Adding Patio Stairs

To add Patio Stairs:

1.   Click the Add Patio Stairs button, which is found near the top of the screen under the Building tab.

2.   Draw the outline of the top of the Patio Stairs by clicking the left mouse button to add points. Press the Backspace key to remove the last point added, and press the Esc key to cancel. If you would like to input the distance and angle manually, place at least one point and then press the Enter key.

3.   To finish drawing the Patio Stairs, right-click to place the last point.

The Patio Stairs shape is controlled by the outline of the top step. Both straight and curved Patio Stairs can be created.

In the picture below, a Patio was used for the top landing and Patio Stairs were used for the steps. The Patio Stairs were simply drawn along the shape of the landing’s perimeter.

Creating Complex Shapes

When Patio Stairs are selected, to the right of the screen there will be a Closed option. If the Closed option is checked, the shape that defines the Patio Stairs can be closed, which is useful when making hexagonal, circular, and other types of stairs. In the picture below, a Patio Stairs object has been drawn as a closed circle.

Tips:

•      Unlike the Deck Stairs, Patio Stairs do not need to be attached to a patio. This allows the Patio Stairs tool to be very versatile and useful in a variety of applications.

•      The shape of Patio Stairs can be matched to a patio easily through the use of the Save and Load Shape commands. To do this, select the patio you wish to add Patio Stairs to and save the shape. Next, add the Patio Stairs using the Load Shape command. See Saving and Loading Shapes for more details.

•      When adding Patio Stairs to a Patio landing, it is best to set the Elevation property of the Patio Stairs to the height of the Patio minus the step rise.

See also:

Patio Stairs Properties
Setting Object Properties
Selecting Objects
Adding a Patio
Editing Objects