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How-To

Build Like a Pro: Precision Stair Stringers

A method for laying out stair stringers using a construction calculator

By Rick Arnold

Typically, when stair stringers are laid out using a framing square, it’s often difficult to see the exact intersection of where the rise and run lines meet. As often happens on stock that is slightly rounded over, a marking error on the first step of as little as 1/32″ can compound into 1/2″ over the course of a 14-16 step stair stringer. Fine Homebuilding contributing editor Rick Arnold demonstrates a method that uses a the stair function of a construction calculator instead for greater accuracy.

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  1. user-6915329 | Sep 09, 2017 10:11am | #1

    And then what? After the marking for the diagonal, how do you proceed to cut out the stringer? This video seems to be a bait and switch to get one to subscribe.

  2. nkhandyman | Jan 26, 2019 02:54pm | #2

    My calculator does not come up with what your calculator shows?I put in 9'1/2 inch as the rise, press the stair key: I get 7 1/4. You get 10 5/16! No one uses a rise that is equal to 10 5/16".

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