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My level came up short on a curved stair job in Austin
I took a custom curved staircase project last month and my 4-foot level was useless for checking the stringer angles. Every measurement felt off by a quarter inch and I kept redoing the same cuts. I finally tried tracing the curve onto cardboard and transferring that pattern to the plywood, then cutting with a jigsaw. That saved my whole afternoon because the cardboard flexed with the actual radius instead of fighting it like the level did. The homeowner even watched me do it and asked why I hadnt always worked that way. For anyone doing curved work, do you rely on flexible templates or something else to verify your layout?
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smith.lee17d ago
Honestly, I read somewhere that a lot of stair guys use thin plywood strips instead of cardboard for curves, because they hold their shape better when you're marking multiple cuts. Cardboard works in a pinch but it can crush or bend weird if you're pressing hard with a pencil. That homeowner just got a free lesson in why you always have a backup plan, so at least he saw you problem solve instead of just messing up.
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Wait, the homeowner watched you figure this out on the spot and didnt say anything until you were done? That's wild to me, I would've been scrambling for an excuse if my first try failed that bad in front of a client.
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