Drawing Stairs Down From a Deck or Porch

QUESTION

I need to create stairs that go from my deck and porch down to the ground. How do I do this?  

ANSWER

The Straight Stairs tool can be used to easily place stairs between levels on the same floor or between a floor platform and the terrain with a single click. 

This article assumes that you have already drawn a deck or porch and have a Terrain Perimeter generated. 

Using the Straight Stairs tool

1. With the plan in which you need to create stairs from your deck or porch, select  Build> Stairs> Straight Stairs  from the menu.
   
   
   
2. Left-click once just outside the deck railing on the same level as the terrain. This will generate a staircase from the edge of your deck or porch down to the level of your terrain.
   
   

   Alternatively, you can use the Draw Stairs tool while holding the Alt key on your keyboard to draw stairs down from your deck. When using this method, the staircase will not automatically calculate the distance to reach the terrain. 

   
   
   
   
   
3. You can now select the stair and use the Open Object  edit tool to make any needed changes to the stair.
   
   Alternatively you can configure your Exterior Stair Defaults in the Default Settings  before placing your stairs.