Article Number 506


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How to make flared or curved stairs

The information in this article applies to:
Architectural Home Designer
Home Designer Pro


DESCRIPTION
How do I make the handles appear in the four corners of the staircase so that I can create flared stairs? From what I understand, in order to create flared or curved stairs, I must first select the stairs and then use the edit handles in the corners to alter the shape of the stairs. However, when I click on my stairs I do not get the handles appearing in the four corners of my staircase. How do I make the handles appear?

RESOLUTION

A simple left click will not produce the handles needed to create flared or curved stairs. Use the procedure below to make the handles appear.

  1. First, launch Home Designer Pro or Architectural Home Designer.


  2. Next, open the drawing in which you would like to create the flared or curved stairs.


  3. If you have not already, the stairs will need to be added to your drawing.


  4. Stairs can be added by selecting Build> Stairs> Straight Stairs .


  5. Once you have selected Straight Stairs from the menu, click and drag in your plan to create the stairs.


  6. You can enlarge or reduce the length of the stairs by choosing the Select Objects  arrow tool and clicking on the stairs one time with a single left-click of the mouse.


  7. A single left-click will produce handles on the sides and ends of the stairs, permitting you to alter the original dimensions of the stairs.


  8. To create flared or curved stairs, right-click on the stairs.


  9. A single right-click will produce a menu, and from the menu you can click on Flare/Curve Stairs  



    NOTE: If you are using Home Designer Pro and a menu does not appear when you right click on the stairs your contextual menus may not be enabled. Use the following procedure to enable your contextual menus:

    From the menu select Edit> Preferences . Once the Preferences dialog displays, in the left margin click on Appearance and place a check mark in the Enabled optionunder the Contextual Menus heading. Once you click the OK button you will see a menu appear when you right click on the stairs.


  10. Once you have clicked on Flare/Curve Stairs  you will see handles appear in all four corners of the staircase, and you will be able to click on these handles and drag the ends of the stairs to flare or curve them.

You can also choose the Select Objects  arrow tool and double click on the stairs. This will produce the Staircase Specification dialog box. In the Staircase Specification dialog box you can click on the Help button, and in the online help you will be able to read about how to create Flared and Curved stairs.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information on creating and editing stairs, see the Stairs section in your Home Designer Reference Manual.

Last updated on: 09-10-2009