Old timer at my shop told me I was drafting my risers all wrong

Guy named Dave who's been doing this since the 80s watched me layout a set of stairs last Tuesday. He said I was wasting time drawing every single tread before checking the total run against the opening. Turns out I used to just guess and fix it later, now I measure the rough opening first and adjust my riser count before I draw anything. Cut my drafting time down by like 20 minutes per project. Anybody else had an old hand show you a dumb shortcut that actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

kai60226d ago

Did you ever have one of those moments where the simple fix makes you feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner? Dave's trick is basically just applying the carpenter's rule of measure twice cut once to the design phase, and it saves so much headache on the back end. Once you start checking your numbers against the actual space before committing to a layout, it just becomes second nature to work smarter instead of harder.

the_tara26d ago

My friend Jenna spent a whole weekend building a custom shelving unit for her laundry room, even cut all the wood to her exact measurements from the blueprint. She got it installed and realized she forgot to account for the baseboard heater sticking out from the wall. The whole thing sat crooked and she had to take it apart and re-cut every single board. She still brings it up whenever anyone mentions measuring, like two years later. So yeah, Dave's trick would have saved her a solid weekend and a lot of swearing.