Building Stairs (2004, Paperback)

Searching for texts on stair building is never easy it seems. Most authors assume you already know the nomenclature. Things like run, rise, carriage, baluster, and tread depth are seldom explained in terms a novice can understand.

This text breaks it down into digestable bites that even a busy guy that wanted to try to build his stairs "in a couple of weekends with a couple of buddys" managed to get the job done. 3 white collar men with pretty minimal experience building anything since cub scouts.

Granted we did nothing but a basic stairway to building code specs and while not pretty in terms of fancy or ornate, it is safe and functional.

The general information is here to make vitually any standard stair you would want. The info on curved, winding and spirals is a bit spare, but for the money it is a great value.

Bottom line I am glad this book is in my library.

Highly recommended. Fine Homebuilding is a trusted name for the industry and in my opinion is a go to source for the latest trends. I bought this book on eBay for a reasonable price and will keep it as a reference forever. Rather then showing the simple stairs of average design, it shows complicated high end design that just opens up the imagination of what can be done already having good skills.
The book is large, easy to read, and very well appointed with detailed pictures and every angle of production of these dedicated professionals. A true appreciation of the finished product, every homeowner should thumb through this book just to get a clue as to the vast ammount of planning, on site ingenuity, and expertise that goes into the finished product. IT truely gives a sense of value as to why these upgrades cost so much. I just cannot imagine how someone would price these projects, as they contain bucketfulls of time consuming details, and you need to show up in you "A" game uniform every day. With all the details fully explained in logical sequence, not only are the craftsman true professionals, but the writers, illustrators, and photographers are on top of their game too.
What this book does most, is give me the sense, after the "oh wow" factor, that I can complete a project like this too.