Amateur carpenters who have laid out the cuts in a stair stringer (the zig-zag structural support for the steps) know the queasy feeling that bubbles up at the prospect of this job. There’s the simple ...

"You can absolutely cut a stair stringer if only you only knew the way the math works," my dad once said to me. So, long before I ever had a geometry class, I knew the math behind determining a slope.

In this video of building a large staircase, I show you how I layout a stringer. It's simple math and if you use the right tools, it is quite easy. There are also some other tips and techniques I show ...

DEAR TIM: I need to build some simple outdoor steps to replace ones that fell apart and rotted (even though they were made with treated lumber). I’m fairly handy and have a decent grasp of the math ...

Building a set of stairs is a tricky endeavor. Using a pair of brass stair gauges and a builder’s square to mark the stringer (the zigzag boards the steps and risers attach to) can make the job a ...