Pattern - Stair Construction Instructions

A pattern is used to create duplicates of an original design. A good example of this would be the picture below. I laid out and cut one stair stringer and then used it as a pattern to cut the other two stair stringer's. There are plenty of other uses for patterns or templates and they're used often throughout the construction industry.

Benefits Of Patterns For Stair Building

When I was building stairways for hundreds of homes, I would always take my time laying out one stair stringer and then using that one, specifically as a pattern for marking other stringers. It wasn't uncommon for me to cut between 50 and 200 stair stringers per job.

Stair Builder Tip: Make sure that you write the word pattern on the stair stringer that you're going to use as a template. Trust me on this one, I can't tell you how many times I would forget which stringer was the pattern.

What Would Happen If I Laid Out Each Individual Stair Stringer, Without Using One As A Pattern?

There is a reason why I cut one pattern and then use it to mark the other ones. If I was to lay out each individual stringer, separately, I could end up with different stringers.

If I only made a couple of errors, moving my framing square in either direction, a 16th of an inch, twice, while laying out each stair stringer, I will have problems lining up my risers and treads. If I moved it more than a 16th of an inch, more than twice, I could have an extremely difficult time building a stairway that people could walk up and down comfortably.

It's like reinventing the wheel, carpenters have been using stair stringer patterns for years and it works. Remember, as a general rule of some in the construction business, if something works well, don't change it, until someone comes up with something better.

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