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Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Stair tool nightmares

Anonymous
Not applicable
We have endless endless issues with the stair tool. Even drawing the simplest staircase takes hours of fannying around no matter what settings we adjust. I've set up favorites for compliant stairs which work sometimes but not others despite the fact that the arrangement is 100% correct & buildable. I understand that there's a lot of different instances the tool has to meet, but why oh why is it so utterly over complicated??

My current frustration is in trying to draw a simple staircase with winders at each end. There's gallons of room, the minimum tread & riser sizes are the only constraint, yet it just won't work no matter how I draw or constrain it; and sometimes when you select one of the (incorrect) layouts it suggests, the stair fails to place at all! It's getting to the point that it would be quicker to model each individual piece rather than waste time trying to get the stair tool to do something we know works.

Please, please can we get a stair tool that isn't a massive waste of time.
20 REPLIES 20
Geof Gainer
Booster
Hi Daniel, thanks for offering to look into quirky stair situations. Here's what I typically have to model.

(Or let me know where I should sent this outside of this thread)
AC fan since v 7. Currently on AC 26 Build 5003 USA FULL Apple Silicon,. 2022 Mac Studio, 32G ram. OS X 12.6.2
Lingwisyer
Guru
A stair with a winder? As you draw your stair, you could change it to use winders instead of landings, or after placing it, you could select the reference line of the landing, and change it to winder.



Ling.

AC22-23 AUS 7000Help Those Help You - Add a Signature
Self-taught, bend it till it breaksCreating a Thread
Win11 | i9 10850K | 64GB | RX6600 Win10 | R5 2600 | 16GB | GTX1660
Daniel Kovacs
Graphisoft Alumni
Graphisoft Alumni
Geof wrote:
Hi Daniel, thanks for offering to look into quirky stair situations. Here's what I typically have to model.

(Or let me know where I should sent this outside of this thread)
Hi,

You sent it to the right place.

As Lingwisyer said, this is quite a simple situation, just a stair with a winder segment on one side. Here is an article about winder segments that might help understanding it better:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/knowledgebase/75535/

If you had issues with modeling specific details of this stair, then upload a picture of that specific situation, and the model (in PLA), so that we can look at that specific situation.

Thanks,
Daniel Alexander Kovacs

Professional Services Consultant

GRAPHISOFT



For Troubleshooting and useful Tips & Tricks visit

Two years and versions later, and quite a few stairs managed, yesterday I hit a new issue. The Custom profile stringers do not work properly at the internal corners. Only by tweaking the connections - IF they want to work - an approximate result can be achieved.

Treads extend to the sides to the outer boundary of the stringers, instead of ending at the inside of the stringers.

Handrail that is magic wanded on the stair ref line in 3D is losing its associativity if moved to the correct height, because otherwise it clashes with the stringer profile. I should also mention the top rail connections at turns of the staircase.

While the staircase tool is powerful, it shows the problem with any automation or AI - it is as good as the programmer's understanding of the subject. Steel staircases are common. It is not only wood and concrete.

Check... https://cdcon-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/djordje_archcorner_net/EWJJcWpW3C5InzJtRsLNoUwBcr4gPM...

Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen

Hello,

 

Thank you very much for the report and I am so sorry for the experience!

 

I downloaded the BIMx file, and indeed I could see the mentioned problem. To help with the investigation, I'm wondering if you could share the original PLN file with us, so that we can investigate how it reaches this state? If you need a secure place to upload the file, feel free to let us know!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Minh

Minh Nguyen
Technical Support Engineer
GRAPHISOFT

Thanks for the reply 🙂

Please let me have the upload link.

Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen

Hi Djordje,

 

I have sent the link in a Private Message. Hope you have received it by now.

Could you please let me know when the file is uploaded?

Thank you very much!

 

Best regards,

Minh

Minh Nguyen
Technical Support Engineer
GRAPHISOFT

Djordje
Ace

Thanks, Minh

Uploading now.

Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen

Daniel Alexander Kovacs,

I have attempted to do that stair in 22 and can't get it to work. I also need a single line of stairs with the 3 winders at the bottom only and it never seems to work. Do you have a video tutorial where I can get the basics?

Odette Salem
www.virtualhouse.com.au
AC22 AUS . Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7800X CPU @ 3.50GHz . 32.0 GB ram . 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Ivan Myers
Booster

I know this is an old thread but now in AC 26 is seems much worse.  I am so frustrated at the complexity of this stupid tool that I'm considering quitting Archicad all together. Just getting walk lines and UP / DN labels correct is a joke.  There is so much control over every aspect of a stair that it is OUT of Control! 

 

 

Designer/ Drafter

ArchiCAD 26 on 27" Mac