A Stair Tool that actually works.

[leonard]

The Stair Tool in Revit, simply doesn't work. Revit programmers have perpetuated the error that stairs start at the first nosing and terminate in any flight under the top nosing. This inevitably means that handrails are completely wonky and the stair section is then an embarrassment to show to the craftsman who must build it. In 2D Autocad work, i always design stairs in section and project the plan from the section.

Stairs are ultimately a mathematical problem that use trig formulas in order to calculate. Stairs need to be designed to include the full length of the stair run so that Handrails and guards resolve cleanly at landings. Stairs should use "spring-lines" to start and stop, rather than nosings. The attached fairly complex stair section drawn in Autocad, illustrates how the stair ought to be laid out. if the correct start and terminations were used, Revit might almost be able to model stairs faster than I can draw them in Autocad.

[rbarbosa8DQGJ]

I think is time to Autodesk team create various Dynamo routines to create stairs (in Revit and Advance Steel). The actual tool will be used to simple stairs and special stairs will be create downloading the Dynamo routine to run in Revit or Ad Steel. Then, if the user is advanced enought will use that Dynamo script to modifie it and create their own stairs. The essencial point is: Must be prepared to create a BOM (schedules of materials). This idea should be applied to railings also.

[leonard]

I think the idea of using Dynamo routines makes sense if you want to generate deviations from the regular geometry of the stair. The point of this discussion however is to prod Autodesk to redesign the tool in a way that produces the correct stair geometry every time, without the need for time sucking workarounds. The mathematical solution is pretty simple which means the programming would also be simple... but instead we keep rewarding Autodesk with annual subscriptions to do nothing.

[AzWoodWarrior]

I learned how to build stairs from a crusty old carpenter who didn't know what letters in math were. Having been a carpenter for so long, I could almost build them faster than some work around. It seems like this issue has been around since inception. If you want to model it like you build it, make it possible. Totally off topic but a huge peeve! Every sink has a p-trap. (I understand it's a BIM component, but set the bar a little higher. Interns should spend a few months in the field learning from crusty old guys that don't have degrees, but can teach you a thing or 2 about how a building gets put together in reality. End-of-rant. Sorry for the tangentiness of my comment, but that **** ptrap

[AzWoodWarrior]

Why do you think I'm the Arizona Wood warrior! 13 summers framing houses @110°=Warrior

[leonard]

=)) Yeah, I learned from a carpenter as well, though he wasn't crusty. And I've built stairs. Think I've been around the block a few times to understand what to do and what not to do. Here in the Pacific Northwest, I've discovered that a large majority of those crusty old framers, actually don't understand the geometry of a stair any better than the programmers at Autodesk. Makes me smile sometime to watch them cobble together an adhoc stair and then struggle to get the handrails to work. I end up teaching the young architects that come into my firm how a stair really works and don't mind them calling me the "stair nazi" despite the connotations, but once they know how, they never struggle with stairs again.

[VenB]

Thank God- it's not only me thinking that there were not enough skilled architects taking action during creation of the stair creating tool

[l.wichert]

Yes you are right!
I think there are a ton of ideas in the revit community, and i wonder WHY nobody cares /uses them?

[l.wichert]

Revit 2023.1 ist out, but nothing BETTER / changed in the Stair Tool...! 

is it only me didn't found anything helpful?

[leonard]

It amazes me how much we pay in order to maintain our licensed seats and how little Autodesk does to actually make their software work like experienced architects work. It is an absolute shame that they do not request experienced help designing the stair tool, instead of using inexperienced interns. Shame on them.

[leonard]

Looks like Autodesk thumbs its nose at users who know how a stair should be modeled, while letting their own neophyte programmers continue offering a stair tool that does not work.

[l.wichert]

Revit 2024 is out - aaaand -

nothing new here at the "stair-tool-community" -  again.

(sighn)

why does nobody form "Revit ideas" care about some ideas???

modelling a stair is really pain-in-the-ass...

any "ideas"?

[nr]

The whole stair function needs a full revision, so its possible and easy to make bespoke stairs, without weird outcomes,  errors. And fidling for hours. For now its far easier to import stairs from and external program, and then TRY to sketch it, or keep the import as an 3d .dxf if (for the most) gives errors.

Ive been using Revit for 12 years now, and stairs have always been a terrible function, its better than it has been, but still terrible.

[a.carmichael]

Stairs and Railings as they currently are designed/programmed are garbage. They do not represent in drawings how they are actually constructed. Railings are not user friendly and do not connect nicely unless you overcompensate in your stairwell for space you would not actually need.

We should be able to adjust the stairs if/when the floor to floor height changes without having to delete them and start over.

When the guardrail is used on a landing/platform and the handrail does not need to wrap the entire distance we should be able to select which guardrail sections have a handrail on them so we don't have to have a separately modeled guardrail and handrail with proper returns.

Take a lesson from ArchiCAD -- those stairs are awesome.

Please PLEASE PLEASE fix these.

Sincerely, Every Revit User Everywhere.