Story Pole

Feet, inches and fractions. Exactly.

Your phone's calculator can't do 5' 7-3/8" + 2' 11-5/16". This one can, and it stays exact the whole way through, so four operations later you're not off by a sixteenth.

What it works out

• Tape measure — add, subtract, multiply and divide in feet, inches and fractions
• Stairs — riser height, treads, stringer, and a cut list that adds back to your rise
• Roof — pitch as rise over run, common rafters, hips and valleys
• Squaring — the diagonal a true corner needs, and how far off yours is
• Concrete — cubic yards to order, or the bag count at the published yield
• Materials — tile, paint and lumber, on real dressed sizes

It tells you when it rounded

Nine foot one over fifteen risers is 7 and 4/15 of an inch — no such mark on a tape. Cut all fifteen at 7-1/4" and the top step comes up a quarter inch short. So it gives you eleven at 7-1/4" and four at 7-5/16", which add back to nine foot one exactly.

Every number has a source

Lumber sizes from PS 20-20. Stairs checked against IRC 2021 R311.7.5, named on screen. Bag yields from Quikrete and Sakrete's own data sheets. Paint coverage from Sherwin-Williams. All listed in the app with the date each was checked.

It reports against the model residential code and says that local jurisdictions amend it. It does not tell you your stairs will pass inspection.

One payment

Not a subscription. The feet-inch calculator and the squaring check are free forever. No account, no network, nothing leaves your phone.