The Design window

From : Process menu ; Design menu-item

The Design window is where most of the action happens. Here you create and setout stairs, wells and balcony balustrading. See Chapter 4; A quick tutorial.

The Design window has nine panes (sub-windows), corresponding to each of the nine design stages, each accessible via one of the nine buttons at the left of the window (or you can press the Up and Down keys on the keyboard to more to the previous or next pane). The function of each pane is summarized as follows:

• Levels pane Set levels for the stairs/wells. • Well Design pane Create/modify a well configuration from previously saved well templates. • Stair Templates pane Select a previously saved stair template. • Stair Design pane Create a stair configuration from previously saved unit templates. • Stair Setout pane Dimension and setout the stair configuration • Curves pane Create and manipulate curved flights • Bullnose pane Create one or more bullnoses from previously saved bullnose templates.
• Rake Balustrade pane Select and set-out balustrading and newels for the stair • String Elevation pane String, newel and balustrade side elevations • Balcony Balustrading pane

Select and set-out balustrading and newels for the balcony 

To open a Design sub-window, click on the relevant button. You will notice that not all buttons are enabled - some things have to be completed before others can be started. Apart from that, there is no particular order that you have to follow in working through the Design stages. Arrows drawn on stairs in the Design sub-windows always indicate the direction specified in the Preferences window.

Context Menus

When you left-click anything (string, newel, unit, template, bullnose, handrail, white space etc. etc.) in the Design window, the context menu in the gray menu-panel at the left of your screen will change to remain relevant to whatever you’ve clicked on, what window you’re in, what’s current in that window etc.

If under normal circumstances a left-click selects of un-selects something, you can usually suppress the selection/un-selection by holding down the CONTROL key. This would normally only be done if you want to see the relevant context menu in the menu-panel without selecting/unselecting the component. If you right-click anything, you will get exactly the same menu but as a pop-up.

Which one you use will depend on your preference.

Dimensions

Dimensions are amended by clicking the dimension (to activate it), editing the current value, and pressing the Enter key. In some cases you can choose between pressing the Enter key or clicking a green option (which has the same effect), or clicking a yellow option (which steers the edit in a particular direction).

See Amending the Stair Design

Note that you can enter calculations into StairBiz dimension fields (e.g. 5.6 + 1.5) – see Miscellaneous topics / Editing / Editing Dimensions /

Dimension Calculations

Buttons in the Design window

Opens the Layers window where you can decide which stairs/wells are shown, outlined or hidden – useful when you have a stair-over-stair situation. See Layers window.

Allows you to create temporary separations (spacings) of stairs and wells – useful when you have a stair-over-stair situation. See Chapter 11: Temporary Separations.

Undo

Reverts the most recent edit, provided that you have not since changed windows or panes.

Zoom

Click the Zoom button and drag a rectangle bounding the area of the drawing you want to expand – that part of the drawing will expand to fill the design-area of the window (perhaps with some adjustment if the dragged rectangle is not the same proportion as the design-area). Click it again to revert to normal scale.

Holding the CONTROL key down while clicking the Zoom button will expand the drawing by 10% each time. Holding the CONTROL and SHIFT keys down while clicking the Zoom button will reduce the drawing by 10% each time.

An ALTERNATIVE method of zooming is to simply do a click-drag using the mouse wheel instead of the mouse button (if your mouse has a wheel). Click the mouse wheel once again to revert the zoom.

You can also multi-zoom (zoom in, then zoom in again) by holding the control key down while you select the new rectangle for the second and subsequent zooms (this only works if you’re using the centre mouse button for the zooming).

Dimension Tools

See Chapter 11; Dimension Tools

(What can I …)

Shows what elements of the current design can be left-clicked, right-clicked, double-clicked, click-dragged or edited. Click anything in the drawing to switch What Can I off.

If you click this button with the Control key held down it will display a identification code for every dimension shown in the Design window. This can be useful for communicating with StairBiz support by being able to refer to a particular dimension by its identification code.

Alert

This button is only visible when an alert is current. An alert is current is some aspect of your design violates the tolerances in the Building Codes window (as selected in the Site window for the job), or if any alert has been triggered by your Part filters or Labour Cost filters.

If you click the button, it will open the Alerts sheet where you can view the nature of the violation.

If alerts are current for a job the Alerts Current field of the Job Directory window will indicate such

Copy drawing bitmap to clipboard

You can create a bitmap image of any drawing (or part of a drawing) in the Design window. Press the F3 key (the function key). The cursor changes to a cross-hair. Click-drag the cursor to create a selection rectangle around the drawing (or part of the drawing) you wish to copy. When you release the mouse button, the selection is automatically copied to the clipboard. (As a matter of interest, this is how we created the images of the buttons shown above.)

Levels pane

This window shows the levels of the current design. If you have only one stair and/or well, you need never go into this pane (actually, even then you don't ever need to).

By default, each new job starts with two levels. Depending on the LEVELS; Ground Floor is called First setting in the Setout window, these levels are called "Ground" and "First", or "First" and "Second". In the discussion that follows, we will refer to the ground/base floor as the "first", the one above that as "second", etc.

You can add new full-floor levels by right-clicking and selecting Add Floor Above or Add Floor Below.

You can add mezzanine levels by dragging a full-floor level line up or down with your mouse. Mezzanine levels are useful for creating platforms (where you want to create separate stairs running to/from the platform), and are also useful (necessary) where you have multiple stairs running to a particular level or from a particular level (but not both) such that the floor-to-floor of those stairs are not the same.

You can set the levels precisely by keying in a dimension (although it might not be appropriate to do this before you have a stair - see below). Until such time as a dimension is input, the level is tagged as "Float". This is similar to a stair's floor-to-floor floating until you "fix" it by keying in a dimension, and in fact the two (levels and floor-to-floor) are ultimately the same thing (i.e. they interact).

You can set the bulkhead by keying in that dimension (the default comes from a new setting in the Setout window called LEVELS; Default Bulkhead.

You can change the name of the levels (shown at the right adjacent to each level) by typing over the existing name, then pressing the ENTER key.

If you have any current stairs, a graphic facsimile or these will be shown between the appropriate levels. The Layer name will be shown above the stair, the default layer name showing “From LevelName to LevelName”. You can change this layer name either by changing the level names, or by directly amending the layer name as shown here. If you override the layer name, you can revert to the default name by setting the layer name to nothing (i.e. just delete the text). If more than one stair shares one layer (i.e. the start levels and finish levels are the same for both stairs), StairBiz will override the second and subsequent layer name by appending “[2]”, “[3]” etc. This is tantamount to a layer name override, and can be reverted to the default as described above (provided it no longer shares layers).

If you have any current wells, the bulkhead area of the appropriate level will be shaded to indicate such.

To delete a full-floor level, right-click and select Delete Top Floor or Delete Bottom Floor. To delete a mezzanine level, set its height dimension to zero. If any stairs/wells are associated with these levels, you will be alerted and the delete will be aborted until such time as you re-allocate levels to these stairs/wells (see later).

In the discussions below, we refer to Layers. A layer is from the level of the bottom of a stair to the level at the top of that stair, plus any well at the upper level.

Well Design pane

This window is used to create well openings, platforms, floors for a 3D drawing, and walls. A “well” can also be used temporarily as guide lines for any aspect of your stair design. When we use the term “well” in this manual, it can mean any of these things unless any of the types are specifically referred to.

There is fundamentally only one default well shape – square. All other well shapes are derived from this one shape. The panel on the left contains drawings of previously saved Well Templates. The panel on the right is your design work-space – empty until you bring across one or more well templates (although if you have already created a stair, you will see its shadow).

Opening a template folder

Well templates are shown on the left. You can have as many folders as you like for well templates (see Folders window). To open a different folder, right-click the Well design button at the top-left of the window (i.e. the same button that opened this pane).

Create one or more wells

Double-click a well template.

If there is no current well, the selected template will become the well.

If there is a current well the selected well will be added to the design (i.e. you can have more than one well).

If there is more than one well, dimensions are shown only on the “active” well – the last one clicked.

When you create the first well for a design, by default it is assigned the second level. You will see this level indicated at the bottom of the window. For all subsequent wells, StairBiz will prompt you to allocate a level (you will be shown a list of existing levels, plus the option to Add Floor Above or Add Floor Below, in which case the new well will be assigned the added floor).

You can change the level of any well by clicking the Level popup at the bottom of the window (to get the pop-up, click on the label of the current well level).

Multiple wells may share a single level. If you have more than one well, the currently active well (the one showing dimensions) shows the Level label in bold type. You can change the currently active well by clicking on the Level label of the desired well.

Right-click a template

Add to Design

Same as double-clicking a template (see above).

Rename Template

Renames the template. Nothing else is affected.

Delete Template

Deletes the template completely. Nothing else is affected.

To delete all well templates in the folder, hold the Control and Shift keys down while deleting one template.

StairBiz will not allow the last remaining well template in the Main folder to be deleted – there will always be at least one.

Left-click a template

Double-click

Adds that template to the design.

Click-drag

Drag templates up or down to change their order (which is automatically saved).

Click-drag a section

You can click-drag a section (i.e. line of a well) to rough-position it.

The angle of the dragged section remains the same. The dragging of the section is locked to either the horizontal or vertical (depending on the initial direction of the drag). To override this restraint, hold the SHIFT key down during the click-drag.

Under normal circumstances, you should not move the section which represents the trimmer at the top of the stair (you can, but the balustrading might not interpret correctly - and automatically - its relationship with the top of the stair.) The angle mode (see later) has no effect.

Click-drag a junction

You can click-drag a junction (i.e. where two sections meet) to rough-position it. The dragging of the junction is locked to either the horizontal or vertical (depending on the initial direction of the drag). To override this restraint, hold the SHIFT key down during the click-drag.

During a drag, when the angle of the line either before or after the dragged junction gets close to any 45 degree increment (e.g. 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 etc.), it will “snap” to the exact angle. The snap is subtle but discernable. The angle mode (see later) has no effect.

If you drag a junction with a line on one side and an arc on the other (not aligned), the junction will calculate to intersect with the original arc (i.e. the centre and radius of the arc will remain the same).

