DEMO VERSION - CHAPTER #11 - STAIRS

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© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions
 THANKS FOR TRYING BASICS
Thanks a lot for trying the BASICS package! The Revit Pure philosophy is
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 LET’S HAVE FUN
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 TABLE OF CONTENT
PART 1: MODEL

1. BASIC INTERFACE
1.1. The Ribbon 12
1.2 Status, View And Options Bars 14
1.3 Project Browser And Properties 15
1.4 11 Beginner Tips To Understand Revit Interface 16
1.5 Family, Type And Instance 19

2. WALLS
2.1. Create a Basic Wall 22
2.2. Adjust Walls 25
2.3. Create Sweeps and Reveals 26
2.4. Basic Walls FAQ 27
2.5 Compound Walls 28
2.6 Modify Wall Structure 29
2.7 5 Advanced Wall Tips 32

3. MODIFY
3.1. Adjusting Existing Elements 35

4. LEVELS AND GRID

4.1. Create Levels 42
4.2 Create Grids 43
4.3 5 Basic Tips for Levels and Grids 44

5. FLOORS
5.1. Create a Floor 46
5.2. 4 Floor Tips 48
 6. CEILINGS
6.1. Create A Ceiling 50
6.2. Modify Ceiling Tiles Grids 52

7. ROOF
7.1. Create A Roof 53
7.2. 10 Basic Roof Tips 54
7.3. 5 Advanced Roof Tips 60

8. DOORS
8.1. Create A Door 63

9. WINDOWS
9.1. Create A Window 64

10. CURTAIN WALLS

10.1. What Are Curtain Walls? 66
10.2. Create A Curtain Wall 67
10.3. Fill An Empty Curtain Wall 68
10.4. Set An Automatic Curtain Wall 69
10.5. Create Rectangular Mullion Type 71
10.6. 11 Curtain Walls Tips 72
10.7. Case Study: Casino Casework 78
10.8. 2 Advanced Curtain Walls Tips 79

11. STAIRS
11.1. Before Modeling Your First Stair 80
11.2 Create A Basic Stair 82
11.3 9 Essential Stair Tips 84
11.4 3 Advanced Stair Tips 89
 12. RAILINGS
12.1 Create A Railing 91
12.2 3 Railing Creation Tips 92
12.3 The Anatomy Of A Railing 94
12.4 Create A Top Rail / Handrail 97
12.5 Create A Baluster Pattern 102
12.6 6 Tips To Create the Perfect Railing Type 105
12.7 3 Advanced Railing Tips 108

13. SITE
13.1. Create A Topography 110
13.2. Create A Building Pad 112

14. MATERIALS
14.2. Create a Material 112
14.2. Split Face / Paint 114

15. ROOMS
15.1. What Is A Room? 115
15.2. Adjust Room Height 116

PART 2: VIEWS
16. VIEWS
16.1. How To Create New Views 118
16.2 5 Settings To Adjust In Each View 119
16.3 Setting Far Clip 122

17. PLAN VIEWS

17.1. Create Plan Views 123
17.2. How View Range Works 124
 18. SECTIONS
18.1. Create A Section 125

19. ELEVATIONS
19.1. Create An Elevation 127

20. CALLOUTS
20.1. Create A Callout 128

21. DETAILS
21.1. Create Detailing - Hybrid Technique 129
21.2. 8 Tips For Efficient Detailing 130

22. 3D VIEWS
22.1. Create 3D Views 134
22.2. Create a Perspective 135

23. LEGENDS
23.1. What Are Legends Used For? 136

24. VIEW TEMPLATES

24.1 Creating a View Template 137
24.1 Assign Template To All New Views 139

25. VISIBILITY
25.1. Hide Elements 140
25.2 Visibility Graphics 141
25.3 Temporary Hide/Isolate Elements 142
PART 3: ANNOTATE

26. LINES
26.1. Detail Lines vs Model Lines 144
26.2 Create A Line Style 145

27. TAGS
27.1. What Is A Tag? 146
27.2 Room Tag / Material Tag 147
27.3 4 Basic Tags Tips 148

28. TEXT
28.1. Place Text And Adjust Leaders 150

29. REGIONS
29.1. What Is A Region? 151
29.2 Edit Region Type 152
29.3 Hide Things With Masking Region 153
29.4 Create A Pattern 154

