Creating Stairs Between Floor Platforms Located on the Same Floor Level

The information in this article applies to:

QUESTION

I have two areas on the same floor level with varying heights. Is there an easy, automatic method to create a set of stairs between these two areas or rooms?

ANSWER

Both the Draw Stairs and Straight Stairs tools allow you to automatically create a stair section between floor platforms on the same floor of a plan, or from an exterior room such as a deck or porch down to the terrain using just a single click.

To create stairs between platforms on the same floor

1. In a blank file, use the Straight Exterior Wall  tool to draw a simple, rectangular structure.  
   
   
   
   
   
2. Navigate to Build> Railing and Deck or Build> Wall  , select a railing or wall tool of your choice, then create a railing or wall dividing the structure into two separate rooms.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Using the Select Objects  tool, click in one of the rooms to select it, then click the Open Object  edit button.  
   
   
   
4. On the General panel of the Room Specification dialog that opens, specify a Floor value that is different from the adjacent room, then click OK.
   
   In this example, the Floor has been set to 24" and the Ceiling has been raised from the default of 109 1/8" to 133 1/8".
   
   
   
   
   
5. Select Build> Stairs> Draw Stairs or Straight Stairs , move your cursor into the room with the lower floor height and position it within a few feet of the railing or wall that is separating the two rooms, then click once.
   
   A set of stairs will be created between the two rooms, along with an opening in the railing or wall.