Click-drag a well

You can click-drag an entire well (to rough position it) by click-dragging any section or junction with the CONTROL key pressed. If you click-drag a junction and drop it over a junction of another well, it will snap exactly to that junction.

Right-click an empty space

The first three menu-items (Show Lengths, Show Angles and Show Wall Dimensions) sets the amend mode. The next three menu-items (Lock All Angles, Lock Amended Line Angle, Lock No Angles) sets the angle mode. They only apply to the Show Lengths amend mode.

Show Lengths

Shows the length of each section of the well.

To amend the length – click and edit the dimension. During the edit, you will notice that the junction at either end of the section becomes coloured – one green, the other yellow. Click on one of the colours to tell StairBiz which end of the section you want lengthened. Pressing the ENTER key after editing is the same as clicking the green junction (i.e. it is the default take-up). The behaviour of adjoining sections is determined by the angle mode.

Show Angles

Shows the angle of each section of the well. Zero is to the right, 90 degrees is vertically down.

To amend the angle – click and edit the value. During the edit, you will notice that the junction at either end of the section becomes coloured – one green, the other yellow. Click on one of the colours to tell StairBiz which end of the section you want moved. Pressing the ENTER key after editing is the same as clicking the green junction (i.e. it is the default take-up).

The angle of the adjoining section does not change, but it’s length will adjust. Angle mode has no effect.

Show Radii

Shows the radii for arcs in the well window. These radii can be edited directly.

Show Junction Coords

Shows the X/Y coords of a selected junction of the well (measured from zero/zero of the design, which is the top/left corner of the initial design – the end of the dimension line without the arrow). To select the junction, click on it.

To amend the coords – click and edit the values.

Only the selected junction moves - the length and angles of the two adjoining sections adjust accordingly. Angle mode has no effect.

Show Well Position

Identical to Show Junction Coords (above), except that if you edit the X/Y position of any selected junction, the entire well will move accordingly (i.e. the well will not change shape).

Show Wall Dimensions

Applies only if the well has any walls (see Draw Wall). This mode allows you to amend the width and end extensions of those walls.

Show Head-Height

If there is a stair, this will show the head-height situation as relative as possible to the well as shown.

Lock All Angles

With this angle mode selected, when a junction moves as a result of an section length amend (not a drag), the non-amended section adjoining this junction will always maintain its existing angle (the entire section may have to move to do this). If, at the end of this adjoining section, there is another section of the same angle (called an “in-line” section), it will also move to preserve its angle, and so on. The process stops when it reaches a non-inline junction.

This is the default angle mode (i.e. the usual one)

Lock Amended Line Angle

With this angle mode selected, when junction moves as a result of a section length amend, the junction both before and after the moving junction stay where they are.

The amended section changes length according to the edit, its angle stays the same, and the length and angle of the adjacent section adjust.

Lock No Angles

With this angle mode selected, when junction moves as a result of a section length amend, the junction both before and after the moving junction stay where they are.

The amended section changes length according to the edit, the adjacent section’s length stays the same, and the angle of both must adjust. There are times when this is an impossible situation; StairBiz will abort the amend.

Create Well From Stair Exact

Creates a well for the current stair. The well follows the outline of the stair exactly (if you set out to the riser, it will follow the riser line of the bottom tread, otherwise it will follow the nose of the bottom tread)

Create Well From Stair

In the Building Codes window (Clearances tab) there is a value for Min rail clearance, which is the clearance for your hand as the rail passes through the well opening. The Create Well from Stair feature uses this value to calculate the well. It is the distance from the outside of the handrail (as selected in the Components window) to the line of the well. Note that StairBiz assumes the relevant string is a tenon string (not a wall string), and that the relevant handrail is centred over this string.

StairBiz uses the existence of newels (rather than handrail) as indicating the existence of balustrade. Note that StairBiz does not factor in head-height, although this can be done manually in a couple of seconds (right-click "Show Head-height"). Where there is not stair balustrading StairBiz applies the Default stair to well min setting (see above)..

Create Square Well From Stair

Same as Create Well From Stair, with one difference. For the tenonside side of the stair, StairBiz takes the bottom-most well line on the wallside side of the stair and intersects it with the line of the top trimmer.

Create Lower Floor

Creates a “floor” such that StairBiz can draw the floor in 3D. Import Well from DXF ...

Allows you to select a DXF file containing a polygon, and StairBiz then creates a well from this polygon. The polygon may contain straight lines, and arcs (using BULGE).

Note that StairBiz is not a CAD program, so there are limitations on this feature. In particular, the DXF files needs to contain the following:

1. A "SECTION" header with subsequent "ENDSEC"
2. An "ENTITIES " header
3. A "LWPOLYLINE" object (the polyline)

The file may contain multiple layers, but if so you will be asked to select the appropriate layer. Only a single polygon may be imported. StairBiz recognizes the following group codes:

8	Layer
90	Number of vertices
70	Open/Closed polygon
39	Thickness
10	Vertice X
20	Vertice Y
42	Bulge magnitude for arcs

Paste Copied Outline

It is possible to right-click on well, landing tread or item in CNC Bed and “copy” the outline of that object. Having done so, you can paste that outline in to the Well Design window to amend it. You can then paste it back where it came from (or to the CNC Bed window in all cases).

Delete all wells

Delete all wells in the current design. To delete a single well, right-click any line of the well and select Delete Well.

Show Walls in 3D

Allows you to toggle between showing or hiding walls you have created in the Well Design window in the 3D window.

Right-click a section

In the case of arcs, right-click the associated yellow straight line – arcs themselves are not clickable).

Add Junction

Adds a junction at the point of the click (creating two sections from the original one).

Divide Into Sections …

An input box will ask how many sections. StairBiz then divides the clicked section into this number of equal smaller sections. This includes straight sections, three-point arcs and chordant arcs.

Hide Section *

Hides the section. In the Design window it will show as a yellow line. In all other drawings it won’t exist. Balustrading along a hidden section is not possible.

You can also hide/un-hide ALL sections that do not have balustrade - hold down the Control key which selecting this menu-item.

Draw Wall

Draws a wall along the length of the section. The thickness of the wall, and where the walls terminate relative to the ends of the section, can be set in Show Wall Dimensions mode. To move the wall to the other side of the section line, give it a negative width.

To set a default wall thickness, see Defaults menu/ Miscellaneous/ Design/ Default Wall Thickness.

Is Platform

Turns a well into a landing platform. Platforms are different in that they cannot have their own balustrading (but can have stair balustrading – see Platforms).

Create Room

Creates an outer periphery for the selected well. This would generally only be used if you want to create a floor for a 3D render. The outer periphery can be manipulated in the same way as a normal well to create the correct size and shape.

Parallel Offset

Allows you to offset the clicked line (without changing its angle) by a certain distance. A dialog box will open asking you for the offset dimension – positive is away from the centre of the well; negative is towards the centre of the well. This is particularly useful for offset lines that have an angle other than 0, 90, 180 and 270. If the line has an “In-line” junction at the start or the end, the adjacent line or arc is also offset, and so on, so that all lines and arcs that are aligned with the offset line take on the same offset.

To parallel offset an 3-point arc directly (i.e. without clicking on adjacent in-line lines), first convert it to a chordant arc (so that you can right-click it to get the offset menu). When you do a parallel offset, all 3-point arcs get converted to chordant arcs. If you don’t want this, convert each back to a 3-point arc.

Chordant Arc

There are two ways to make an arc (the other way is explained in Right-click a junction). You can right-click on a well line (as opposed to a well junction) and select “Chordant Arc”. This creates a chord situation along the length of the line. You can amend the length of the chord’s sagitta (the perpendicular bisector of the chord) to adjust the radius of the arc.

You can make it positive or negative.

To delete the arc, either set the sagitta dimension to zero, or re-select it in the menu.

When you create a chordant arc where the line before and after are not in-line, StairBiz sets the initial arc to be tangential to either the line before the start of the arc or the line after the end of the arc (depending on which is longer). Once the arc is created, you can make it tangential to either the start or the end by right-clicking either junction and selecting “Make In-Line”.

The radius of the arc can be shown/edited in Show Radii mode.

Convert to 3-Point Arc

If the line is a chordant arc, you will have the option to convert that arc to a 3-point arc (provided the arc is less than 180 degrees).

Add to Templates

Sends a copy of the clicked well to the templates panel on the left of the window. You will be given the opportunity to name it. If you select an existing name from the list, the current well will replace that template (this is how you update a template).

Delete Well

Deletes the clicked well. If it has balustrading, that will also be deleted. To delete all wells in the current design, right-click a blank space and select Delete All Wells.

Right-click a junction

Delete Junction

Deletes the clicked junction. The section now spans the previous and next junctions. There must always be four or more junctions.

Make In-Line

Sends the junction to the closest point on a straight line spanning the previous and next junctions.

However, if the junction you click is the start or end of a chordant arc (created by right-clicking a well line [not a junction] and selecting “Chordant Arc”), StairBiz will reset the chordant arc to be tangential to the junction you click.

Make Mid-Way

Only applies to an in-line junction – sends the junction to a point exactly mid way between the previous and next junctions.

Make Radius / Delete Radius

Creates a 3-point arc at the junction. The start of the radius will be closest junction to the junction clicked (which is how you determine the dimensions of the radius). StairBiz will insert a junction at the same distance along the opposite section (to become the end of the radius).

The distance from the radius point to the start of the radius must always be the same as from the radius point to the end of the radius. If you amend anything to make this distance different, StairBiz will delete the radius. So it’s best to complete your well design in all other aspects before you create radii.

The junctions before and after a radius point must always be in-line junctions. In other words, the start and end of the radius must come in square to the adjoining sections. If you amend something that impacts this rule, StairBiz will alert you and abort the action.

The radius of the arc can be shown/edited in Show Radii mode.

Make Intersection

This moves the junction to the point of the intersection of the following two (imaginary, infinite length) lines:

1. A line drawn through the two junctions previous to the clicked junction.
2. A line drawn through the two junctions after the clicked junction.

