The number one mistake I see in stair stringer layout

I was over at a buddy's new build helping him out last week and he kept messing up his stair stringers. He was using the framing square wrong. He was measuring total rise and total run but not accounting for the tread thickness. So the top step ended up being shorter than the rest. I had the same problem when I first started working for a contractor in Nashville back in 2019. You gotta subtract the tread thickness from the first riser height. It can be a 1 inch difference with those thick hardwood treads. It makes the whole staircase feel off when you walk up it. Has anyone else run into this issue or do most guys already know this trick?

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beth_hunt7d ago

Oh man, "the top step ended up being shorter than the rest" - been there, cursed that. It's like the staircase equivalent of finding out your pants are two inches too short after you've already left the house. I swear every new guy I've worked with has made this exact mistake at least once, and they always blame the framing square before they blame their math.