Old timer showed me a trick for notching stair stringers

Guy named Frank at a jobsite in Portland told me to use a scrap piece of plywood as a template instead of marking each tread individually. Saved me about 45 minutes on a set of stairs last Tuesday. Anybody else got time-saving layout hacks they swear by?

3 comments

3 Comments

charlienelson28d ago

Start marking your top tread first and work your way down, not the other way around. That way you're always referencing the actual rise you've already cut instead of guessing at the numbers. Another thing that saves me time is clamping a straightedge to the stringer so my square doesn't slip when I'm scribing the plumb and level cuts. I also stopped trying to measure every rise and run with a tape and just use a story pole with the steps marked on it, transfer those marks straight to the lumber. Saves a lot of headache when your stairs are going into a tight spot and you need that first step to land right.

the_xena28d ago

Nodding so hard reading this @charlienelson because I learned the story pole trick the hard way after building a set of stairs that ended up a full inch off at the top. Now I scribe every mark right off the pole with a sharp pencil and never trust a tape measure for more than the total rise and run. The straightedge clamp tip is genius too, I lost count of how many times my square slipped on a wet morning and I had to re-cut a whole stringer. Your method about top first is solid, I started doing that last year and it cut my waste way down because you're not fighting with that bottom riser adjustment at the end.

piperwhite13d ago

That story pole trick saved my sanity too, I started keeping a dedicated one in my truck after rebuilding a set of basement stairs three times because I kept second-guessing my tape marks. The straightedge clamp is a game changer, especially when your square wants to slide on treated lumber.