The Stair macros available with PowerPack for Advance Steel are powerful tools for anyone who wants to create stairs, but they are not magic.

To get the best from these macros it’s important to understand the philosophy of how it’s working. This philosophy is based on 4 aspects that you must have in mind before using the macro.

Let’s start with the first one.

A. The 2D setting out points defined

To ensure the macro works as expected, you need to have the 2D setting out points defined.

This is an important step to be done before starting the modeling.

The PowerPack Premium Stair tools use different setting out points. You need the bottom point of the first tread & top point of the last tread, exactly how is showed in the image below.

B. Don’t forget about the overlap

If your stair has a constant overlap, then move your last point horizontally to include the overlap.

In the example below the overlap is 50mm, therefore the blue point was moved with 50mm.

C. Know the length of the landing extension

For the staircases with 2 or 3 flights you need to know the length of the landing extension before using the macro.

In the example below, you can see 2 landing extensions for a stair with 2 flights: one of 230 mm in blue and the second of 460 mm in red.

D. Turning points for multiflight stairs

For the multiflight stairs created with the PowerPack macros, you need to define the turning points at the ground level, as you can see in examples below.

Going through these 4 steps before starting to use the Stair macro, will ensure that the macro is working as you expected and you will get the full benefits of its features.