In some situations this is simply not possible – StairBiz will abort the amend.

Convert to Chordant Arc

If the junction is the mid-point of a 3-point arc, you will have the option to convert that arc to a chordant arc.

Amending a well design that already has balustrading

If you design a well opening, then go to the Balcony Select pane and select some balcony balustrading sections, you can come back to the Well Design pane and adjust your well design, with one exception – you cannot insert or delete junctions. If you do this, StairBiz will delete your existing balustrading selections and you’ll need to re-select them (you will be alerted).

StairBiz does some tricky stuff to your well design when you select your first balcony balustrade section – it takes a close look at any stairs in the design, and integrates those stairs into your well design. In doing so it creates invisible junctions in your well where the well intersects the top of a stair or top stair newels. If any change to your well design or stair design changes the fundamental nature of these invisible junctions, StairBiz will need to delete your existing balustrading selections and you’ll need to re-select them (you will be alerted).

The fundamental nature of these invisible junctions is too complex to explain here – just remember that it’s good practice to get your well design, and the stair’s position in relation to that well design, more or less settled prior to selecting balcony balustrade.

Working with curved wells

Perhaps the easiest (but not only) way to create curved wells is to design the required stair, then in Well Design right-click and select “Create Well from Stair”. You can then adjust the well to suit.

If you drag a junction with a line on one side and an arc on the other (not aligned), the junction will calculate to intersect with the original arc (i.e. the centre and radius of the arc will remain the same).

Stair Templates pane

Overview

This pane shows any number stair templates.

A stair template is a stair that you have previously created or modified, and saved so that you can quickly call it up in the future. It does not contain information about the job, client, well etc. – it’s just a stair.

Stair templates are saved from the Stair Design pane – see that topic below.

Opening an alternative template folder

You can have as many folders as you like for stair templates (see Folders window). To open a different folder, right-click the Stair Templates button at the top-left of the window (i.e. the same button that opened this pane).

Creating a new stair

Double-click a stair template.

If there is no current stair, a stair is created from the selected template.

If there is a current stair, you will be asked if you want to replace it. If you answer “No” then an additional stair for the same design is created from the selected template.

You are automatically taken to the Stair Setout pane.

Right-click a template

Create New Stair

Creates a new stair for the current job. If a stair already exists, the new stair is additional to the existing, and is offset from the existing by a nominal amount (which can be changed in the Stair Setout pane, Stair Position mode and Unit Angles mode.).

You are automatically taken to the Stair Setout pane.

Replace Current Stair

Replaces the current stair with your selected template. You are automatically taken to the Stair Setout pane.

Rename Template

Renames the template. Nothing else is affected.

Delete Template

Deletes the template completely. Nothing else is affected.

To delete all stair templates in the folder, hold the Control and Shift keys down while deleting one template.

Set Class

Allows you to set an identification code so that this specific stair, when used in any design, can be identified and filtered according to its class by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Multiple stair templates can have the same class. Any text can be set, up to 10 characters. See Filters – Properties and Results.

Setout =

In the Setout window (Defaults) you can create multiple Setout windows. You can attach a particular Setout to a stair template, such that when you use that template in a job the attached Setout will override the job’s current Setout selection. When you select this menu-item a list of your saved Setout windows will be presented – select one (or [Normal] to revert to the usual situation). When you use this stair template you will be alerted before StairBiz overrides your existing Setout.

Right-click an empty space

Design Flip Horizontal, Design Flip Vertical

Flips all templates.

Design Rotate 90, Design Rotate –90, Design Rotate Other

Rotates all templates.

Design Revert Rotation

Sets rotation to zero.

Auto Layout

With this set (ticked), the position of the templates in the window is calculated by StairBiz. Otherwise see Manual Layout.

Manual Layout

With this set (ticked), you are able to drag templates around the window to the position of your choice. While holding down the CONTROL key, drag the template and release.

To revert back to Auto Layout, select that menu-item.

Change Scale

Changes the scale of the templates (i.e. the size at which they are displayed in the window).

Space Between

Applies only if Auto Layout – sets the distance between each template as seen in the window.

Stair Design pane

The panel on the left contains drawings of previously saved Unit Templates. A unit is a basic building block of a stair. There are fundamentally only two units – straight and corner. All other units (and therefore all stairs) are derived from these two units.

The panel on the right is your design work-space – empty until you bring across one or more unit templates.

Opening an alternative template folder

You can have as many folders as you like for unit templates (see Folders window). To open a different folder, right-click the Stair design button at the top-left of the window (i.e. the same button that opened this pane).

Create or change a stair design

Double-click a unit template.

If there is no current stair, the selected unit will become the stair. When you create the first stair for a design, by default it is assigned the “layer" First to Second. A "layer is from the level at the bottom of a stair to the level at the top of that stair, plus any well at the upper lever.

See Levels pane.

If there is a current stair (even one created from a stair template) the selected unit will be added to the bottom of it. There is no limit to the number or order of units that can be added to a stair.

If there is more than one stair in the design, units are added to the bottom of the last stair clicked.

Create an additional stair within the same design

If you hold down the CONTROL key while double-clicking a template, and additional stair is started in the same design using the selected unit template. It’s position is nominal, but can be adjusted by either dragging the stair with the cursor within the up/down arrow shown on the stair, or more accurately in the Stair Setout pane, Stair Position mode and Unit Angles mode.

StairBiz will prompt you to allocate a layer (you will be shown a list of existing layers plus the option to Add Floor Above or Add Floor Below, in which case the new stair will be from the added floor below to the floor above it, or to the added floor above from the floor below it).

Multiple stairs may share a single layer, but all would by necessity share the same floor-to-floor (StairBiz will make sure of this).

See Levels pane.

Also see Copy/Paste in the Design window.

Join a second straight flight to a corner unit

Corner units may have THREE units attached to it. It can have a unit above, a unit below, plus it can have an addition straight unit running off (i.e. replacing) one of the units outside strings. This is called an “attachment”.

To create an attachment, create an additional straight flight (see Create an additional stair within the same design). You will notice that there is an up/down arrow at BOTH ends of the straight flight. With your cursor with one of these arrows, drag the unit and release the mouse over one of the wallside strings of the corner unit. If you drag the top arrow, the top of the new stair attaches to the corner unit. If you drag the bottom arrow, the bottom attaches.

If the top of the straight attaches (rather than the bottom), addition units can be added to the bottom of it. It is treated as a separate stair (even though it is attached). Note that units from the units templates list are added to the last stair clicked (i.e. selected, although there is no visual sign of a stair being selected).

Attachments can be made to attachments (providing the attached stair has a corner unit), making for some rather interesting stairs. To un-attach, drag the attached unit (at the arrow) away from the stair it attaches to.

Right-click a unit template

Add to Stair

Same as double-clicking a template (see above).

Rename Template

Renames the template. Nothing else is affected.

Delete Template

Deletes the template completely. Nothing else is affected.

To delete all unit templates in the folder, hold the Control and Shift keys down while deleting one template.

StairBiz will not allow the template named “Straight” or “Corner” to be deleted – these must always exist.

Set Class

Allows you to set or change an identification code so that this specific unit, when used in any stair, can be identified and filtered according to its class by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Multiple unit templates can have the same class. Any text can be set, up to 10 characters. See Filters – Properties and Results.

Set Stair Name

Allows you to set or change a name for this stair, which can then used in custom sheets and as properties in most filters. It is optional. If the stair was created from a stair template, by default the stair name will be the stair template name, otherwise it will be nothing.

Setout =

In the Setout window (Defaults) you can create multiple Setout windows. You can attach a particular Setout to a unit template, such that when you use that template in a job the attached Setout will override the job’s current Setout selection. When you select this menu-item a list of your saved Setout windows will be presented – select one (or [Normal] to revert to the usual situation). When you use this unit template you will be alerted before StairBiz overrides your existing Setout.

Left-click a template

Double-click

Adds that template to the bottom of the stair.

Click-drag

Drag templates up or down to change their order (which is automatically saved).

Right-click an empty space

Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical

Flips the current stair and all templates.

Rotate 90, Rotate –90, Rotate Other

Rotates the current stair all templates.

Revert Rotation

Sets rotation to zero.

Right-click a unit

Flip Landing

Applies to corner units – flips the unit so that it’s facing the opposite direction.

This should only be used to create a “Z” stair, where a lower landing needs to face the opposite direction of the upper landing.

There should never be a reason to flip the highest landing in a stair, and in fact it can cause problems - rather than flip the landing to get an opposite hand of stair, use the Flip Horizontal menu-item to flip the entire stair.

There is potential for confusion here because now the tenonstring is the wallstring and vice-versa. StairBiz resolved this with the rule that a wallstring is whatever string is the continuation of the wallstring in the top unit of the stair. The same obviously applies to tenonside side. So if there is a straight flight at the top of the stair, and then a flipped landing below it, the size of the outside strings of the landing are now in fact the size shown in the Components window for tenonstrings.

Existing Platform

Applies to corner units – Instructs StairBiz to treat a corner unit as a placeholder for an existing platform (i.e. a landing built by a builder on site, rather than by you).

In such cases StairBiz will not specify treads or strings for this unit, but will specify newels and balustrading if you select those items for inclusion.

You may (if you like) create the existing platform outline in the Well Design pane.

Join To Below

Applies to corner units with a corner unit below it – instructs StairBiz to join the two units such that no string joins exist between the two. Any two or more contiguous corner units can be joined.

Join to Above

Applies to corner units with a corner unit above it – same as Join To Below.

Delete Stair

Deletes the right-clicked stair.

Delete Unit

Deletes the clicked unit and all units below it. If the clicked unit is the top unit, it deletes the stair.

Add to Stair Templates

Adds the clicked stair to the stair templates pane. You will be given the opportunity to supply a name and select a folder. You can replace an existing stair template by selecting that template’s name from the list. Duplicate names are not allowed (you will be alerted).

Set Stair Class

Allows you to set or change the class identification code so that this stair can be identified and filtered according to its class by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Any text can be set, up to 10 characters. This class would normally be set by right-clicking on the stair template, but is included here mainly in case this default setting needs to be changed. See Stair Templates Pane and Filters – Properties and Results.

