DEAR TIM: I have to build a simple set of steps but I’m totally lost. I don’t understand how to calculate what the distance should be for the risers and the treads. Everything about building steps ...

Late last fall I got an email from a friend, John, looking for advice on building a new set of stairs going down into the basement of the house he’s renovating. John is pretty handy with tools, but ...

Amateur carpenters who have laid out the cuts in a stair stringer (the zig-zag structural support for the steps) know the queasy feeling that bubbles up at the prospect of this job. There’s the simple ...

DEAR TIM: I read your recent column about building stairs for a deck. I can handle that, but I’m worried about how to make all the complex cuts required for the deck stair railing. Can you give me a ...

You probably give little thought to why the stairs in your home are built the way they are. I’m talking about how high you need to lift your foot to get up to the next step and how deep the flat tread ...

Q. I asked a contractor to build a set of porch steps using name-brand materials. He made a mess of it and when you step off the last step you trip on a sloped piece of concrete he added. I know you ...

Remember back in grade school when you were first learning to multiply and divide? Even though the problems all dealt with colliding trains and people who seemed to have a lot of fruit on their hands, ...

The newest craze sweeping un-carpeted steps everywhere, stair treads—like this set of four from Pottery Barn—let you feel at ease walking up and down wooden, stone or other slick-surface staircases.