light but don't boom boom boom boom there's your stringer so I do it this way for the the outside stringers but what you will have to do if you're gonna close in the front of the steps which here in Delaware it's code you have to close in the front so what you'll have to do is whatever the thickness of the piece that you're gonna put on the on each of the the fronts the risers you have to cut that off of the back so just imagine I'll make a mark but say the thickness is I don't have three quarter inch whatever whatever you're using you're gonna cut that off so now it'll offset this back that same distance so now when you put this front just imagine this is the thickness of your riser by cutting it off here now it brings you back out to where you originally were now you'll have to do the same thing that we just did there on the bottom so the thickness of your decking whatever you're using if it's a just piece of decking or if you're using a two by six or whatever whatever the thickness of the material you're using you have to do the same thing and cut it off of the bottom as well same same concept so it remains the same thickness yeah so that's pretty much how to lay out a stair stringer y'all get it cut up and show you what we got alright so this is what we got everything we marked so just with the circular saw I just cut right to the point okay so we got four steps there and then personally I just like to use a sawzall and cut them flush you can over cut like through cut it tonight you know so they come out if it's an inside stringer I guess you know you could do that you won't see it but personally I just I try to leave as much meat on there as possible it's just personal preference so yummy well you know I don't have to cut them out let's see so now I already have these already fell out roughly there mmm once I get to my brace down to the footer and everything leveled and that's it so yeah that's pretty much it as far as cutting the stair stringer itself I'm not going to make this video about assembling the full steps it's kind of more that goes into that I really just wanted this to be a quick little basic tutorial I mean I'm sure there's plenty on YouTube of how to make a stair stringer and I'm sure this one's not the best since I only have one hand but maybe I'll make another one one day but I don't know just figured since I'm in the middle of doing this deck it would be a good idea just to film it I remember all early on when I first started learning all this stairs it it was just a pain and a has to figure out I couldn't get it for the life of me I don't know it was really kind it seemed complicated but looking back now there's really nothing to it so I mean once you kind of lay it out and and set it up properly and just you know measure properly and do your math it's it's really not bad so yeah I mean hope this this video helps somebody and have a good day you

Channel: BigWonka

Views: 171,369

Rating: 3.6809757 out of 5

Keywords: carpenter, carpenters, carpentry, how to, how-to, deck, stair, stairs, stringer, stair stringer, DIY, wood, woodworking, framing, construction, home improvement, renovation, renovations, renovate, renovated, build, building, hammer, do it yourself, guide, learn, learning, educate, education, educational

Id: 0_q_AkTMR8I

Length: 12min 32sec (752 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 24 2018