Stairs and railings layout and design in Revit - Changing and editing stair types

Tutorial resources

These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:

Modify-Stairs_002.rvt - (6 mb)

Transcript

00:04

So now we want to change the stair type.

00:06

We'll make it into a feature stair with metal treads and supports and open rises.

00:12

Let's first select down stairs

00:15

and now we'll choose edit type from the properties pallette and

00:18

that will open up the properties of the seven inch maximize

00:24

We don't want to make changes to this. So first we'll duplicate it

00:27

and we'll call this one

00:29

lobby stairs,

00:31

say OK to that.

00:33

And now we can start to make some changes.

00:36

So looking at the parameters here,

00:37

we can see where our maximum riser height and tread depth,

00:40

minimum tread depth come from,

00:43

we can see the run out

00:45

and the landing

00:47

and then we have the support types, right, support,

00:49

left support and then the type of support

00:52

assigned to this there.

00:54

We haven't made any changes yet.

00:55

So this is the same as the stair we've already created.

00:58

So let's come and change the run type first.

01:01

So we'll select the family type here and then choose

01:04

the ellipses button to open up the properties of that.

01:08

So this is the

01:10

separate component that's making up the run type.

01:12

So moving this box aside,

01:14

we can see we have the stair type and then the run type properties

01:18

and we need to duplicate the run type before we go any further.

01:21

So let's duplicate that

01:23

and we'll call this one open rises.

01:25

So we'll say, OK,

01:28

so now for the run, we can see we have the tread material and rizor material at the top,

01:32

we have the treads enabled and the riser is enabled.

01:35

So to make this an open riser, we're just gonna uncheck the

01:38

RSO option.

01:40

Now we'll come and change the thread material.

01:42

So we'll choose the existing material and

01:44

then from the ellipses button that appears,

01:46

we'll open up the material browser.

01:50

So currently it's set to open flooring,

01:52

we'll just scroll up and we'll choose the metal aluminum material.

01:56

And then we'll say, OK

01:57

to assign that to our treads.

02:00

And then finally, we want to change the thickness of the tread.

02:03

So we'll change this from a two inch thick tread to a half inch thick tread.

02:09

That's all we need to change here. So we'll say, OK,

02:11

and then the open rises is assigned to our ram type.

02:17

Next, we'll change the support types.

02:19

So for the right support, it's a stringer, a closed stringer and that's fine.

02:24

But the right support type is our stringer with two inch width.

02:27

So let's choose this. And then from the ellipses button that appears,

02:30

we can edit its properties.

02:33

Once again, we'll duplicate this

02:35

and we'll call this one, the stringer

02:37

with a half inch width.

02:43

So now we'll assign the same material.

02:45

So choose them by category and then the ellipses to open the material. Browser

02:50

metal aluminum is already selected.

02:52

So we can just say, OK, to assign that one into the material.

02:57

And now we can see here, we have the width. So we just need to change this to a half inch.

03:03

And then we can say, OK,

03:05

to create that stringer for the right support type,

03:08

the left support type has the two inch width, string of steel. So let's choose that,

03:13

choose the ellipses button

03:15

and then from the type drop down,

03:16

we'll just change it to the stringer half inch width that we just created.

03:20

So OK. And that's now assigned

03:23

into our lobby stereotype,

03:26

let's say OK to that.

03:28

And then we can see that our stairs are updated.

03:31

We can see that we have the open rises

03:34

and then we have the half inch aluminum

03:36

components, the treads and the sports

03:40

that's created our future style.

03:43

So the next stage is we want to customize the shape

03:45

of the landing to make it more of a feature.

03:48

So let's go back to our level one floor plan which is on the tab at the top still.

03:53

And we'll select our stairss

03:54

and from the modify ribbon, choose edit stairs.

04:01

Now we can select our landing. These stairs are made by components.

04:05

So as a reminder we had the first flight

04:08

and the second flight and then the landing that connect those two together.

04:12

So each of these components can be customized.

04:14

And this landing we're going to convert to a sketch based landing.

04:17

So from the modify ribbon

04:20

with the landing selected,

04:21

we have this button here that allows us to convert to a sketch

04:24

based component.

04:26

So we'll choose that.

04:28

We'll get a warning just letting us know that we're

04:30

converting it to custom and the undo won't work.

04:33

04:34

we'll close to continue. And now the edit sketch tool is available to us.

04:38

So we'll choose that to edit the sketch of our landing.

04:43

So zoom in in here,

04:44

we can see we have these green lines

04:45

which are representing the boundary of our landing

04:48

and we have a blue line to represent the path of the stairs going through the landing.

04:54

So we'll sketch an arc into this corner here.