Set Stair Name

Allows you to set or change the name of the stair so that it can be identified and filtered according to its name by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Any text can be set. See Stair Templates Pane and Filters – Properties and Results.

Add to Unit Templates

Adds the clicked unit to the unit templates panel on the left. You will be given the opportunity to supply a name and select a folder. You can replace an existing unit template by selecting that template’s name from the list. Duplicate names are not allowed (you will be alerted).

If the clicked unit has joined units above or below it (see above), all joined units act as a single unit and appear in the units templates as such. This is how design-setout defaults are created – you modify a stair unit to contain the default settings you will mostly use in the future (see Stair Setout pane), then save that unit as a unit template (replacing the existing if you want).

Update Unit Template

This item is enabled only when the unit clicked has been created from a unit template during the current session (i.e. the job has not been closed since the unit was created).

This is a shortcut for Add to Unit Template (replacing the existing template from which this unit was created). It allows you to more quickly update the unit template with changes you are making to the unit.

Set Unit Class

Allows you to set or change the class identification code so that this unit can be identified and filtered according to its class by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Any text can be set, up to 10 characters. This class would normally be set by right-clicking on the unit template, but is included here mainly in case this default setting needs to be changed. See Filters – Properties and Results.

Stair Flip Hoz/ Flip Vert/ Rotate

Unlike the Design Flip/Rotate menu-items you get when you right-click a white space (which flip/rotate the entire design), these menu-items will flip/rotate just the stair you click on. It is really only useful (and therefore only enabled) when there is more than one stair in the design (otherwise use the design flip/rotate), and even then it is best to only flip/rotate stairs other than the first one.

Right-click a string

Right-click a newel to select its options – see String Options.

Stair Setout pane

Here we set out a stair in a more precise way.

 Be sure to have read Amending the Stair Design.  Newel setout (positions, angles etc.) are done in the Rake Setout pane.  Whenever a nosing is mention in the following discussions, if you have Setout to line of riser set to true in your Setout window, then we are actually referring to the face of the riser (not the nosing of the tread). For simplicity, I’ll always use the term “nosing” rather than “nosing or riser face depending …etc”.  Most of these setouts only need to be done once (during the initial setup for your business) - then you send the unit(s) back to the unit templates in the Stair Design window; thereafter whenever you use that template to create a stair it already has all your standard setouts. See Setting design defaults.  In the following discussions, the “zero angle” of a unit is the angle of the upper wallstring of that unit assuming that the string has not had its string angle manually changed.

Right-click an empty space

All these menu-items (except for the last three) set the amend mode for the stair. Different amend modes display (for viewing or editing) different categories of dimensions. This avoids clutter and confusion.

Main Setout

In this setout mode we set the major dimensions of the stair – unit widths, unit lengths, goings, risers etc. To amend a dimension, click the dimension, edit it, then click either a yellow or green take-up dimension (pressing the ENTER key is the same as clicking a green).

Number of risers: This dimension is at the bottom of the window. It is always one more than the number of treads. It can be edited directly. The default take-up (green) is the tread count for the lowest straight flight (or bottom corner unit if none found). If the floor to floor has not been edited directly (i.e. floats), it will change to suit. If it has been edited directly (i.e. fixed), the riser height will change to suit.

Riser Height: You can edit the riser height directly. The only take-up is the floor-to-floor (StairBiz will alert you). CornerHi/CornerLo: Applies only to corner units. You can best understand what these dimensions do if you set them to something other than zero (e.g. 200mm - you can always set them back again).

These two dimensions position the top and bottom risers of the landing relative to the corner. Internally StairBiz holds these dimensions relative to the intersection of the outside face of the two tenonstrings. However, you can right-click these dimensions and also have them show their position relative to the string centres, string insides, and (if there is a newel) the front or back of the newel.

CornerHi and CornerLo can (optionally) hold different values for each different tread count for a landing. In other words, if you set these for a one tread landing, those values won't apply to a two tread landing (to set them for a two tread landing, give the landing two treads then set them again, and so on up to any number of treads that you like. The same applies to whether the landing is a top unit or not. See Contextual Setouts). When using contextual setouts, contextual dimensions are red to help you identify them.

Floor-to-floor dimension: This dimension is at the bottom of the window after the “=” sign. It “floats” with each change in the treads numbers of riser height, until such time as it is edited directly (after which it becomes “fixed” and the riser height will float). The default (and only) take-up for a floor-to-floor edit is the riser height.

Even if the floor-to-floor is fixed, if you edit the riser height directly, the only take-up is the floor-to-floor (StairBiz will alert you). Tread Count: Tread counts are shown in the middle of each unit. They can be edited directly. The default take-up is the riser number. Exceeding the maximum treads counts per unit specified in your Building Codes window will trigger an alert.

Straight Unit Tread Count: If you have only a single tread in a straight flight, and make the going of that tread more than 400mm (300mm if merged with the outstep), StairBiz will treat that unit as an in-line landing (i.e. a landing which starts and ends in the same direction). Corner Unit Tread Count: You can have as many treads as you like in a corner unit. Depending on your setting for Contextual Setout (see later), various aspects of the setout of a corner unit can change depending on the number of treads. See Contextual Setouts.

Rebate: The rebate dimension is the one at the back of the outstep at the top of the stair (the amount the outstep intrudes over the top of the trimmer). I only mention this here because it may show a letter (e.g. “F”) rather than a dimension. Refer to Amending the Stair Design and Tags; where they get their values for more about Tags.

Space Between:

This dimension appears when you have two adjacent corner units. It shows the space between the upper tenonstring of the upper unit and the lower tenonstring of the lower unit. These strings can be vertically aligned (regardless of the width of the strings) by setting the V: Vertical Align tag (right-click the dimension).

Tread Setout

Sawtooth treads: Applies to straight and corner units; shows the distance that sawtooth treads extend beyond the outside of a string. This can be a tagged dimension; E: End of Newel sets the end of the tread to the outside face of a standard newel; D: Standard Nosing protrudes the tread the same distance as a standard tread nosing.

Outstep Extension: Applies to a corner unit as a top unit, where the top newel height has been set to Up To Under Lnose. In other words, the top of the top tenonside newel terminates at the underside of the outstep. The dimension sets the end of the outstep (which probably protrudes over the top of this stub newel).

Walkline: Shows the line of the goings for both straight and corner units. The goings in straight flights will always be calculated along this line. The goings in corner units will be indicated in red. The alerts relating to goings for both straight and corner units will always be along this line. Head-height calculations (where there is both a stair and a well) will always be along this line and will be displayed at the top of the window (in all Panes of the Design window) if there is a head-height violation.

Winder Setout

This mostly applies only to a corner unit where there is more than one tread (Detachednose applies to one tread or more).

To best understand what these dimensions do, set CornerHi and CornerLo (see Main Setout) to about 200mm each.

Note that you can right-click the nosing of a winder tread (other than the lowest one) and select Show Setout This Nose to hide dimensions relating to other nosings (this may eliminate some confusion). Select Show Setout All Nosing to revert.

There are four categories of dimensions in this mode:

Nosing start points:

These dimensions set the hypothetical start points of each winder nosing (not including the bottom or top nosings of the unit) relative to the intersection of the top and bottom nosings of the unit. The dimensions closest to this intersection relate to the second nosing of the landing, the next ones out relate the third nosing, etc.

If you want to set the start of a nosing at an exact distance along the inside of a string, first position the start of the nosing at the string, then use the opposite dimension to set the distance along the string. You can do similar to set the start of a nosing at an exact distance along the face of a newel.

Winder angles:

These values are shown mid-way along the nosings and set the angle of the nosing for the second, third .. etc treads in the unit. The angle is always relative to the bottom nosing.

Menu for right-click on a tread;

Drag-edit this nose (pivot end) draws a selection circle at both ends of the nose – click-drag one of these circles to manually position the nosing (pivoting at the opposite end).

Drag-edit this nose (pivot walkline) draws a selection circle at both ends of the nose – click-drag one of these circles to manually position the nosing (pivoting at the walkline).

Space this nose angle to set the angle exactly half way between the one above and the one below.

Space all nose angle to evenly space all nosing angles between the bottom nose and the top nose.

Space all nosings at string to space all nosings equidistantly along the string between the bottom nose and the top nose.

Space all nosings at walkline to space all nosings equidistantly along the walkline between the bottom nose and the top nose.

Risers always to corner is only enabled where a corner unit has two treads and you click on the second tread – it sets the riser of the second tread to always intersect exactly with the inside corner on the wall side.

Show setout all noses shows the setout dimensions for all winders in the unit.

Show setout this nose shows the setout dimensions for only the clicked winder in the unit.

Copy Winder Setout copies the setout and angles of the winder nosings (including the newel size, position and setout).

Paste Winder Setout pastes the copied setout and angles of the winder nosings (including the newel size, position and setout). It will not affect strings. If you want the paste to be a MIRROR of the copy (extremely rare), hold the SHIFT key down while doing the paste - the riser lines (if SetoutToRiser) and angles will be a mirror of the copied corner unit.

Cut-ins:

If a nosing hits the lower tenonstring or right-hand face of the newel, a dimension is dawn showing the cut-in – a distance prior to where the nosing intersects the string or newel at which the nosing will turn square to the newel or string. Similar to CornerHi and CornerLo, all these winder dimensions can be set for each different tread count, and whether the unit is top of not, if you like - see Contextual Setouts. When using contextual setouts, these winder dimensions are red to help you identify them.

Detachednose:

This is a single dimension mid-way along the nosing of the bottom tread. It is not applicable (and removed) is there is a side-nose on either side of the tread.

Some stair builders fabricate the bottom tread of a landing with a detached nosing (i.e. the nosing at the top of the flight below the landing) in order to facilitate installation. If you do not do this, set this value to zero. If you do want it, set this value to the width you want the detachednose.

If this value is greater than zero, StairBiz will break the tread into two parts (the nosing and the main part of the tread), and it will also add a bearer to the Bill Of Materials (to support the join between the detachednose and the landing). To see this, right-click the bottom landing tread and select the “Show Tread” menu-item.

