Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> Stairs and Railings Of Course

rwood27

active

Joined: Thu, Mar 8, 2007
25 Posts

Can someone point me to a thread or a tutorial about stair / railing documentation?  I have come to the conclusion that Revit cannot efficiently model a complex stair and railing (i.e. elliptical).  I'm not saying it can't but I think to get something even digestable takes a considerable amount of time and effort.  So, unless I'm totally on alone on this, I'm curious how others go about documenting their stairs in set of construction documents.  Do you get the stair "good enough" in the model and then rely on drafting 2D details to flesh it out?

By the way I'm using 2014 and here's a picture of the stair in question.

Attached Images

This user is offline

View Website

WWHub

site moderator|||

Joined: Tue, May 16, 2006
13079 Posts

I don't see anything here that you can't do in Revit but it will take some work.  Because of the multiple conditions, it needs to  be done with multiple railings.

BTW - "Ellipse" is a very poor shape for documenting in construction.  You can approximate ellipses bu using simple arcs and that is far easier to document and construct.

This user is offline

rwood27

active

Joined: Thu, Mar 8, 2007
25 Posts

Yes, I agree on the ellipse.  In fact, they don't give you the option of using one for the stair boundary so you have to piece it together.  This seems to become problematic with the railing because I'm getting "hiccups" at every point the lines come together.  That's why it seems to me that Revit is fine with simple stairs but not that great when things get a little funky. 

This user is offline

View Website

WWHub

site moderator|||

Joined: Tue, May 16, 2006
13079 Posts

Done back in 2005

http://revit-alize.blogspot.com/2005/11/stairway-to-heaven.html

This user is offline

rwood27

active

Joined: Thu, Mar 8, 2007
25 Posts

Thanks.  Again, I'm not suggested you can't do a custom stair.  I'm just curious as to what people have typically done given time constraints for documenting a complex stair.  I think trying to create this ellipse is what is hurting me.  The very nice glass stair in that link appears to be a single curve.  I'd like to see that done with inside turns and switchbacks.  Thanks again!

This user is offline

View Website

cheapstairparts

active

Joined: Fri, May 24, 2013
1 Posts
No Rating

Hello! This forum popped up in my google alerts, and after seeing your custom railing rendering I gotta say, very nice work! I actually sale your typical remodel parts at http://cheapstairparts.com so we know a little about stairs.

I have a question, maybe a suggestion.  Is there any reason you would be putting the horizontal metal bar there across that small balcony area? It does look a little silly. Normally wood or iron balusters are easily strong enough to not need additional support.

One more suggestion. Most building codes require a newel post every time your stair changes level or makes a turn. This would mean you would possibly need 4 extra newel posts in your design.

Just throwing that out there. I'm not sure what your rendering is for but I thought every little bit of advice helps.

Good luck!

This user is offline

View Website

My railings doesn't go with my stairs

14

Problems attaching railings to stairs

4

Attaching railings to stairs?

2

Railings

2

Detailing/dimensioning stairs and railings

1