Amateur carpenters who have laid out the cuts in a stair stringer (the zig-zag structural support for the steps) know the queasy feeling that bubbles up at the prospect of this job. There’s the simple ...

Well-designed steps create a great first impression, and when properly built, they will last for years. Popular Mechanics Senior Designer Michael Stillwell and his father Tony Stillwell recently ...

You may be like most folks. I’m guessing you give very little thought to the stairs you go up and down on a regular basis. They might be constructed from wood, steel, or concrete. The vast majority of ...

For the sake of discussion, let’s say you’re building a simple set of stairs for a deck, basement access, or up to an attic. You’ll just be using 2-by-12s for both the stringers and the treads. This ...