This setting is contextual – StairBiz saves three separate settings depending on the number of treads in the landing; 1, 2 and 3 or more treads. This means that the setting for a single tread landing is different to the setting for 2 treads, and so on.

Winder tip slice lines:

Slice lines (with length dimensions) are shown in this mode (two if sawtooth insides strings, one if otherwise). The illustrations below show a three tread landing unit (kite winders), with box strings, focusing on the third winder as an example.

In the first illustration, the nose of the third winder comes around the corner. This may not be what you want. StairBiz has a “slice line” (in the illustration this line starts at point B and runs through point A) which is simply an extension of the line in the upper string that represents the end of the treads (i.e. the bottom of the trenching into the string). If the nosing of any winder (i.e. not just the third winder in a kite) intersects this line, that nosing will be “sliced” (see the second illustration).

The corresponding dimension (not shown here) sets the length of this line (i.e. how far does B extend out from A). It applies only where both upper and lower strings are box strings (for sawtooth see below).

Even though the line is only drawn to point A, in effect it continuous up the upper string. Sawtooth strings are the same as above (the slice line is still along the line of the tread ends), but in the case of sawtooth this line would be outside of the string (in line with the tread ends. The following illustration shows the lower of (in this case) the two slice lines. The second illustration below shows the effect of the slice.

Bearer Setout

Bearers must first be selected in the Components window. Tread support bearers are also subject to the Bearers category of the Setout window.

Tread support bearers (coloured magenta):

These are the bearers which give support to the back of each landing tread (along the end-grain). If the first landing tread has a DetachedOutstep then a bearer will also be included behind the nosing of the first landing tread.

You can change the quantity of each bearer by amending the number shown mid bearer (the extra quantities will not be drawn, but will be included in materials). If the quantity shows zero, no bearer will be specified at that location.

You can change the lengths of the bearers using the dimensions provided.

Bearer quantities and length-adjustments are saved with the unit template.

String replacement bearers (coloured green):

Strings for a quarterspace landing may be replaced with skirting above and bearers below – right click on the string and select “Skirt/Bearer”. These bearers are also shown in this window, and may be amended as above.

To have bearers without skirt, first select “Skirt/Bearer”, then select “Delete String”.

String Setout

For a straight unit, applies only if there is a dog-leg. Shows the DogLeg-X dimension – the distance from the top trimmer to the start of the dog-leg. For a corner unit, applies only if there is a slice corner or round corner – shows the dimensions that determine the position of the slice or round string. Note that for a round corner, if the landing is not 90 degrees the inside dimensions shown cannot be interpreted as the exact radius – they simply show the start and end points of the radius.

If you edit stair dimensions such that any existing round or slice corners not longer fit, StairBiz will adjust them and alert you.

Stair Position

Here you can see and edit the exact position of the top-left corner of a stair relative to zero/zero of the design. It’s the same as dragging a stair around using your mouse, except more accurate. It is suggested (for the sake of simplicity) that the first stair in a design should stay at the design zero/zero.

Unit Angles

Here you can see and edit the angles for each run (a run is from the top of a stair to the first corner, a corner to a corner, or a corner to the bottom.

If you change the angle of the top unit, you rotate the entire stair (but keep in mind that this only rotates the stair, not the design, which you’d notice if the design included a well or a second stair – to rotate the design use the Rotate menu).

All angles below the top unit are in fact corner angles – changing it changes the angle (direction) of the lower part of the landing from the normal 90 degrees.

The angle of the top unit is shown relative to the zero angle of the design. The angle of all corner units are relative to the zero angle for the unit. However, if you right-click any angle dimension in StairBiz (except in the Well Design pane) you can also choose to see the angles displayed in other forms – see Angles; Viewing and editing.

Tread Angles

Here you can see and edit the angles for the theoretical line of the trimmer, the outstep, the bottom nosing of the stair, and any nosing separating one unit from another. Angles are generally relative to the zero angle for the unit plus or minus 90 degrees (the direction of the arrow will show which). In the case of straight flights, all intermediate nosings will adjust proportionately to any change in tread angle. In the case of a corner unit, if there are winders their angles may need to be adjusted separately to suit.

See Angles; Viewing and editing.

String Angles

Here you can see and edit the angles of each string run. Note that when you change the angle of a string, this does not change the angle of the unit (in fact strings angles are relative to the angle of the unit).

See Angles; Viewing and editing.

Show Inside Run Dims

Only relevant in Main Setout mode. Shows the overall stair dimensions for the tenonside side of the stair. They are normally not shown to avoid cluttering the design space.

Show Landing Heights

Only relevant in Main Setout mode. Allows you to see and edit the height of each individual corner unit.

In this context a landing is considered to be the upper floor, plus the lowest tread in any corner unit. For the purposes of the exercise we might also consider the lower floor to be a landing.

The landing height dimension will show something like as follows: 1800 (Float 5 @ 180)

The “1800” is the height of the landing from the lower floor, the “5” is the number of risers up from the previous landing, and “180” is the rise of those risers.

The upper floor “landing” height is floating if you have not already manually set the floor to floor (in which case it “floats” depending on the number of risers and the riser height), otherwise it is fixed at your floor to floor.

If you amend the upper floor landing height, all you’re doing is changing the floor to floor dimension. The lower floor is also obviously fixed (at zero).

Each landing between the upper and lower floor is normally “floating” (thus the “Float” in the above dimension) – if you add or delete treads between any two landings, the landing heights recalculate.

However, you can edit a landing height directly, “fixing” it at your edited value. Riser heights between fixed landings recalculate according to the edited heights. If you add or delete a tread in the stair, only the risers between the fixed landing above and the fixed landing below the added or deleted tread can recalculate.

If you fix any landing height by amending its height dimension, the riser height at the bottom of the window now says “variable” – riser heights now apply on a “between-fixed-landings” basis and can only be edited with the Show Landing Heights option ticked.

If you have not previously set the floor to floor (i.e. it is floating) and you fix any landing height, the floor to floor becomes fixed at its current height.

To revert a fixed landing back to its floating state, set the landing height to zero (this also applies to the floor to floor).

The landing heights feature is particularly useful in conjunction with the “platform” feature in StairBiz (i.e. a pre-existing landing), or if a landing height needs to match up with something in the stair environment (assuming that you are not unduly limited by statutory requirements for consistent riser heights).

Show Sawtooth Width

Normally stair width dimensions show the width between the outside faces of opposing strings. However, if one or both sides have sawtooth strings, it may be more convenient to view or edit dimensions which show to the ends of the sawtooth treads. You can also set this as the default mode. Open the Miscellaneous Defaults window (Design category) and set “Show Sawtooth Width” = “Y”

Show Inside Width

Shows the stair widths from the outside of the wall string to the inside of the tenon string. This could be useful where the tenon string needs to straddle an existing wall, etc.

Show Walls

With this selected any wall previously created in the wells window will show in this pane (otherwise they only show in the Well Design pane or on Custom Sheet drawings where specified)

Show Layer Names

Show the layer name on each stair and shows the level name on each well.

Show Stair ID

Show the Stair ID on each stair (each stair has its own unique ID, e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc)

Show Comp Window Names

On each stair show the name of the Components window associated with that stair (only useful if using multiple component windows).

Show Custom Tags

Shows all set Custom Tags in the relevant place on the drawing. Also see Chapter 22 : Miscellaneous topics/ Custom tags and part labels in drawings

Show Parts

Shows all parts generated in your Part Filters in their relevant position on the stair.

To not include certain parts set the Hidden field for that part in the Parts window.

Also see Chapter 22 : Miscellaneous topics/ Custom tags and part labels in drawings

Hide Unselected Newels

In the design window newels which are un-selected are normally shown as a dotted outline, and are selectable (you can click or right-click them). Sometimes this clicking may interfere with you clicking something under, or you may simply want to not show them. Select this to hide all unselected newels. Select it again to show them.

Right-click a unit

The last four items below relate to the clicked tread or riser. All others relate to the clicked unit.

Hide Unit Dimensions

There may be times (rarely) when the dimensions of one unit are clashing with the dimensions of another unit. Select this menu-item to hide them.

Select it again to show them.

Carriage String

Tags the (straight only) unit that it needs a carriage string. A carriage string style needs to be selected in the Miscellaneous category of the Components window first (otherwise this option will be disabled).

Note that for now, carriage strings are “dummied” from the tenonside string of the flight. This means that StairBiz does not yet calculate the carriage string accurately, but rather simply specs another string with the same length as the tenon string (but with the Style/Size selected for carriage strings) in the Cutting List and BOM.

See Chapter 21 : Stair Components quick reference /Strings /Carriage Strings

Allow Different Goings

Applies only to straight units.

Normally when you edit the going in a unit, the goings of all treads are changed. If you don’t want the goings in a particular unit to be affected by such a global change, select this menu-item – these goings will now act independently of any other straight unit.

To revert, select the menu-item again.

Consider any statutory requirements you might have to maintain consistent goings.

Extend tread-ends wallside

You can extend the wall-side ends of landing treads (presumably for on-site final cutting and fitting). You will be prompted for the amount. When set, cut-arounds for newels and cut-ins for nosings are suppressed. The extended polygon feeds into landing specs, pricing and CNC. The settings saves with the job, and with unit and stair templates.

Extend tread-ends tenonside

When ticked, landing/winder treads extend to the outside of the tenon string. Nothing else is affected. It is assumed (but not mandatory) that there is no centre newel. It does not apply to sawtooth strings.

Join To Tread Below

Applies to the lowest tread in a corner unit where there is a corner unit below it and both corner units are joined (see Join to Above/Below) – this creates a single tread out of two treads.

Amongst other things, use this feature to create a single half-space (single tread) landing from two joined corner units.

Contextual Setout

A single corner unit can be used as a top unit, mid unit or bottom unit. It can also be used as a one tread unit, two tread unit etc.

