Is there a Blocklayer app, and how does its stair calculator compare?

We make MeisterCalc, so read this with that in mind. Every fact about Blocklayer comes from its own pages (starting at blocklayer.com), read on 1 November 2026 and linked where the fact appears. MeisterCalc's figures come from its own formula code. We did not time or rate either tool, and we describe Blocklayer's results only from what its pages say they show. Checked on 1 November 2026.

Is there a Blocklayer app for Android?

Not one we could find. On 1 November 2026 a Google Play search for “blocklayer” showed no app by Blocklayer or by Greg Tarrant, the name in the site's copyright line, and Apple's App Store search returned none either. The Blocklayer home page has no Google Play or App Store links. That is what the stores showed on that day, not a statement about Blocklayer's plans.

On Blocklayer, “app” means a web calculator. The inch stair page is titled “Stair Calculator App - Inch” (Blocklayer inch stairs), and the metric stair page has an App Directory button, a “Tap to Transfer this page to Phone via QR Code” link and a Save Calculation button that names and saves a calculation “on this device”. So on an Android phone you open the page in Chrome or another browser. Its pages don't say whether they work without a connection.

If you want an app on the phone itself, Stairs is free in the MeisterCalc Android app, which runs on Android 7.0 or later. Every calculation runs on the phone, so it works with no signal on site. Android stair apps that do landings are compared in RedX Stairs and Stairs-X compared.

How do Blocklayer and MeisterCalc compare for stairs?

Both work out a straight stair from the total rise, and for Blocklayer's preset stair both give 15 risers of 173.3 mm. Blocklayer then draws and prints the stair for marking out. MeisterCalc gives the numbers, the stairwell opening and a check against published stair rules, on a web page and in an Android app.

Checked on 1 November 2026. Blocklayer facts are from its own pages, linked in each row; MeisterCalc facts are from its code and its free stair calculator.

How does the Blocklayer stair calculator work?

You enter the total rise, pick an ideal rise and choose what fixes the run. Blocklayer fits whole rises into the total rise and draws the stair to scale. Its metric stair page explains the rule: “Ideal Rise is the rise you'd prefer. Actual Rise is calculated so that all rises fit evenly into Total Rise, at nearest to Ideal Rise.”

• Inputs (all on the stair page): Top Tread Down or Top Tread Level; Total Rise; Ideal Rise and Possible Rises; Use Ideal Run, Use Total Run or Use Stair Angle; stringer width, or concrete thickness for a concrete stair; stair width; head-room and floor thickness; tread thickness, riser thickness and nosing; baluster width and balusters per tread.
• What it shows, as its page lists: a scaled plan with rise, run, stringer, head-room and upper floor opening; housed and notched stringer diagrams with running mark-out points; a printable notching template; running heights from the lower floor to each tread; baluster positions on the treads; formwork dimensions and concrete volume for a concrete stair; diagrams to PDF, and full-scale measuring on screen.
• Building rules are left to you. The site says its calculators are “geometric only” and asks you to “Check relevant local regulations” (source).

Worked example: Blocklayer's preset stair, both ways

The inputs are the values the Blocklayer metric stair page opens with (read from its page source): Total Rise 2600 mm, Ideal Rise 170 mm, Ideal Run 250 mm, Floor Thickness 180 mm, Head-room 2100 mm, Top Tread Down.

Blocklayer, by the rule its page states. Rises fit evenly into the total rise, nearest to the ideal rise: 2600 ÷ 170 = 15.29, so 15 rises of 2600 ÷ 15 = 173.3 mm. With the top tread one rise down from the floor, that is 14 treads. Its Total Run and Stair Angle fields open at 3500 and 34.7, and they agree: 14 × 250 = 3500 mm, and arctan(173.3 ÷ 250) = 34.7°. This is our arithmetic from its stated rule and preset values, not a copy of its result screen. From there it draws the plan, the stringer mark-outs, the template and the floor opening.

