Questions about stairs and railings

Group;

I've been test driving Revit 7.0 and have some questions about stairs and railings.

I want to be able to model custom stairs with various different tread types,
stringer types, railings, railing pickets, etc. I have the following list of
questions that I need addressed.

1- How do you model a stair with a channel, beam or tube stringer?
2- How do you modify the railings in a stair to have custom pickets,
brackets, rails, etc.?
4- Can you use custom profile shapes for stairs and rails that will allow
you to model custom stair and rail jobs?

Thanks;
Edward Borg
Precision Drafting LLC
http://precisiondraftingllc.com

1- How do you model a stair with a channel, beam or tube stringer?

Use custom balluster families to create custom stringers. The are called balluster familes, but they are really so much more! See link.

2- How do you modify the railings in a stair to have custom pickets,
brackets, rails, etc.?

See answer above

4- Can you use custom profile shapes for stairs and rails that will allow
you to model custom stair and rail jobs?

Yes, see link: (it's a long thread, so be sure to look for the attached images)

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=stair

Hello Scott;

Those are some impressive stair jobs that was done with Revit. It seems you have to be a rocket scientist to do stuff like that. I have a long road ahead of me with Revit if I so choose to make the jump.

I have a couple of comments about using a railing member for stringers. I have done this with ADT and have found that you can't control the stringer differently than the railing. If you look at the spiral stair case, the stringer matches up with the railing. Can you extend the stringer to the floor or have it extend a couple of inches and put a closure plate on it and keep the other rails from doing the same? Why can't Revit use profile shapes for stringers on a stair instead of using the railing or baluster family like they mentioned?

Also what about putting headers, bridges and braces on a stair and have the whole stair be parametric? Do you lose any parametrics within the program if you have to construct custom stuff like this? They mentioned that you won't and you even asked that same question. Have you ever lost parametric capabilities with stuff you have worked on and if so what and why did it happen?

Another thing can the treads be different degrees from one another where the pitch would change and the stringers would be mitered? I have attached a sketch of a job I'm presently working on and am curious to see if something like this is possible.

Here are some stairs that I have done and would like to know if these could be modeled with Revit? I gather anything is possible, you just have to be very good at it.

http://www.precisiondraftingllc.com/greyhealthcare.dwf
http://www.precisiondraftingllc.com/mackaysheilds.dwf
http://www.precisiondraftingllc.com/draftworldwide.dwf
http://www.precisiondraftingllc.com/comedycentral.dwf

Thanks;
Ed Borg

Group;

I had posted this sometime back and got no response to my questions.
Can some of you guys give me your experience with doing similar stairs with Revit?

How would you setup a metal pan stair to show the pans and their supports?
How would you model in the platform and the supports?
How could you modify the railing sweeps?
Can you model a wire mesh paneled railing?
Do you just model the stair and rework the details manually?
Would you lose parametrics if this is done this way?

Please don't mind all my silly questions.
Your replies are greatly appreciated.

Thanks;
Ed Borg

Group;

Many of you have viewed my stairs; but not one even commented if they are possible.
I guess I'm wasting my time looking into Revit for my stair jobs.
I can't believe that this program can model the complete Freedom tower; yet can't do complex stairs with detailed plans, elevations and sections.
Well I guess I will have to wait and see if ADT comes through for me.

Anyway here is the elliptical stair job I recently did.

http://www.precisiondraftingllc.com/greentree.dwf

From;
Ed Borg

Ed,

I also replied to your similar thread at the Autodesk ng's. Revit has provided stair features that function at the macro level. You are dealing with them at the micro level.

I believe you can model every aspect of a stair with Revit using a combination of the standard stair features, in-place families or families. The question is how much effort does it require compared to your current methods. At some point you will still find it most productive to use understood (standard) 2D details.

The problem you have finding stair expertise in this forum so far is that I don't think we have any other stair specialists yet? If we do, they are quiet about their presence. Further, we can't tell you with certainty that Revit will satisfy your every need. In fact I can guarantee it won't, witness the wish list.

As I suggested in the ng, you would do yourself a great service if you start a dialog with Revit's product team to discuss your needs, and if necessary, how to make stairs function at the micro level and serve your niche better. The Revit Implementation folks can also help you with specifics in a very powerful way.