This style of stair will require a well-hole in shape about as shown in the plan; and where strength is required, the newel at the top should run from floor to floor, and act as a support to the joists and trimmers on which the second floor is laid.
Perhaps the best way for a beginner to go about building a stairway of this type, will be to lay out the work on the lower floor in the exact place where the stairs are to be erected, making everything full size. There will be no difficulty in doing this; and if the positions of the first riser and the three newel posts are accurately defined, the building of the stairs will be an easy matter. Plumb lines can be raised from the lines on the floor, and the positions of the platform and each riser thus easily determined. Not only is it best to line out on the floor all stairs having more than one newel; but in constructing any kind of stair it will perhaps be safest for a beginner to lay out in exact position on the floor the points over which the treads and risers will stand. By adopting this rule, and seeing that the strings, risers, and treads correspond exactly with the lines on the floor, many cases of annoyance will be avoided. Many expert stair-builders, in fact, adopt this method in their practice, laying out all stairs on the floor, including even the carriage strings, and they cut out all the material from the lines obtained on the floor. By following this method, one can see exactly the requirements in each particular case, and can rectify any error without destroying valuable material.
Fig. 32. Stair with Three Newels and a Platform.
Laying Out.
In order to afford the student a clear idea of what is meant by laying out on the floor, an example of a simple close-string stair is given. In [Fig. 33], the letter F shows the floor line; L is the landing or platform; and W is the wall line. The stair is to be 4 feet wide over strings; the landing, 4 feet wide; the height from floor to landing, 7 feet; and the run from start to finish of the stair, 8 feet 8½ inches.
The first thing to determine is the dimensions of the treads and risers. The wider the tread, the lower must be the riser, as stated before. No definite dimensions for treads and risers can be given, as the steps have to be arranged to meet the various difficulties that may occur in the working out of the construction; but a common rule is this: Make the width of the tread, plus twice the rise, equal to 24 inches. This will give, for an 8-inch tread, an 8-inch rise; for a 9-inch tread, a 7½-inch rise; for a 10-inch tread, a 7-inch rise, and so on. Having the height (7 feet) and the run of the flight (8 feet 8½-inches), take a rod about one inch square, and mark on it the height from floor to landing (7 feet), and the length of the going or run of the flight (8 feet 8½ inches). Consider now what are the dimensions which can be given to the treads and risers, remembering that there will be one more riser than the number of treads. Mark off on the rod the landing, forming the last tread. If twelve risers are desired, divide the height (namely, 7 feet) by 12, which gives 7 inches as the rise of each step. Then divide the run (namely, 8 feet 8½ inches) by 11, and the width of the tread is found to be 9½ inches.
Great care must be taken in making the pitch-board for marking off the treads and risers on the string. The pitch-board may be made from dry hardwood about ⅜-inch thick. One end and one side must be perfectly square to each other; on the one, the width of the tread is set off, and on the other the height of the riser. Connect the two points thus obtained, and saw the wood on this line. The addition of a gauge-piece along the longest side of the triangular piece, completes the pitch-board, as was illustrated in [Fig. 15].