I stopped cutting stringers with a framing square and started using a story pole, now I'm not sure which way is right

Jade Johnson · 2026-10-10T18:50:03.456342+00:00

Last week I was laying out stairs for a deck in Fresno and my square kept giving me inconsistent marks on the second stringer, off by about 3/8 inch at the bottom. Out of frustration I grabbed a scrap 2x4 and marked tread and riser heights right on it as a story pole, and every cut lined up perfect after that. Now a guy I work with says I'm nuts and that a good square and some patience is all you need, no crutch tools. But I keep thinking about how much faster it went and how few mistakes I made, so which side are you on here? Story pole people, do you use it for every set of stairs or just when the math gets weird?

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I stopped cutting stringers with a framing square and started using a story pole, now I'm not sure which way is right | Carpenters - Chatter Central