04:58

So from the ribbon tools,

05:00

we'll choose the start and radius a

05:03

tool.

05:05

And now I'm going to choose where the reference plane intersects the

05:08

current boundary and then the reference plane intersect in the other boundary

05:12

and then we'll drag this out to create ourselves a curve. So let's position that

05:18

we don't have to be too accurate with it at this stage.

05:21

Although we could come back and edit the radius if we needed to.

05:24

So we could make that four ft

05:28

and now we'll use the trim extend to corner

05:31

tool once more to tidy up the land and sketch

05:34

and trim out the edges here that we don't want.

05:38

Haven't got that finished. That's gonna create our landing.

05:41

The stair path is fine that's still flowing through the landing here.

05:44

So we'll choose finish edit mode

05:46

to go and create our landing.

05:49

That's all we need to do. So we'll now choose finished edit mode to create the stairs

05:54

and then we'll go back to the entrance lobby view.

05:57

Although the hole in the floor needs updating to match,

05:60

we can see that the Latin is now curved and the railings are also following it.

06:04

So let's edit the opening in the floor.

06:06

We can choose that as a separate component

06:08

and choose edit boundary.

06:11

Let's swap back to our level one plan.

06:16

And this time, we'll choose our pick lines once more and choose the edge of the new

06:20

curved landing.

06:23

We use trim and extend the corner once more to tidy up the landing sketch.

06:28

And then we can choose finished edit mode

06:30

to update the whole.

06:33

Let's go back to the entrance lobby view

06:35

and we can now see

06:37

the new opening in our floor

06:39

which is now following

06:40

the stairs and allowing for our new curved landing.

06:44

So finally, we have the railings so we can choose the railings on the stairs.

06:48

These have been created as we've created the stair automatically

06:52

and as we've edited the shape, they've kept up and followed around the edited shape.

06:57

But the actual type of railings is set

06:60

in the type properties here as a separate object.

07:02

So these are currently the handrail rectangular

07:06

and we can swap these to be a handrail pipe.

07:09

Let's swap the other one too

07:12

to give us a more decorative railing.

07:16

Once we've got them both swapped, we could come and choose edit type

07:20

and we can see the properties of the handrail here.

07:23

And we have this set to be a

07:25

circular 1.5 inch row, which is three ft above the stairs.

07:31

And then we also have the raw structure

07:33

where we can come and position more rails at different

07:37

heights to customize the design of that if we wish.

07:41

And then finally, we have the baller placement

07:44

and we have a post placed every four ft currently.

07:47

So let's change this down to three ft

07:51

and then we can say, ok,

07:53

and then apply that

07:55

and we can see the updated posts in our railing on the screen.

07:58

So let's say, ok

07:59

to finish that off.

Video transcript

00:04

So now we want to change the stair type.

00:06

We'll make it into a feature stair with metal treads and supports and open rises.

00:12

Let's first select down stairs

00:15

and now we'll choose edit type from the properties pallette and

00:18

that will open up the properties of the seven inch maximize

00:24

We don't want to make changes to this. So first we'll duplicate it

00:27

and we'll call this one

00:29

lobby stairs,

00:31

say OK to that.

00:33

And now we can start to make some changes.

00:36

So looking at the parameters here,

00:37

we can see where our maximum riser height and tread depth,

00:40

minimum tread depth come from,

00:43

we can see the run out

00:45

and the landing

00:47

and then we have the support types, right, support,

00:49

left support and then the type of support

00:52

assigned to this there.

00:54

We haven't made any changes yet.

00:55

So this is the same as the stair we've already created.

00:58

So let's come and change the run type first.

01:01

So we'll select the family type here and then choose

01:04

the ellipses button to open up the properties of that.

01:08

So this is the

01:10

separate component that's making up the run type.

01:12

So moving this box aside,

01:14

we can see we have the stair type and then the run type properties

01:18

and we need to duplicate the run type before we go any further.

01:21

So let's duplicate that

01:23

and we'll call this one open rises.

01:25

So we'll say, OK,

01:28

so now for the run, we can see we have the tread material and rizor material at the top,

01:32

we have the treads enabled and the riser is enabled.

01:35

So to make this an open riser, we're just gonna uncheck the

01:38

RSO option.

01:40

Now we'll come and change the thread material.

01:42

So we'll choose the existing material and

01:44

then from the ellipses button that appears,

01:46

we'll open up the material browser.

01:50

So currently it's set to open flooring,

01:52

we'll just scroll up and we'll choose the metal aluminum material.

01:56

And then we'll say, OK

01:57

to assign that to our treads.

02:00

And then finally, we want to change the thickness of the tread.

02:03

So we'll change this from a two inch thick tread to a half inch thick tread.

