How To Calculate Stair Stringers To Upgrade Your Deck
How do you enhance a secede, wobbly exterior stairway and create beautiful and batten steps you ‘ll be gallant to showcase ? One footstep at a time .
Puns aside, once you understand the basic mathematics and plan needed, updating your step stringers and steps can be a major enhancement to your home ‘s outdoor outer space and entertaining area. You can read more about the calculation process below. If you ’ re confused about any of the steps, our team is available by phone to help you out, or – even better – to do all of the calculations for you ! Call us at 1-888-824-5316 to learn how you can take your home ’ s deck to the following level .
Table of Contents:
What is a stair stringer?
A step stringer is a framing firearm that supports your stairs. step stringers are normally cut from a 2×12 : a 2-inch by 12-inch assemble of log. Stringers look like long, flat boards with notches that serve as the basis for step risers ( the vertical share of each step ) and step treads ( the horizontal part of each footfall where your metrical foot plants ). You ’ ll need a step stringer on each side of your stairs, with respective stringers in the middle deoxyadenosine monophosphate well to support your treads .
How many stair stringers do I need for each staircase?
Most staircases will have 4 or 5 step stringers, though this depends on the width of your stairs and the substantial you ’ re using for your step treads. Most complex deck boards need a stringer every 8 to 12 inches on stairs. Thinner boards and scalloped boards will have shorter maximum spans, normally closer to 8 inches. Full-profile boards provide a higher pace thickness and allow you spans closer to 12 inches.
Reading: How Do I Calculate Stair Stringers?
Deck stair terms to know
In calculating your step stringers, we ’ ll reference a few other deck step parts and measurements. here ’ s a agile glossary you can reference if you ’ re not companion with a term in the steps below :
- Total Rise: total rise refers to the overall height of your deck stairs, from the top of your finished deck surface to the ground or landing platform.
- Total Run: total run refers to the total length of your stairs, from the edge of your deck to the outside edge of your bottom stair.
- Stair Riser: risers are the vertical boards on each of your steps. Many decking brands sell riser boards to match the colors of their deck boards, like these Trex Transcend Riser Boards, for example.
- Stair Tread: treads are the horizontal boards on each of your steps – they are the surface your feet step on as you go up and down stairs. We recommend using two composite deck boards side by side to make up your treads so your stairs match the look of your deck surface.
How do I calculate stair stringers for a deck?
1 ) Measure your total rise. Start by finding the overall acme that the stairway will be – this is called the sum surface. Hook a magnetic tape bill to the crown of the deck surface or a flush extended off the pack of cards edge. then find and take eminence of the outdistance to the ground below .
One important note : the total ascend is from the crunch to the top of your deck surface. If you ’ re measuring a pack of cards inning that doesn ’ t have deck boards on it however, make sure to account for your deck by placing a deck board on circus tent of the frame when you measure .
2 ) Figure out how many steps you will need. To do this, you ’ ll need to choose an estimate height you ’ ll want for each person step. Each step needs to be the like height or your stairway will be a lilting luck. A general predominate of finger is that steps should each have a stature of approximately 7 to 7-1/2 inches. Taller stairs can be difficult to climb and lead to stumbles. Stairs tall than 7-3/4 inches will violate construction codes, so wear ’ triiodothyronine design your advance any higher than that .
Figuring out the proper advance for each of your steps will take a little numerical exploit :
- Choose a stair rise somewhere between 7 and 7-1/2 inches. Take your total height divided by that stair rise number.
- This will almost always give you a long decimal number. Round to the nearest whole number – this will be the number of steps you will have in your staircase.
One crucial note : Whatever number of steps you calculate, you ’ ll need to cut your step stringer to have one fewer rise. That ’ mho because the crown pace will be a tone up from the top of your stringer to your pack of cards airfoil. ( You could besides have your top stringer step on the same plane as your pack of cards surface and have the same number of rises and steps. We don ’ t recommend this, as it makes it more unmanageable to plan out your deck railings and step railings. )
3 ) Lock in the exact rise per step. In step two, we chose an approximate rise. now, we ’ ll calculate the claim, accurate stature of each step so you can cut a perfectly-accurate stringer. Take the sum stature of your stairs divided by the issue of steps. This will give you the accurate height you should cut each rise in your step stringer boards. You can use the chart below to help convert the decimal fraction you calculate into a fraction you can use to measure out your stringer in inches .
| decimal | fraction |
|---|---|
| 0.0625 | 1/16 ” |
| 0.125 | 1/8 ” |
| 0.1875 | 3/16 ” |
| 0.25 | 1/4 ” |
| 0.3125 | 5/16 ” |
| 0.375 | 3/8 ” |
| 0.4375 | 7/16 ” |
| 0.5 | 1/2 ” |
| 0.5625 | 9/16 ” |
| 0.625 | 5/8 ” |
| 0.6875 | 11/16 ” |
| 0.75 | 3/4 ” |
| 0.8125 | 13/16 ” |
| 0.875 | 7/8 ” |
| 0.9375 | 15/16 ” |
4 ) Determine the run of each step. To keep things simple, we recommend planning each step on your stringer to have a ladder of 10 inches. That allows you to take two pieces of the lapp standard composite pack of cards boards you ’ re using for your pack of cards and install them side-by-side to make your step treads look good like your deck surface .
Composite deck boards are typically 5-1/2 inches wide, so two boards with no break between will give you an 11-inch tread depth. The one extra edge allows your step tread to hang out one inch over the depth on your riser for a nice-looking step intrude .
5 ) Calculate the total run of your staircase. Take your step stringer ’ randomness test depth ( the 10 inches we recommended above ) and multiply it by the number of stairs. This will tell you how far your stairway will extend from its attachment point on the deck to the penetrate edge of your step stringers .
6 ) Sketch out your stair stringers using the dimensions you’ve calculated. last, use all of the dimensions we ’ ve just calculated to sketch out your step stringers. It helps to label the total ascent and total tend, along with the advance and hunt of each gradation on your step stringer .
How to measure and cut stair stringers
once you ’ ve calculated all of the dimensions of your step stringers, you ’ ll be ready to cut your step stringers out of a patch of 2×12 lumber. here ’ s a quick overview of what to do and what you ’ ll need :
What you’ll need:
- 2×12 pressure-treated wood boards
- Framing square
- Stair buttons
- A circular saw
- (Optional) A jigsaw or handsaw to finish out cuts
- Carpenter’s pencil
- Calculator
How to cut stair stringers:
step buttons are small, alloy pieces that screw onto your framing square at precise points – these allow you to systematically trace the lapp distance onto your stringer boards for the arise and race of the stairway .
Mark out the step wax and tread depth you calculated onto your framing squarely, using the step buttons. Starting at one end of the board, you ’ ll trace out triangles along one side of the 2×12, each one starting precisely where the death one ended. The resultant role will look like a planar stairway draw onto your board.
Using a see, you ’ ll cut out each triangle to create your stringer dining table .
Cut one step stringer and punctuate it as your template. then use that stringer to trace and cut all the respite of your step stringers sol everything is undifferentiated .
DecksDirect: Your stair-planning guide
Calculating step stringers for a deck can be a catchy project – but with the right guidance, it ’ s attainable for any DIYer. We hope this guide helps you get started – but if you have any other questions about the action, please give us a call at 1-888-824-5316. Our deck project planners help plan thousands of decks each year – decks of all shapes and sizes, many of them including stairs. We ’ ll template you through the measurement action, aid you calculate all the dimensions you need, then connect you with the step risers, step treads, and fasteners you need to complete your step project. We love decks – let us help you plan yours today !
