Cut a stair stringer wrong on a job in Boise last month

I was rushing and my math was off by a quarter inch, so the top step would have been too short. I had to stop, re-cut the whole thing from a fresh 2x12, and lost about an hour. Anyone have a good trick for double-checking stringer layout before you make the cut?

4 comments

4 Comments

shane_park9217d ago

Nah, I actually disagree a bit. Snapping a chalk line looks nice but it won't catch a quarter inch error on a single step if the whole stringer shifts. Better to physically set your framing square on the landing and dry fit the tread stock before you cut. That way you see the problem before the saw even touches the wood.

pat_rivera2mo ago

My boss in Tacoma taught me to always cut the top step first and check it on the landing. That quarter inch hides until it's too late.

the_anthony2mo ago

Honestly I used to just trust my math and go for it. Had a bad one in Spokane where the rise was off by three eighths on the bottom step, threw the whole deck off. Now I snap a chalk line from the top corner to the bottom after I mark it, just to see the line of the treads. If it looks straight and even, you're probably good. That extra thirty seconds saves a lot of wood.

riverh492mo ago

My uncle built a set of stairs for a shed where he forgot to account for the decking thickness on the top landing. He ended up with a two inch rise on the last step, a real ankle breaker. That chalk line trick would have caught it.