The 2 Step

tiralie

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Joined
Jan 26, 2010
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I was asked by a client that I have been doing quite a bit of work to "fix" some stairs that were installed in an new addition to her home. Along with fixing the stairs that take you from the landing to the basement, the client also wanted me to make 2 steps for a floating stair.
The contractor had installed these stairs while they worked and they have been in use by the client for the last 6-9 months.

[attachimg=1]

These contractor steps were patched together and created a real challenge and an accident as they are poorly spaced.
Here is the space after the old contractor steps were removed.

[attachimg=2]

The clients architect had drawn up a fanciful Jules Vern looking structure which my client didn't like so she called a local metal fabricator and had him start to build a single stringer floating step. When the contractor finished his stringer and tried to install it, I discovered he had measured or calculated incorrectly and had not left enough room  leaving the bottom riser an 1" too short.

I redesigned the stringer using the Advanced Stair Function in the BuildCalc app. on my Android.
[attachimg=8]

I entered the total rise which is the vertical distance from the landing floor to the main floor, the step width, 12" and thickness , 1 3/8". BuildCalc calculated the result and out put the drawing below.

[attachimg=3]

I then took this drawing and imported it into Sketchup and used it to create the correct angles in two dimensions for specifying a new single stringer floating step.

[attachimg=4]

This is a single stringer staircase has a 4″ x 4″ steel tube structure. The 3/8″ tread plates are supported by 3″ steel tube riser posts that are welded to the center support. I added some supporting brackets.
As you can see from the drawing, I moved my stringer to a sharper angle than the stringer specified in the BuildCalc drawing. I wanted to make sure that the steps hid as much of the supporting structure under the step as possible to give a great illusion of a floating step.
Once I had all the structure drawn I created a 3D drawing to check how the stringer and would appear after the wood treads were added.

[attachimg=5]

Once I was satisfied, I generated a plan drawing in Sketchup Layout and sent it by email to my fabricator.

[attachimg=6]

He powder coated it in black, I picked it up and installed the white oak steps. That evening my clients husband while going up the steps, tripped, fell and broke a bottle of red wine on the wood and sliced his hand open.

[attachimg=7]
Tim
 

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Nice looking... Good job.

A couple of quick question though... what's the wall thickness of your tube?

You mentioned 3/8 inch plate in the text, but all the renderings show 1/4 inch and it looks like 1/4 in the pics.
 
rvieceli said:
Nice looking... Good job.

Thanks.

rvieceli said:
A couple of quick question though... what's the wall thickness of your tube?

The 4 x 4 is 3/16" or 1/4"  not sure. The 3"x 4" riser posts (a change from the drawing) are 3/16".

rvieceli said:
You mentioned 3/8 inch plate in the text, but all the renderings show 1/4 inch and it looks like 1/4 in the pics.

Yes, good catch. The drawing does show 1/4" but after the fabricator received the final drawing, he called me and said he felt that the step plate should be 3/8". I am glad he did.
Other than the powder coating which I am not crazy about, these steps turned out as planned.

Thanks for your questions, let me know if you have others.

Tim
 
[member=7816]Tim Raleigh[/member]
Thanks for posting the metal stringer build. I love the looks of it.

Now I know why the client tripped on the new stairs. Going from 3 to 2 treads kind of confuses the brain the first few times of use. Done that myself when I poured different outside steps and the brain was on automatic but the new steps hadn't been put in the data base yet. Whoops...

Interesting about BuildCalc, you entered in some dimensions and BuildCalc outputted a drawing? If so, when would you use BuildCalc and when would you use Sketchup?
 
Cheese said:
Now I know why the client tripped on the new stairs. Going from 3 to 2 treads kind of confuses the brain the first few times of use. Done that myself when I poured different outside steps and the brain was on automatic but the new steps hadn't been put in the data base yet. Whoops...
Yup, that's what the client said, forgot about the new steps and was stepping up as if the old ones were there.