This feature allows you to use a single unit from your unit templates list as a top unit, bottom unit or mid unit, single tread landing, two tread landing, three tread landing etc., and have StairBiz automatically apply a different setout for each of these different situations. It applies to corner setout dimensions, winder setout dimensions, and the position of some newels.

See Contextual setouts for a full discussion.

Tread Height Offset

Use this where (for example) some treads have carpet and some don’t, and you want to adjust the treads heights to compensate. The starting tread is the one clicked, and offset (a positive or negative amount) applies to tread heights from that tread on down to the bottom tread. The offset is reversed in the bottom riser such that the stair maintains the same overall floor-to-floor.

You will be prompted to enter the amount of the offset (a positive dimension makes the tread HIGHER). Subsequently this menu-item will be ticked (and show you the amount of the offset) for each affected tread. You will also be alerted in the Alerts window. There is also a field for this in the Custom Editor (Stair Design/ Tread Height Offset; ~231).

Tread Height Offset will save to a stair template, but not to a unit template.

Tread Height Offset is allowed for splayed risers, but is not supported (and we would anticipate problems).

Extra Below Floor

Allows you to set the Extra Below Floor dimension. This distance is added to the bottom of every component of the stair which makes contact with the floor (i.e. newels which meet the floor, strings that meet the floor, and the bottom riser of the stair). It is useful for when tiles are to be laid after stair installation, and those tiles are to be cut around the stair.

Openrise Override

If you select “None” for the Risers in the Components window, the entire stair becomes openrise. If you want only certain units to be openrise, select the relevant riser size in the Components window, and then select this menu item for the unit(s) which are openrise.

If a straight unit is openrise, every riser in that unit (including the top and bottom risers) will the open. The same applies for closed. For corner units, the very bottom or very top riser will depend on the openrise status of the unit below or above it (if there is one).

Use Carpet Wedges

Set this to tag that carpet wedges are included. StairBiz doesn’t use this value directly, but it can be shown in Custom sheets and used in the Risers category of Parts and Labour filters.

Set Minimum Going

In the Building Codes window there is a setting for Steepest Rake Angle (Rake tab). StairBiz will (based on the rise of the clicked unit) calculate and set the going to be the minimum possible within the specified steepest rake. If you allow different goings then the changed going will only apply to the clicked unit.

Set Maximum Going

If you hold the Shift key down when right-clicking the unit Set Minimum Going (see above) changes to Set Maximum Going, and the going will be based on the shallowest angle rather than the steepest.

Offset Tread Numbers

You can enter a number, and StairBiz will add this number to all tread number labels used throughout StairBiz for this particular stair. This may be useful where you have multiple stairs and would rather contiguous numbers for all treads in the design.

Show Tread

Shows the exact outline of the finished tread. Select again to hide it.

Show Riser

Shows the exact outline of the finished riser. Select again to hide it.

Send Tread To CNC

Sends the tread to the StairBiz CNC bed.

Send Rise To CNC

Sends the riser to the StairBiz CNC bed.

Don’t Process

This causes StairBiz to skip this unit for the purposes of calculating and spec’ing timbers, parts and labour. It may be useful if you want to create Cutting Lists, Bills of Material, Labour Costs etc. for some unit(s) and not others.

It is independent of (but often used in conjunction with) Set Draw Range (see above).

Stair Tags

Show and/or set tags created in Custom Tags window (Stair category)

Unit Tags

Show and/or set tags created in Custom Tags window (Unit category)

Click a newel

Left-click a newel to select it or un-select it.

Right-click a newel to select its options – see Chapter 11: Newel Options.

Right-click a string

Right-click a string to select its options – see Chapter 11: String Options.

Layers

At the bottom of this window you are shown the current Layer of the stair. You can change the layer by clicking on the layer label and selecting from the pop-up.

If you manually set the floor-to-floor of a stair (so that it is "fixed" as opposed to "float"), the corresponding level in the Levels pane is also set to "Fixed". If you manually set the height of a layer in the Levels pane (i.e. it becomes "Fixed"), any stair you assign to that layer automatically has a corresponding floor-to-floor that is "fixed". In other words, layers in the Levels pane and floor-to-floors in the Stair Setout pane are interactive (i.e. the same thing). Once a layer or floor-to-floor becomes fixed, it will not change with changes in total risers. To set a fixed floor-to-floor to "float" (i.e. to revert it), set the floor-to-floor to zero.

It is best not to "fix" the levels in the Levels pane until after you have more-or-less finalized the configuration of your stair. The reason is that if you "fix" a layer in the Levels pane of, say, 120 inches, and then you bring in a 1 tread corner unit template, before you have a chance to add more units you have 2 risers at 55 inches. Under such circumstances StairBiz has no choice but to revert your "fixed" layer to "float" because the rise is outside what StairBiz sees as workable (it will alert you first), so you wasted on input. Generally speaking the easiest way to set the height of a layer is to simply set the floor-to-floor of the associated stair (like we said at the beginning - there really is no reason, other than curiosity or double-check, to open the Levels pane of the Design window).

If there is more than one stair, when you click on any stair the "Layer" label for that stair (at the bottom of the window) becomes bold type. However, there is a better way to track which stair is which – right-click in this pane and select Show Layer Names.

Curves pane

The following terminology is used in these discussions:

Standard going - means the going you have set for the unit, as shown by the going dimension.

The line of the going – means the line down the centre (or offset from the centre) of the curved flight along which tread goings are measured.

Tread going – means the going of a single tread along the line of the going.

String going - means the going at the inside of the string (in the case of a closedstring) or the going at the ends of the treads (in the case of a sawtooth string).

Consistent going - means that whichever going we’re referring to does not change from tread to tread

Types of curves

In all curve types, tread goings are always be consistent and equal to the standard going.

String goings may or may not be consistent, depending on the curve type.

In all cases the distance from the trimmer/header to the start of the curve (spring line) can be set with the relevant dimension.

Right-click a straight unit to set the type of curve, as follows:

No Curve

Revert an existing curve to a normal straight flight.

Circular

Has a single radius centre for both strings (producing a perfectly circular stair).

Tread nosings are straight.

Goings are measured along a radius with its centre at the centre of the radius for the strings.

Goings are consistent along both strings.

Set either the tenonside or wallside radius using the dimensions shown.

Can only be used on any straight unit (not just the bottom one).

There are limitations to the total arc of the curve – when you approach or pass a full circle there are string issues that are yet to be resolved.

Flare/Straight nosings

Flares one or both strings. The nosings are always straight. The string goings are not consistent. Can only be used on a bottom unit.

Flare/Curved nosings

Flares one or both strings. The nosings arc into the string such that the string goings are always consistent with the standard going. Can only be used on a bottom unit.

Curved walkline

Only relevant to flared (circular is automatically curved walkline).

For flared, this is not yet hooked up (and not entirely sure what this would look like anyway). On a large flare, Curved nosings would have a similar effect (i.e. would attempt to keep the going consistent down the line of the curved string).

Doglegs in curved stairs

Most curved strings will take a dog-leg. The exception is as follows:

Any straight unit can have a maximum of two strings per side (plus the short dog-leg strings). Therefore, if there is a non-curved section at the top of the flight such that the side is broken into a straight string plus a curved string, we’ve used up our two strings and a dog-leg in the curved section is not possible.

The solution is to use a separate unit for the straight section at the top - thus the curved section can be fully curved (i.e. a single string) and would then take a dog-leg.

Bullnose pane

Here you can create a stair bullnose from a bullnose template, modify that stair bullnose, and create a bullnose template from the stair bullnose. From one single template you can create any bullnose situation.

You can only add a bullnose to a straight unit.

If you add a unit template to a stair with a bullnose, the bullnose is deleted.

If you create a unit template from a unit with a bullnose, the bullnose is excluded.

This window makes extensive use of tags – see Amending a stair.

This window displays both nosing and riser lines. The dimensions always apply to the nosings (even if you work to the riser). This is because in many bullnose designs the nosing is more fundamental than the riser..

Opening an alternative template folder

You can have as many folders as you like for bullnose templates (see Folders window). To open a different folder, right-click the Bullnose button at the top-left of the window (i.e. the same button that opened this pane).

Double-click a template

Create a bullnose.

If there is no current bullnose, the selected template will become the bullnose on the tenonside side of the stair. If there is a current tenonside bullnose, you’ll be asked if you want to replace it. If you say no the selected bullnose will be added to the wallside side of the stair.

Right-click a template

Add to Stair Tenonside

Copies the template to the tenonside side of the stair.

Add to Stair Wallside

Copies the template to the wallside side of the stair.

Rename Template

Allows you to rename the template.

Delete Template

Deletes the template completely. Nothing else is affected.

To delete all bull templates in the folder, hold the Control and Shift keys down while deleting one template.

StairBiz will not allow the last remaining bull template in the Main folder to be deleted – there will always be at least one. Set Bullnose Class

Allows you to set or change an identification code so that this specific bullnose, when used in any stair, can be identified and filtered according to its class by the Parts or Labour filters. It is optional. Multiple bullnose templates can have the same class. Any text can be set, up to 10 characters.

Set Bullnose Name

Allows you to set or change a name for this bullnose, which can then be used in custom sheets and filters. It is optional. See also; Chapter 15 : Parts and Labour Filters/ Auto-filters – Suggestions for each category/ Bullnose Treads (it may be in your interests to use name abbreviations).

Left-click a template

Double-click

Copies the template to the tenonside side of the stair.

Click-drag

Drag templates up or down to change their order (which is automatically saved).

Right-click a bullnose tread

Add Bullnose

Adds an extra bullnose tread to the bottom of the flight on the clicked side, moving existing bullnose treads on that side up one tread. StairBiz will try to give the new bullnose initial settings to keep it consistent with the style of the existing bullnoses.

Delete Bullnose

Deletes the clicked bullnose and all below it.

Apply to Other Side

Copies the bullnose treads on the clicked side and pastes them on the other.

Show Lengths

Shows the lengths which determine the bullnose, for editing.

Show Radii

Shows the radii which determine the bullnose, for editing. Strictly speaking, these dimensions are only radii when the two edges which define the radius are at right angles. Otherwise they define the start and end points of the radii.