30. DIMENSIONS
30.1. Create A Dimension 155

PART 4: PUBLISH AND COLLABORATE

31. SHEETS
31.1 Create A Sheet 159
31.2 View References Are Automatic 162
31.3 3 Tips To Navigate Sheet 163
31.4 Advanced Tip: Modify A Title Block 165
 32. REVISIONS
32.1 Create A New Revision 166
32.2 Create A Revision Cloud 167

33. PRINT
32.1 Print Your View Or Sheet 168

34. CENTRAL FILES

34.1 Central File vs Local File 170
34.2 Synchronize 171
34.3 Collaborate 172

35. LINK CAD

35.1 Preparing CAD Files 173
35.2 Use These Link Cad Settings 174
35.3 4 Linked Cad Tips 175

36. EXPORT CAD

36.1 How To Export To CAD 177

PART 5: ADVANCED TOOLS

37. SCHEDULES
37.1 What Are Schedules Used for? 179
37.2 Create A Basic Schedule 181
37.3 19 Tips To Become A Schedule Master 182
 38. PHASES
38.1 Create Phases 193
38.2 How To Demolish 195
38.3 What Is A Phase Filter? 196
38.4 What Are Graphic Overrides? 196
38.5 What Phase Filter Should You Use? 199

39. WORKSETS
39.1 What Are Worksets? 200
39.2 5 Tips To Use Worksets Properly 202

40. GROUPS
40.1 Create A Group 206
40.2 Quick Group Tips 207

41. MODEL IN-PLACE

41.1 What is Model in-Place 208

42. FAMILIES
42.1 Create A Cabinet Family 210
42.2 Create Annotation Family 216

43. DESIGN OPTIONS

43.1 Create Design Options 218
 PART 1
MODEL

After an overview of the interface, learn how to model all 3D

elements for your project. Also create a site, add rooms and
learn how to use materials.
11.1
STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

BEFORE MODELING YOUR FIRST STAIR

Making a stair in Revit is easy. You set all settings for your stairs, select two
levels to join and BOOM, a wild stair appears. Sounds too good to be true?
For this level of simplicity to be achieved, you need to understand every
parameters that are either set in Stair Type, or calculated automatically by
Revit. Please read the following definitions.

BASE AND TOP LEVELS

Stairs are based on selected levels that already exist
in the project. You can add an offset on these levels
if required.

DESIRED STAIR HEIGHT

Total distance between the base and the top of the
stairs, including offsets.

DESIRED NUMBER OF RISERS

Automatically calculated by Revit, dividing Stair
Height by Maximum Riser Height. You can change
this number, which will modify the stair slope.

ACTUAL NUMBER OF RISERS

The number of risers you modeled so far.

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STAIRS
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MAXIMUM RISER HEIGHT

Riser height for your stair will never go above
this value. This parameter is set on the stair type.
Usually on par with code requirements.

ACTUAL RISER HEIGHT

This distance is automatically calculated by Revit,
dividing the Stair Height by the Desired Number
of Risers.

MINIMUM TREAD DEPTH

On the stair type, specify the minimum tread
depth. When you start modeling your stair, you can
go above this number, but not below.

ACTUAL TREAD DEPTH

By default, this value is equal to minimum tread
depth set in the stair type. However, you can set a
bigger value if you want more depth.

MINIMUM RUN WIDTH

Set on the stair type, you can specify the minimum
run width. This does not include support (stringers).

ACTUAL RUN WIDTH

By default, this will be the same as the minimum
run width. You can set a higher value than the
minimum, but a lower value will result in a Warning.
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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

CREATE A BASIC STAIR

1. SET MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM VALUES

Select the stair tool in the architecture tab. Then, click on

in the properties. Adjust Maximum Riser Height, Minimum Tread Depth
and Minimum Run Width. Usually, these values are set in order to satisfy
code requirements. This will affect all stairs using this type.

2. SET BASE AND TOP LEVELS

Select your base and top levels. Set offsets. Desired Stair Height will be
automatically calculated.

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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

3. DRAW THE STAIR

You can now begin to draw your stair. There is many stair shape options,
for now let’s use the most common Straight one. Click a first time to
set the start point of your stair. Move your cursor to see the projected
shape of your run, based on the tread depth you have set previously. Click
again to complete the run.

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11.3
STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

9 ESSENTIAL STAIR TIPS

1- STAIR ALWAYS GO FROM BOTTOM TO TOP

When drawing a stair path, you start at the low point, and end with the top
of the stairs. If you did it backwards, flip the stairs, by clicking the Flip
button or clicking the arrow.

