Trying to understand 2013 railings

[patricks]

So this is my first project in 2013 that has a stair and railings in it. I really want to understand these new features and use them so I don't have to always manually draw all my rail end extensions, etc.

So it appears there are new system families for Handrail Type and Top Rail Type. I figured that out and see how to apply a Handrail Type to one of my rail types. But what if I want a wall-mounted rail, with only the handrail itself and no other rails or balusters? Right now I have my wall-mounted rail with two rails overlapping one another: the Handrail 1 type and also a rail in the Rail Structure dialog box. If I get rid of the rail in the Rail Structure, everything disappears.

How should I be doing this for wall-mounted rails?

[gbrowne]

First thing I noticed is that the file has to originate in 2013 for all the new stair stuff to work. A 2012 file upgraded to 2013 won't work.

[greg.mcdowell]

Does that mean I have to recreate my template in 2013 from scratch? I can't upgrade my 2012 template?

[patricks]

First thing I noticed is that the file has to originate in 2013 for all the new stair stuff to work. A 2012 file upgraded to 2013 won't work.

As far as I know the file was created in 2013, but using our 2013 template which was upgraded from our 2012 template.

I got the railing to work with extensions and wall returns, and even added some wall brackets as "supports" in the Handrail 1 type properties. But there's still that overlapping lone hand rail that's defined in the Rail Structure properties.

[gbrowne]

What I mean is: I opened up our template file (which was probably created in 2010 or something way back), in 2013 and tried to use the new component stair tools, specifically the new handrail termination feature and it just wasn't there. I was following a how-to and it was saying 'press so and so button' and they weren't visible

So after much head scratching I created a new blank test file from scratch in 2013 and tried again, and this time all the options were available.

'Does that mean I have to recreate my template in 2013 from scratch? I can't upgrade my 2012 template?'

I think so, yes. If you want to use all the new stair tools. Perhaps the issue is with our older template file. I thought once it was upgraded it was upgraded, but maybe not...

[patricks]

I did notice down in the Families list in the PB under Railings, there are new entries for Handrail Type and Top Rail Type. I duplicated the default Handrail Type and made a wood hand rail, then in my Wall Mount Handrail type properties, set Handrail 1 to be that new handrail type. It's in that Handrail Type where you get the extension options, not in the Rail type properties itself. If your rail is already created, you can tab-select the rail to access the type properties for the Handrail Type.

I also loaded the wall brackets from the default 2013 content, which shows up in the PB under Railings > Support. When editing the Handrail Type properties (where you define your extensions) you can also set supports to be those handrail brackets.

It's a pretty nifty setup. Just trying to figure out how to get rid of the overlapping rail from the Rail Structure properties.

[Steve_Stafford]

I believe you just need to create a new type of railing in the project to enable the features (and load any related content).

[artgurlie]

One way of updating your stairs is open an OOB 2013 file, then create a stair in that file. It will have all the properties you need for that wall rail you want. select and copy paste into your current project. Another way of updating your stairs is doing Transfer Project Standards from the OOB 2013 to your existing file. That will update your stairs. You have to make sure you select railing types, handrail types, stair path types, stair types and top rail. once you have updated your stair types etc. You can now modify your rail. Just make sure your handrail is selected in your properties and top and Hand rail are set to none for type. Then you can set your wall rail. you can also add wall connections. The REVIT Help has a great tutorial on how to create a wall rail. http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/2013/Help/00001-Revit_He0/0001-What%e2%80%99s_N1/0002-New_in_R2 (http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/2013/Help/00001-Revit_He0/0001-What%e2%80%99s_N1/0002-New_in_R2) hope this helps you out! It sure helped me!

[jsnyder.68308]

Be aware of the limitations of some of the new railing features in 2013 as highlighted in the comments at the bottom of this page in the Help Wiki:
http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/Community/Tips_and_Tricks/Modeling/Creating_a_Wall-mounted_Handrail