MeisterCalc, Rise only (total rise 2600 mm, going 250 mm; Advanced: floor thickness 180 mm, headroom 2100 mm):

1. Target riser: (600 − 250) ÷ 2 = 175 mm.
2. Risers: 2600 ÷ 175 = 14.86, which rounds to 15 risers of 2600 ÷ 15 = 173.3 mm.
3. Treads: 15 − 1 = 14, each with a 250 mm going.
4. Total run (Rise only): 15 × 250 = 3750 mm. That counts one going past the top riser onto the upper floor; the treads themselves take 14 × 250 = 3500 mm, Blocklayer's figure.
5. Stringer line: √(2600² + 3750²) = 4563.2 mm, at arctan(2600 ÷ 3750) = 34.73°.
6. Stairwell opening: (180 + 2100) × 250 ÷ 173.3 = 3288.5 mm.
7. 2R + G (added by the web calculator): 2 × 173.3 + 250 = 596.7 mm.

In Rise + run mode, with a total run of 3500 mm and the desired riser set to 170 mm, the count comes from the same rule as Blocklayer's: 2600 ÷ 170 rounds to 15 risers of 173.3 mm, and the going is 3500 ÷ 14 = 250 mm. The stringer line there runs from the foot of the first riser to the top of the last one: √(2600² + 3500²) = 4360.0 mm at 36.61°.

Against the NCC 2025 Housing Provisions limits for an Australian house (riser 115 to 190 mm, going 240 to 355 mm, 2R + G 550 to 700 mm, 2 to 18 risers in a flight) and the 2.0 m headroom in clause 10.3.1, every figure passes. The NCC, your drawings and your certifier or council decide what applies; a calculator only shows where the numbers sit. In the app, the same entries in Home ▸ Stairs ▸ Rise Only show Number of Risers 15, Actual Riser Height 173.3 mm, Number of Treads 14, Total Run 3750.0 mm, Stairwell Opening 3288.5 mm, Stringer Length 4563.2 mm and Incline Angle 34.73°.

Where is Blocklayer better?

For marking out and printing. If you want the stair on paper, or the stringer marked step by step, Blocklayer does things MeisterCalc doesn't:

• Printable stringer templates. A Stair Stringer Notching Template, housed and notched stringer diagrams, and “Diagrams to PDF” for printing (stair page).
• Read-aloud mark-out. Speak buttons read the running stringer points, so you can mark the board without looking up (stair page).
• Concrete stairs. Pick concrete thickness instead of stringer width and it works out “formwork dimensions and concrete volume” (stair page).
• Birdsmouth and rafter templates. The common rafter calculator calculates “all rafter dimensions and cut angles” and prints Birds-mouth Templates and Rafter Templates (rafter page).
• A whole deck layout with materials. Its deck calculator draws stumps, bearers, joists and boards with full dimensions, counts premix concrete bags and builds a material list with costs from your price per linear metre and waste % (deck page).
• More stair types and options. Its stair menu also lists Spiral Stairs and Steel Spine Stairs, and the straight stair has a Top Tread Level option and inch pages with fractions down to 1/64 (metric and inch stair pages).

Checked on 1 November 2026. The other Blocklayer calculators a builder is likely to open, beside the nearest MeisterCalc tool:

Where is MeisterCalc better?

On site, on the phone, and when the stair has to meet a rule:

• An Android app that works offline. Stairs is free, and every calculation runs on the phone.
• A check against published stair rules. The free stair calculator checks the riser, going, 2R + G, pitch and headroom against Australia's NCC 2025, New Zealand's D1/AS1, England's Approved Document K or the US IRC, and quotes the source of each limit.
• Run only. When the length is fixed, it fits the treads to the run and estimates the rise that suits it. More in fitting a stair into a fixed length.
• The stairwell opening as a number. (floor thickness + headroom) × going ÷ riser, worked through in how big a stairwell opening needs to be.
• One app for the rest of the job. 16 calculators with a live diagram each, millimetres first; Concrete and Check Square are free as well as Stairs.