02:09

That's all we need to change here. So we'll say, OK,

02:11

and then the open rises is assigned to our ram type.

02:17

Next, we'll change the support types.

02:19

So for the right support, it's a stringer, a closed stringer and that's fine.

02:24

But the right support type is our stringer with two inch width.

02:27

So let's choose this. And then from the ellipses button that appears,

02:30

we can edit its properties.

02:33

Once again, we'll duplicate this

02:35

and we'll call this one, the stringer

02:37

with a half inch width.

02:43

So now we'll assign the same material.

02:45

So choose them by category and then the ellipses to open the material. Browser

02:50

metal aluminum is already selected.

02:52

So we can just say, OK, to assign that one into the material.

02:57

And now we can see here, we have the width. So we just need to change this to a half inch.

03:03

And then we can say, OK,

03:05

to create that stringer for the right support type,

03:08

the left support type has the two inch width, string of steel. So let's choose that,

03:13

choose the ellipses button

03:15

and then from the type drop down,

03:16

we'll just change it to the stringer half inch width that we just created.

03:20

So OK. And that's now assigned

03:23

into our lobby stereotype,

03:26

let's say OK to that.

03:28

And then we can see that our stairs are updated.

03:31

We can see that we have the open rises

03:34

and then we have the half inch aluminum

03:36

components, the treads and the sports

03:40

that's created our future style.

03:43

So the next stage is we want to customize the shape

03:45

of the landing to make it more of a feature.

03:48

So let's go back to our level one floor plan which is on the tab at the top still.

03:53

And we'll select our stairss

03:54

and from the modify ribbon, choose edit stairs.

04:01

Now we can select our landing. These stairs are made by components.

04:05

So as a reminder we had the first flight

04:08

and the second flight and then the landing that connect those two together.

04:12

So each of these components can be customized.

04:14

And this landing we're going to convert to a sketch based landing.

04:17

So from the modify ribbon

04:20

with the landing selected,

04:21

we have this button here that allows us to convert to a sketch

04:24

based component.

04:26

So we'll choose that.

04:28

We'll get a warning just letting us know that we're

04:30

converting it to custom and the undo won't work.

04:33

04:34

we'll close to continue. And now the edit sketch tool is available to us.

04:38

So we'll choose that to edit the sketch of our landing.

04:43

So zoom in in here,

04:44

we can see we have these green lines

04:45

which are representing the boundary of our landing

04:48

and we have a blue line to represent the path of the stairs going through the landing.

04:54

So we'll sketch an arc into this corner here.

04:58

So from the ribbon tools,

05:00

we'll choose the start and radius a

05:03

tool.

05:05

And now I'm going to choose where the reference plane intersects the

05:08

current boundary and then the reference plane intersect in the other boundary

05:12

and then we'll drag this out to create ourselves a curve. So let's position that

05:18

we don't have to be too accurate with it at this stage.

05:21

Although we could come back and edit the radius if we needed to.

05:24

So we could make that four ft

05:28

and now we'll use the trim extend to corner

05:31

tool once more to tidy up the land and sketch

05:34

and trim out the edges here that we don't want.

05:38

Haven't got that finished. That's gonna create our landing.

05:41

The stair path is fine that's still flowing through the landing here.

05:44

So we'll choose finish edit mode

05:46

to go and create our landing.

05:49

That's all we need to do. So we'll now choose finished edit mode to create the stairs

05:54

and then we'll go back to the entrance lobby view.

05:57

Although the hole in the floor needs updating to match,

05:60

we can see that the Latin is now curved and the railings are also following it.

06:04

So let's edit the opening in the floor.

06:06

We can choose that as a separate component

06:08

and choose edit boundary.

06:11

Let's swap back to our level one plan.

06:16

And this time, we'll choose our pick lines once more and choose the edge of the new

06:20

curved landing.

06:23

We use trim and extend the corner once more to tidy up the landing sketch.

06:28

And then we can choose finished edit mode

06:30

to update the whole.

06:33

Let's go back to the entrance lobby view

06:35

and we can now see

06:37

the new opening in our floor

06:39

which is now following

06:40

the stairs and allowing for our new curved landing.

06:44

So finally, we have the railings so we can choose the railings on the stairs.

06:48

These have been created as we've created the stair automatically

06:52

and as we've edited the shape, they've kept up and followed around the edited shape.

06:57

But the actual type of railings is set

06:60

in the type properties here as a separate object.

07:02

So these are currently the handrail rectangular

07:06

and we can swap these to be a handrail pipe.

07:09

Let's swap the other one too

07:12

to give us a more decorative railing.

07:16

Once we've got them both swapped, we could come and choose edit type

07:20

and we can see the properties of the handrail here.