Show Angles

Shows the angles which determine the bullnose, for editing.

The angle of the front section of the bullnose is always the same as the nosing from which it extends. The angles of the end and back edges of the bullnose are shown relative to their normal (non-angled) positions.

Show Slice

Shows a dimension from the top of the unit which determines a “slice” line; a line that deletes all parts of any bullnose that protrudes past it. You will not see the slice in action until you exit the Bullnose pane.

Show Block

Shows the outline of the finished riser block.

Show Tread

Shows the outline of the finished tread

Hide Dimensions

Hides the dimensions of the clicked tread. Useful to prevent confusion.

Diagonal Corners

Creates diagonal corners, the dimensions of which are determined by the radius settings.

Mitre Front

Runs a join through the bullnose such that the ends of the bullnose do not display end-grain. It makes no difference to the appearance of the tread in the Design window, but affects the cutting list and CNC.

Mitre Back

Only applies if Mitre Front is set – again switches grain direction such that the back of the bullnose does not show end grain.

No Nose Back Edge

Where a bullnose has no second radius, and extends out past the stair (i.e. not a blunt bullnose), you can select this to delete the riser (and nosing for CNC purposes) from the back edge of the bullnose. This is useful where the back edge of the bullnose is against a wall or similar.

Use Block

Select this when you want StairBiz to calculate/spec/CNC a block behind the bullnose riser. Select “Show Block” to see and amend it.

Solid Block

Select this to get a half-moon shaped block rather than a horse-shoe shape.

Riser Full Length

Select this if you want the risers associated with a bullnose tread to continue all the way around the arc of the bullnose (otherwise the riser will stop of the first corner or radius). This is particularly relevant to the length StairBiz specifies for the riser.

Add to Templates

Sends the entire bullnose package on the clicked side of the stair to the templates panel. You can create new or replace an existing. All templates (whatever side of the stair they came from) are stored as tenonside side, and can be re-applied to either side of a stair.

See also; Chapter 15 : Parts and Labour Filters/ Auto-filters – Suggestions for each category/ Bullnose Treads (it may be in your interests to use name abbreviations).

Set Bullnose Class

By default, the class of a bullnose comes from that set for the template from which it came. See same topic in Right-click a template (above).

Set Bullnose Name

By default, the name of a bullnose comes from that set for the template which it came. See same topic in Right-click a template (above).

Send Block to CNC

Sends the clicked bullnose block to the CNC Bed window.

Bullnose Tags

Displays a menu for showing/setting your Custom Tags for the bullnose category.

Changing a bullnose

To change the setout of a bullnose, it may be easier to start with only a single bullnose tread. Once that’s set the way you want it, you can add another bullnose, which will (as best as possible) mimic the setout of the existing one (except as applied to a double bullnose, etc). For the purposes of the following discussions we assume a single un-rotated straight unit, with a single bullnose tread.

If there is more than a single bullnose, it may be easier to hide the dimensions of the others with the Hide Dimensions menu-item (so that you can see specifically which dimensions are relevant to the tread at hand).

The bullnose is a good example of tags at work. Many dimensions in a bullnose are determined by the going and the nose - you would not want to have to manually recalculate a bullnose every time one of these values changed.

Reminder: To see the actual calculated values of tags, left-click the tag. To see the values of all tags, right-click any dimension and select Show Values. When you select Show Values, the tags are not deleted, they’re just not shown (select Show Tags to revert to the tags). To edit you can right-click to select a tag, or you can input an actual dimension.

Whatever you end up with on one side of the stair can be applied to the other side using the Apply to Other Side menu item. Regardless of the ultimate look and shape of your bullnose, they all follow the same principles discussed below.

There are three amend modes (select them by right-clicking):

Show Lengths

• The vertical dimension on the far right determines where the bullnose starts (specifically it determines the start point of the next dimension). It can be positive, negative or zero. • The vertical dimension on the far left indicates the distance past the face of the string (i.e. under the stair) that the bullnose will extend. An “N” tag sets it to the outside face of the string. A “P” tag sets it to the inside face of the string. • The remaining dimensions show the lengths of the bullnose. • The tags “T1”, “T2” and “T3” are available. These tags create a balanced bullnose whose dimensions are determined by the going (run) and the angles of the strings and treads of the straight flight. The tags may also operate in different ways depending on how many bullnoses there are. • A “T1” tag will always bring the back of each bullnose into the riser of the lowest non-bullnose tread. • A “T2” tag will bring the riser of the top bullnose tread into the riser of the lowest non-bullnose tread. For each bullnose below that, the riser comes in at the corresponding number of treads above that. • A “T3” tag will bring the riser of the top bullnose tread into the riser of the second lowest non-bullnose tread. For each bullnose below that, the riser comes in at the corresponding number of treads above that. • Setting a tag for one dimension sets the same tag for all dimensions that can accept that tag. • These tags can be overridden with actual dimensions (simply edit the dimension)

Show Radii

Even though there are four dimensions here, they are really only two - the radius on one side of a radius point is always the same that on the other side of it.

The tag values are as discussed in Show Lengths (above). You can use tags, or input an actual value.

StairBiz may override your input if the value is not possible.

Show Angles

See the discussion above.

Show Block

Select this to show the block and enable editing

In the following illustration …

Dimension A sets an extension to the end of the block. Dimension B sets an extension to the start of the block. Dimension C sets the distance from the face of the riser to the front edge of the riser block. Dimension D sets the width of the riser block.

Rake Balustrade pane

Each length of balustrading is called a “section”. In this pane you can select sections and newels on the strings of a stair. You can also specify the properties and characteristics of each selected section of balustrading, and the components within each section (handrail, wallrail, shoerail, balusters and newels).

There are two context menus associated with this window:

1. Show Mode
2. Amend Mode

You can see these menus in the left panel when you click a white space, or as a pop-up when you right-click a white space. The upper bracket of menu-items selects the Show Mode, which determines what we’re looking at. The lower selects the Amend Mode, which is what we’re doing with what we’re looking at.

The following headings correspond to each Show Mode. The sub-headings correspond to the Amend Modes relevant to that Show Mode.

Show All

Anything you do in this mode affects most components of the section (balusters, shoerail and handrail/wallrail). Newels are not affected (other than if you select or unselect them).

Shows handrail, or, if none, shows shoerail. Also shows balusters.

Selections

In this mode you can select or unselect (by clicking) complete sections of balustrade.

By default, sections will be automatically selected where there is a newel selected at both ends of the section, and the section butts those newels. In this window you can unselect sections that have been auto selected, or you can select sections that did not auto select.

Once you make a manual selection in this mode, all section selections in this window need to be done manually (i.e. the auto-selection feature is switched off).

To select wallrail, first select the section (handrail will be shown), then right-click on the handrail and choose Make Wallrail. To revert it back to handrail, do the same thing and choose Make Handrail. Select Make Wallrail for Side to convert to wallrail for that entire side of the stair in one action.

You can also select or unselect stair newels in this mode, but section selection has a higher priority (i.e. a click on a newel AND a section at the same time will detect the section before it detects the newel – either select newels by clicking them outside of any underlying sections, or select them in the Stair Design pane or Stair Setout pane.

Amend Spacing

This actually relates to the Balusters show mode, but for the sake of convenience (i.e. to save you having to specifically select that mode), it is duplicated here. See Balusters (below).

Amend Offsets and Extensions

The two dimensions at either end are extension dimensions. They allow you to override the default start and end points of the entire balustrading (shoerail, handrail and balusters). If the balustrading terminates at a newel, adding extra length at this end won’t have any affect (a newel is a physical barrier), whereas subtracting length will have an effect.

The third dimension (shown mid way along the section) sets the offset for the entire balustrading (shoerail, handrail and balusters) relative to the outside face of the string. Depending on the offset mode (right click the dimension to select Show To Inside, Show To Centre or Show to Outside) the dimension will show to the inside, centre or outside edge of the shoerail (or handrail if there is no shoerail). A “D” tag centres the balustrading over the string.

Show Balusters

Anything you do in this mode affects balusters only.

Selections

Here you can specifically un-select (and re-select) all balusters in a section. All other components remain as they are.

Amend Spacing

Here you can amend the baluster spacings, as follows:

For Closedstring balusters:

StairBiz calculates the default number of balusters based on the size of the baluster and your setting for Max Between Balusters (in the Setout window). There are two dimensions mid-way along the section. The first is a number (default value zero) which allows you to increase or decrease the baluster spacing by inserting or deleting balusters. Entering a “1” adds one baluster to the default number of balusters. Entering a “-2” deletes 2 balusters from the default number of balusters. The second dimension shows the distance between the balusters and is not editable.

There is a dimension at either end of the section. These allow you to change the default start and end points for calculating the balusters. Zero is the default, which is at the face of the newel, or at the change in the rake if there is no newel. Any other value (positive or negative) will move that point. Note that this does not affect the length of handrail or shoerail (this can be done elsewhere). It is most useful if you want to have the baluster spacing adjacent to a newel a little tighter than the other spacings.

For Sawtooth String balusters:

There a three dimensions.

The first shows the distance from a nosing to the face of the first baluster on the tread. The default value comes from the Sawtooth Nose To Baluster setting in the Setout window (where a value of “-1” instructs StairBiz to balance the balusters on the tread). You can right-click the dimension and choose a tag, or input a dimension directly.

The second dimension is a single number (default = zero) which sets the number of balusters per tread. A value of zero instructs StairBiz to auto calculate with regard to the Max Between Balusters setting. Any other number will override the calculation (e.g. “3” will set three balusters per tread, regardless of the space between).

The third dimension shows three values; the middle one shows the space between the balusters (it is not editable); the numbers before and after this dimension (which are editable) show the number of extra balusters inserted at the hi end and low end of the section. For example, “2” will insert an extra two balusters at the relevant end, whereas “-1” will deduct a baluster (useful for manually overriding what StairBiz thinks is about right).

Amend Offsets

The dimension shown mid way along the section sets the offset for just the balusters, relative to the outside face of the string. It overrides (just for balusters) any offset default set in Show All mode. Depending on the offset mode (right click the dimension to select Show To Inside, Show To Centre or Show to Outside) the dimension will show to the inside, centre or outside edge of the balusters. A “D” tag centres the balustrading over the string. Other components of the section are not affected.