Which should you use?

Use Blocklayer at a desk when you want to print a stringer template, plan a concrete stair or lay out a deck frame. Use MeisterCalc on site when you want the riser count, run and opening in a few taps with no signal, or when you need to see whether the stair sits inside your country's limits. They agree on the count for the same stair, so you can use both: work the stair out in one and mark it out from the other.

What MeisterCalc doesn't do

• Straight flights only: no landings, winders or spiral stairs.
• No stringer mark-out, cutting template or tread and riser board deductions. You get the line length and angle; mark the board with a framing square.
• No concrete stair formwork, rafter cuts, birdsmouths or roof area.
• It doesn't decide what complies. The code, your drawings and your council or building department do.

Questions people ask

Is Blocklayer free?

Yes. Its pages call it a “free service”, say it relies on advertising, and ask people who benefit to consider supporting Blue Dragon Children's Foundation (Blocklayer stair page).

Who makes Blocklayer?

The copyright line reads “Copyright © 1979 - 2026 Greg Tarrant - blocklayer.com” (Blocklayer home page).

Does Blocklayer work in feet and inches?

Yes, on separate inch pages, with fraction precision from 1/8 to 1/64 and a display switch for inches, feet or metric (Blocklayer inch stairs). MeisterCalc's stair calculator switches between millimetres and feet and inches on the same page.

Can MeisterCalc print a stringer template?

No. It shares results as text or as a PDF (Share results ▸ Share as Text or Share as PDF), not a full-size template.

Do I get the same number of steps in both?

Usually. Blocklayer fits whole rises “at nearest to Ideal Rise” (Blocklayer stair page). MeisterCalc's Rise + run rounds total rise ÷ desired riser to the nearest whole number, and Rise only takes its target from the going: (600 − going) ÷ 2. For Blocklayer's preset stair all three give 15 risers of 173.3 mm. If two counts differ, check each riser against your country's limits and pick the one that fits.

What are the limits of this comparison?

• Blocklayer facts are what its own pages say, checked on 1 November 2026. We did not record its result screens; the Blocklayer side of the worked example is our arithmetic from its stated rule.
• The store searches show what Google Play and Apple's search returned that day.
• A calculator is not an inspector. Stair rules are set by the NCC in Australia, the NZ Building Code in New Zealand, the Approved Documents in England and the IRC as each US state or city adopts it, and your council or building department decides.

Checked on 1 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Write to meruappsdev@gmail.com.

Sources

• Blocklayer: Stair Calculator - Metric (inputs, preset values, outputs, Speak and Save Calculation, “geometric only”, advertising note)
• Blocklayer: Stair Calculator App - Inch (fraction precision, display units)
• Blocklayer: Deck Layout Calculator, Common Rafter Calculator, Pitch to Angle and Measure Pitch and Angle
• Blocklayer home page (copyright line; no store links)
• Google Play search for “blocklayer” and Apple's App Store search API (US), both run on 1 November 2026
• NCC 2025 Housing Provisions, Part 11.2 and Part 10.3, as quoted in our stair calculator

Stairs in MeisterCalc

Stairs (Home ▸ Stairs) has Rise Only, Rise + Run and Run Only modes, an Advanced section with Riser Limited, and a live side view of the flight with the stairwell opening marked. It is free, with Concrete and Check Square, and runs on Android 7.0 or later. The other 13 calculators unlock with a weekly subscription that starts with a 3-day free trial, or with a one-time lifetime unlock; Google Play shows the prices in your currency. See all the construction calculators.

Related

• All MeisterCalc comparisons
• Calculator.net and myCarpentry stair calculators compared
• RedX Stairs or Stairs-X: which stair building app?
• Stair maths: risers, treads, stringer length and stairwell opening
• How many steps do I need for a 2.7 m or 3 m floor height?
• What is the 2R + G stair formula?