Cheese said:
Interesting about BuildCalc, you entered in some dimensions and BuildCalc outputted a drawing? If so, when would you use BuildCalc and when would you use Sketchup?

There really is no hard and fast answer for me...it a bit like when my wife asks me how I know when to take the steak off the BBQ, and I tell her "when it's cooked"...doesn't help much. BuildCalc is great for on site use for stringers, spacing of wainscoting panels, rafter angles etc. and producing a 2D output but it doesn't do 3D drawings. As a note, if I had checked the original fabricators calculations before he went off I would have been able to correct him, but frankly I didn't understand what he was talking about when he was initially measuring up the first stringer.
If you hate fractions as I do (go metric), the calculate fractions function is worth the price of the tool itself but I am sure there are free apps that do that, I just like having a lot of functions in one place.
Once again I have to thank [member=1882]Gary Katz[/member] and all articles on ThisisCarpentry for introducing this app  to me.
If I ever meet Gary I will have to buy him a beer.
Tim
 
Looks outstanding Tim!
You had to be mortified when you heard your client fell.  Sounds like he's a great guy and took it for what it was.

As someone who was in technology for 25 years and uses many many applications with no training, you would think I could figure out Sketch-up.  Gonna have to go to Lynda.com and take a couple sessions.
 
The work and, especially, the computer work, is great. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I'm a very active 70+ guy who shoots shotgun sports at a highly competitively level. Even so, the visual aspect of the floating stairs would greatly concern me. Depth perception in older people isn't as good as it was in our younger days and we rely on visual cues. If the vertical pieces of the staircase are missing, I could see where a fall could happen.
 
Great work. I need you, man. One the stairs waiting for me in fact.

[wink]
 

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As someone who was in technology for 25 years and uses many many applications with no training, you would think I could figure out Sketch-up.  Gonna have to go to Lynda.com and take a couple sessions.
[/quote]

One of the easiest ways to learn the basics of sketchup is to go to the Gary Katz site and look for a tutourial/mov. file on building a small shelving unit. It's a bit dated but all the basics most woodworkers need is there.

John

Tim very clean design.
 
iamnothim said:
Looks outstanding Tim!
Thanks  Luke.

iamnothim said:
You had to be mortified when you heard your client fell.  Sounds like he's a great guy and took it for what it was.
Yes the clients husband did admit he wasn't looking

iamnothim said:
As someone who was in technology for 25 years and uses many many applications with no training, you would think I could figure out Sketch-up.  Gonna have to go to Lynda.com and take a couple sessions.
There are some good videos on YouTube and as John says, Gary Katz's book shelf Sketchup project gives you all the fundamentals. If you follow along with the videos, you will get the basics.
Tim
 
iamnothim said:
As someone who was in technology for 25 years and uses many many applications with no training, you would think I could figure out Sketch-up.  Gonna have to go to Lynda.com and take a couple sessions.

What worked for me was the digital book "Woodworkers Guide to Sketchup" by Bob Lang.

http://readwatchdo.com/2015/05/look-inside-the-new-woodworkers-guide-to-sketchup/

It's a PDF with text, images, and embedded short videos for every topic. The format was really a great way to learn for me. I purchased the original version of the book, but it looks like he has written a new version.

 
Birdhunter said:
The work and, especially, the computer work, is great. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Thanks, happy to share when I can.

Birdhunter said:
If the vertical pieces of the staircase are missing, I could see where a fall could happen.

Yes, I agree. These types of stairs can be a problem.
The client told me he wasn't looking  so I don't think any visual clues were the problem. He said he completely forgot that the new stairs were put in. I think his problem was muscle memory and visualization of the old stairs which had much shorter risers. His foot caught the bottom step and over he went. It's too bad he had a bottle of wine in his hand.

Tim
 
alkaline said:
Great work. I need you, man. One the stairs waiting for me in fact.

[wink]

Thanks, those stairs look like a challenge.
Good luck.
Tim
 
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