Note that if the Offset all in section menu-item is ticked, the offset will apply to all components of this section (i.e. also to handrail and shoerail, rather than just the balusters).

Show Shoerail

Selections

Exactly the same as for Balusters (above), except that it applies only to shoerail.

Amend Offsets

Exactly the same as for Balusters (above), except that it applies only to shoerail.

Show Handrail

Exactly the same as for Balusters (above), except that it applies only to handrail.

Show Wallrail

Exactly the same as for Balusters (above), except that it applies only to wallrail.

Show Newels

Selections

To select or unselect a newel, click it (although this can also be done in the Stair Design and Stair Setout panes of the Design window, and in other modes of this window if you click the newel outside of any underlying section).

To add a mid newel (i.e. a floating newel at some point along the string) right-click the string at the appropriate point and select Insert Mid Newel from the pop-up menu.

To space one or more mid newels evenly along the string, right-click the string at the appropriate point and select Space Mid Newels from the pop-up menu.

Amend Newel Size

This mode allows you to override the default width and depth for the newels (as selected in the Components window). An “N” tag sets the width or depth at this default size (assuming you have previously manually overridden this size).

Amend Newel Angles

This mode allows you to rotate a newel. The little circle shows the centre of the rotation (i.e. the intersection of the centre of the string with the relevant nosing). You can set the angle mode by right-clicking the angle dimension.

Amend Newel Position

This mode allows you to move the newel. These dimensions are often tagged. Dimensions can be relative to the intersection of the centre of the string with the relevant nosing (right-click the dimension and select Show To Centres), or they can be relative to the outside of the string (unselect Show To Centres). You can set the angle mode by right-clicking the angle dimension.

Some newel positions are contextual (whether or you have the Contextual Setout option applied to the unit). The Y-position dimensions are contextual for newels at the top of a stair. The X-position dimensions are contextual for newels at the top and bottom of a stair. See Contextual Setouts. When using contextual setouts, contextual dimensions are red to help you identify them.

Other newel properties

Right-click a newel (in any show or amend mode) to see a newel properties menu. See Newel Options.

Offset all in section

When the Show mode is something other than ‘All’, and you amend the offset of a component (e.g. handrail, or balusters, or shoerail, and you want the same CHANGE in offset to apply to all components in the section, tick this.

This is useful when you want to offset all components (which is the default behaviour in ‘Show All” mode), but it’s more convenient to actually make the change to a particular component.

Highlight Fittings

Indicates the fittings (with a different colour) in plan view.

Show Min Diameters

Indicates the minimum diameters for balusters and newels, as set in the Style window for those components. Baluster spacings work off these minimum diameters (not the outside dimensions of the baluster).

Show Custom Tags

Shows all set Custom Tags in the relevant place on the drawing. Also see Chapter 22 : Miscellaneous topics/ Custom tags and part labels in drawings

Show Parts

Shows all parts generated in your Part Filters in their relevant position on the stair.

To not include certain parts set the Hidden field for that part in the Parts window.

Also see Chapter 22 : Miscellaneous topics/ Custom tags and part labels in drawings

Hide Unselected Newels

Does not show the dotted outline of unselected newels. This can be useful when such newels are getting the way of a click on something else.

Elevations pane

This shows the string and balustrade elevations for all stairs in the design. You also select handrail fittings in this window.

See also Chapter 21 : Stair Components quick reference/ Strings/ String Faces

See also String Setout window.

See also Handrail Fittings.

Both the inside and outside edges of each string are shown (if the string ends are square in plan view then these will be identical).

Layers

You can hide/show stairs using the Layers window (which changes slightly for use in this pane).

In this pane, by default there is a gap between the vertical layers of multiple stairs. If you are showing balustrade, this gap is increased (to avoid overlap between the layers). If you want no gap (e.g. to check head-height between stacked stairs, etc.), right click any string and select No Vertical Gap.

There is also a “slide” dimension in the Elevations pane.

This dimension allows you to align stair over stair any way you like. Setting the dimension will slide the stair elevation left or right relative to the other stair elevations. Note that it has no impact on the actual position of the stairs – the effect is limited to the Elevations window (good for checking head-height between stacked stairs, etc). Use the dimension tool to determine how much slide you need.

Boundary lines

The horizontal solid red line at the top is the upper floor level. If you have a well with a bulkhead depth, the ceiling level will be shown also.

The horizontal solid red line at the bottom is the lower floor level.

The vertical dotted red lines represent the unit’s “base” points at the inside of the string (the inside is the side of the treads). For straight flights this point will be at the top and bottom riser (or nosing if you work to the nosings) at the inside of the string. At corners this will be where the two string inside edges intersect.

The vertical dotted green lines represent the unit’s “base” points at the outside of the string

Right-click a string

This includes clicking anywhere within the bounding rectangle shown for the string.

Show Tenonside Side

Shows the tenonside run of strings only.

Show Wallside Side

Shows the wallside run of strings only.

Show Both Side

Shows the tenonside and wallside runs of strings.

Show This String

Shows the clicked string only.

Show This Run

Shows only the run of the side clicked.

Show Inside

The inside face of the string is the side that the treads are on.

If the vertical cuts of a string are exactly square (in plan view) then the inside face and outside face will be the same. Otherwise they will be different (e.g. a corner join where the strings intersect at 45 degrees, as shown in the illustration below).

This mode shows the inside face at the front (in black), and the outside face behind it (in green). The inside face will have the fill colour.

Show Outside

This mode shows the outside face at the front (in black), and the inside face behind it (in green). The outside face will have the fill colour.

Show Balustrade

Shows the balustrade with the string. This Show Balustrade also applies to the String Setout window.

Show Newel Setout

Enabled only if Show Balustrade (see above) is selected. Shows the newel turning lengths for viewing or editing.

See Chapter 11: The Design window in Depth/ Newel Setout.

Show Head-height

If there are one or more stairs going up to a well, this will show the head-height situation. See Chapter 11; Head-height

Show Join Type

Shows the StairBiz labelling for the type of join. See String Setout window.

Show Setout

Opens the string setout window for the clicked string (when you can modify the setout for the string).

Send to CNC

Sends the clicked string to the CNC Bed window (even if this window is closed).

Copy Setout

Copies the string setout (as shown in the String Setout window) for this string. See “Paste Setout”

Paste Setout

Pastes the string setout previously copied with Copy Setout. This menu-item is only enabled if there has previously been a Copy Setout, and the string being pasted into is compatible with the string copied (it will be if it’s the same string but in a different unit, or, in the case of straight flights, is the same or the opposite string).

This is convenient if you can spent time setting up one string (e.g. the wall string of a straight flight) and want to set the opposite string (the tenon sting of the straight flight) to be identical.

Note that even setouts that are not currently applicable are copied/pasted (e.g. even if there are newels, the setout for the string without the newels will also be copied/pasted). I.e. the copy/paste applies to all contexts of the string.

Menu for Plan View

Pops the same menu that you get when you right-click on a string in plan view (i.e. when in any of the other Design modes). Insert Mid-Newel and Dog-Leg will only be enabled in actual plan view (because they rely on the location of the click).

Turn Off Error Checking

For StairBiz to be as automated as it is, it needs to know what every point in a string polygon is. For unusual (unexpected) strings, sometimes StairBiz loses track of these points and you get the “Can’t find string top/bottom) error messages.

If you are sure that the error is not causing any major problems, especially in relation to CNC, you can turn off this error message here (on a job-by-job, string by string basis).

This is quite often acceptable if you are not using CNC, or you are using CNC and are cutting the entire outline (and not using cut templates).

Right-click an empty space

This means clicking anywhere outside the bounding rectangles shown for all strings. It brings up an identical menu as discussed above, with the exception of “Show This String” and “Show This Run”.

Guide-lines

You can create any number of horizontal or vertical guide-lines in this window. These are useful for checking measurements for things like cupboards, doors etc.

Guide-lines are saved with the job.

Horizontal guide-lines

Click-drag either the line of the upper floor level or the line of the lower floor level (both are solid red lines). Release the drag at the approximate position. Refine the position by editing the dimension. Delete the guideline by setting a dimension of zero.

Vertical guide-lines

Click-drag any vertical boundary line (shown as dotted red or green lines). The boundary line will always be the base line of the outside face of the string – if there is only a red line (inside), the green line (outside) is behind it; if there is both a red and a green line, only the green (outside) line can be dragged. Release the drag at the approximate position. Refine the position by editing the dimension. Delete the guide-line by setting the dimension to zero, or drag it back to the boundary from where it came.

Note that the dimension will always be relative to the vertical boundary line from which you created the guide-line. Dimensions can be positive or negative.

Note also that vertical guide-lines will extend up to the highest horizontal guide-line and will extend down to the lowest horizontal guide-line.

Windows and Doors

After creating guidelines representing windows and doors (see above), you can right-click within the rectangle and select "Create Window/Door" and StairBiz will draw the representation. You can then delete the guide-lines (if you wish) and the window/door will persist.

Select "Delete Window/Door" to revert back to just the guide-lines.

Handrail Fittings

The pop-up lists at the bottom of this window allow you to select handrail fittings for the stair. For a full discussion, see Handrail Fittings.

Bezier curves – transitions in string rake

See Chapter 11 : Bezier curves – transitions in string rake

Balcony Balustrade pane

This pane works in the same way as the Rake Setout pane, except that obviously it relates to balcony balustrade, and has the following differences: • Shoerail becomes Bottom Plate. • Offsets can also operate on newels. • You can toggle between newel and mitre by clicking a newel at the junction of two sections. You can toggle between newel, half-newel or nothing by clicking a newel at section termination (providing it is not a top stair newel). • There is also balconytrim.

Special Note

• Do saves as you progress through a job (Control+S) • Always select the Lock button in the Quote Calculation window when the job is complete (if a bug-fix in a StairBiz update changes a calculation slightly, and your quote is not in lock mode, the quote total may change).