Pulled my first set of curved stairs today after 4 tries and the stringers actually lined up

Spent the morning sweating over a 3 run spiral layout and somehow the riser heights came out within a 16th of each other, anyone else found that marking the treads first helps keep the math straight?

3 comments

3 Comments

angela68728d agoTop Commenter

Wait, @bennett.mason you think marking treads first is a pro move? That's just basic layout math to me, guessing and hoping is why your steps feel like speed bumps in the first place.

bennett.mason28d ago

Wait, you're telling me the stringers actually lined up on the first real attempt? lol I've had stairs that looked perfect on paper and then the saw decided to take an extra 1/8th off for no reason. Honestly, marking the treads first sounds like a pro move, I always just guessed and hoped for the best, which explains why my last set had a step that felt like a speed bump. That 16th of an inch tolerance is basically a miracle in my book, I'm lucky if I get within a quarter inch most days. You must have some kind of wizard level patience to pull that off, I would have given up after try number two and just built a straight ladder out of spite lmao.

wells.karen16d ago

Bennett you're out here building ladders out of spite and I respect that but seriously, @angela687 is right about the layout math thing. Guessing on treads is basically asking for a trip hazard, I learned that the hard way when my brother in law nearly faceplanted on a set I built for his deck. But your stringer story though, that 1/8th disappearing act happens to me at least once a job, usually when I'm using a circular saw that's been dropped one too many times. What kind of saw are you running? Because I swear my old Skilsaw has a mind of its own and decides to wander on cut lines when it's humid out. The patience part is mostly just Irish whiskey and a willingness to scrap the whole board and start over, wizardry has nothing to do with it.