Draw stirrups

Set stirrup type, measurements and centres, and the number and the length of steel are worked out for you.

Foundations6 min9 steps
  1. 1

    Pick Stirrups in the tool rail

    Like Rebar, the tool only exists on a foundation drawing.

  2. 2

    Click out the line the stirrups sit along

    Click along the beam or the footing and double-click or press Enter. It is the line the stirrups are spread over, not a single stirrup.

  3. 3

    Pick the stirrup type

    In the box Stirrups along the line you pick a Stirrup type. The type decides how many measurements you have to fill in: A has one, B and N have two, C has three, K has four and L has six.

  4. 4

    Pick the size

    Pick a Bar diameter between 6 and 32 mm. It drives both the weight and which part gets priced.

  5. 5

    Fill in the measurements in millimetres

    Under Measurements (mm) you fill in each leg. They are in millimetres, the same unit the Measure tool shows on a foundation drawing.

  6. 6

    Type the spacing

    Fill in Centres (mm), which is how tightly the stirrups sit. The number is the line divided by the spacing: you walk along the line and set a stirrup every time.

    Worth knowing. 3 000 mm at 250 centres gives 12 stirrups, 3 000 divided by 250. A line shorter than a single cc still gives one stirrup, never zero.

  7. 7

    Read off the total before you save

    The box shows the number of stirrups and how many metres of steel that comes to in total. An N stirrup is closed, so the length of steel is (a+b)×2.

  8. 8

    Save and check

    Press Save. The stirrups land in Drawn and measured and in the quantity list, and can be changed by clicking the row.

  9. 9

    Or measure the stirrup on the section drawing instead

    If you have the section up, the measurements are already drawn there. Then you measure the stirrup on the section once, give it a name and set it out from here without typing in any measurements.

Next steps

Do the steps on a real drawing

Open the tool and follow the walkthrough on the sample drawing that is already there. No login needed.

Open the tool

Stuck on a step? Get in touch and we will gladly look at your drawing.