07:23

And we have this set to be a

07:25

circular 1.5 inch row, which is three ft above the stairs.

07:31

And then we also have the raw structure

07:33

where we can come and position more rails at different

07:37

heights to customize the design of that if we wish.

07:41

And then finally, we have the baller placement

07:44

and we have a post placed every four ft currently.

07:47

So let's change this down to three ft

07:51

and then we can say, ok,

07:53

and then apply that

07:55

and we can see the updated posts in our railing on the screen.

07:58

So let's say, ok

07:59

to finish that off.

Step-by-step guide

Edit stair element properties.

Open the file Modify Stairs.rvt, where a created staircase intersects with an opening in the floor.
Open the Entrance Lobby 3D view and select the stairs.
In Properties click Edit Type.

In the Revit interface, the project open to the Entrance Lobby 3D view, with the staircase selected; and in Properties, Edit Type selected.

In the Type Properties dialog box, click Duplicate and enter the name “Lobby Stairs”.
Click OK.

In the Type Properties dialog box, Duplicate highlighted in red, and in the Name popup, the name for this example entered, with OK selected.

In the Construction area, beside the Run Type option, click the value and click Browse (…).
In the Run Type dialog box, click Duplicate and name the new run type “Open Risers”.

In the Name popup, the name “Open Risers” entered for the new run, with OK selected.

Click OK.
In the Risers area, deselect the Riser button.
In the Materials and Finishes area, click the Tread Material value, and click Browse (…).
In the Material Browser, select Metal – Aluminum.
Click OK.
In the Treads area, set the Tread Thickness to 1/2".
Click OK.

In the Type Properties dialog box, settings for this example configured and highlighted in red, with OK selected.

The Run Type is now set to Open Risers.

In the Supports area, click the Right Support Type value, and click Browse (…).

In the Type Properties dialog box, the new Run Type of “Open Risers” highlighted in red, and next to the Right Support Type value, the Browse (…) button selected and highlighted in red.

In the dialog box, click Duplicate and name the type “Stringer - 1/2" Width”.
Set the Material to Metal – Aluminum and the Width to 0' 0 1/2".
Click OK.

In the Type Properties dialog box, settings for this example configured and highlighted in red, with OK selected.

Click the Left Support Type value, and click Browse (…).
In the Type Properties dialog box, expand the Type drop-down and select
Stringer – 1/2" Width.

In the Type Properties dialog box, the Type drop-down expanded with Stringer – 1/2 inch Width selected.

Click OK.
The stairs are updated with the open risers.

In the zoomed-in Entrance Lobby 3D view, the stairs updated with open risers.

Open the Level 1 view and select the stairs.
In the Modify | Stairs tab > Edit panel click Edit Stairs.
Select the landing, and in the Modify | Create Stair tab > Tools panel, click Convert.

In the Level 1 view, the landing selected, and in the Modify | Create Stair tab > Tools panel, <strong>Convert</strong> selected.

Read the warning and click Close.
In the Modify | Create Stair tab > Tools panel, click Edit Sketch.
In the Draw panel, click Start-Center-End Arc, sketch the arc, and drag to create a curve.

In the Draw panel, the Start-Center-End Arc tool selected and highlighted in red, and in the Level 1 view, dragging the sketched arc to create a curve.

Trim the sketch using Trim/Extend to Corner. (Dimensions for information only.)

In the Modify panel, Trim/Extend to Corner selected, and in the Level 1 view, trimming the sketch.

Click Finish Edit Mode and the landing is created.
Click Finish Edit Mode again to finish editing the stair.
Open the Entrance Lobby 3D view to see the curved landing and the railing following it.

In the Entrance Lobby 3D view, the new curved landing, with the railing following it.

Select the opening and click Edit Boundary.
Switch to the Level 1 view.

In the view, the selected floor opening outlined in purple, and the Level 1 view being selected.

Use Pick Line and Trim/Extend to Corner to modify the opening.

In the Level 1 view, using Trim/Extend to Corner to clean up the landing sketch.

Click Finish Edit Mode.
Switch to the Entrance Lobby 3D view and select the railings.
In the Type Selector, select Railing: Handrail – Pipe. The railing is updated.
With the railings still selected, click Edit Type. In the Type Properties dialog box, click Edit beside Baluster Placement.
In the Edit Baluster Placement dialog box, set the Dist. From Previous to 3'-0".

In the 3D view, the updated railing; in the Type Selector, the new railing type highlighted in red; and in the Edit Baluster Placement dialog box, the updated Dist. from previous value highlighted in red, with OK selected.

Click OK twice to view the updated railing and finished staircase.

In the Entrance Lobby 3D view, the updated railing and completed staircase.

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Changing and editing stair types

Step-by-step guide

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