Graphical Construction Glossary >> stairs. >> Miscellaneous >> Stair Pitch Board

Stair Pitch Board

A template for marking out stairs. When workshop made they are out of ply. Some adjustable metal ones available.

Story Rod

A staff or rod of wood used for taking the height between two floors and dividing it into equal rises to mark out the positions of steps and landings.

Pitch boards are usually made up for each particular job and then discarded. Above is a popular way of using a steel square with battens to set out a stair. Using it like this an offset line is is marked on the stringer unless the strings are being cut in a saw tooth cut string fashion.

This sketch and the one below show home-made pitch boards from pieces of ply or other board with a couple of battens screwed to them. In this way the offset from the edge of the string can be added.

See this page on the practical use of stair pitch boards.

A story rod is a simple and practical aid in setting out stairs. It is a timber batten that the height from floor to floor has been marked.

• Once the number of rises has been arrived at the heights can be marked onto the rod.
• This can be done by the old method of simply dividing the total distance into the correct spacing by using a large compass or trammel or by using a calculator.
• Rods are particular useful when setting out landings.

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