2- HAVE A CLOSE LOOK AT OPTIONS BAR

When entering stair creation mode, have a look at the option bar. You can
change Location Line to decide if you want to draw the stairs based on
the side or on the center of the run. You can also change the Actual Run
Width to go above the minimum you specified previously.

3- USE 3D VIEWS AND SECTIONS

Using 3D views in addition to plan views and sections is a great way to

build and understand stairs. Use Selection Box to isolate the stair in
the 3D view if required. To create stairs from a 3D view, make sure the
Workplane is set to a plan level, else you will receive a warning.

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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

4- UNDERSTAND WHERE TO FIND ALL PARAMETERS

STAIR TYPE
Controls the dimension rules of
your stairs, like riser height, tread
depth and run width.

Inside Stair Type, you will also

find Run Type, Landing Type and
Support type.

To modify these types, either go to Stair Type, or use TAB to individually

select a run, landing or support. Then click .

RUN TYPE
Inside this type, you can modify Tread Thickness, and set a Nosing Length
to your treads. You can also set Riser Thickness and decide if you want
them slanted. Also use this panel to set materials for treads and risers.

LANDING TYPE
By default, this will be the same as Run Type. Uncheck the box
to customize landing material, thickness, nosing, etc.

SUPPORT TYPE
Specify whether to use Carriage or Stringer style support. Also set
support Material, Width and Depth. See advanced tips for more
information.

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11.3
STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

5- LANDINGS ARE AUTOMATIC BY DEFAULT.

If you draw two stairs run next to each other, Revit will automatically add
a landing to join the two. You can uncheck this feature when creating the
stairs (see tip 2).

Landings at the top or at the bottom of the stairs are never automatic,
they have to be created manually. Use the Landing Component and
select Create Sketch button. Then draw the outline of the landing.

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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

6- ADJUST “DESIRED NUMBER OF RISERS” TO CHANGE

STAIR SLOPE

By default, Desired Number of Risers will be equal to the lowest number

of risers you need to not go beyond Maximum Riser Height. However,
you can specify more risers to get a softer stair slope. Don’t ever put less
risers than the calculated minimum, else you will receive a warning !

7- ADJUST “ACTUAL TREAD DEPTH” FOR A LONGER RUN

Instead of adding risers, you can also put a bigger value to Actual Tread
Depth for a softer stair slope. Changing this value will make the run longer.
Again, don’t put a number below the Minimum Tread Depth, else you will
receive a warning. Warnings are annoying and mean that you are not
following your own rules.

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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

8- ADJUST “BEGIN WITH RISER” AND “END WITH RISER”

In the image below, RUN #1 has the default settings: it begins and ends
with a riser. However, we changed the settings for RUN #2, which begins
and ends with a tread instead of a riser. You can change this option by
clicking on a run and checking/unchecking the parameters.

9- SELECT RAILING TYPE WHILE CREATING STAIRS

While creating stairs, railings will automatically be added to your

stair. The default type will be the last one selected. To change it,
click the railing button and select another type, or select None for a stair
without railing. Chapter 12 is dedicated to the creation of railings.

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STAIRS
© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

3 ADVANCED STAIR TIPS

1- SELECT CARRIAGE OR STRINGER SUPPORT TYPE

A Carriage Support is underneath the stair, following the shape of treads

and risers. This is a type usually used for a wooden residential stair type.
A Stringer Support will be separate from the stairs, usually on par with
metallic stairs construction type. These settings are found in Stair Type.

2- SET SUPPORT DIMENSIONS

On the Support Type properties,
set all support dimension. See next
page to understand what all this
stuff means.

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© Copyright 2017 - BIM Pure Productions - revitpure.com BASICS

WIDTH
The width of the support. This is always independent
from Actual Run Width, meaning you have to add
2 supports width to know the total stair width.

TOTAL DEPTH
This value is the perpendicular distance between
the top and bottom of the support.

STRUCTURAL DEPTH ON RUN

This is the distance between the bottom of the
tread and the bottom of the support, parallel to the
support diagonal.

STRUCTURAL DEPTH ON LANDING

This is the distance between the bottom of the
landing and the bottom of the support.

3- USE MULTISTORY FOR IDENTICAL HIGH-RISE STAIRS

You have a buildings with lots of floors?
The distance between levels is always the
same? Then you should use Multistory
Stairs. Create a stair, then select the top
floor to join. Revit will create identical
stairs joining all floors up to that level.

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