What this document governs — and what it doesn't
This is the process document: the checkpoints a formula has to pass between "someone thinks this is right" and "this is live on the site."
This Editorial Policy applies to every calculator, guide, worked example, and cited code reference published on mystaircalculator.com. It's deliberately separate from three other pages people sometimes expect it to cover: About Us covers who Marcus, Elena, and Jordan are and their individual credentials. Our Privacy Policy covers what happens to data submitted through a form. Our Terms of Service covers the legal terms of using a calculator's output. This page covers none of that — it covers sourcing, review, and correction only.
We publish it because "we're accurate" is a claim anyone can put on a page. A written process is a claim you can actually hold us to.
Calculators & formulas
Every calculation engine — inputs, formula, rounding logic, and output labeling — falls under the sourcing and review rules below, across all 10 categories.
Guides & explainers
Longer-form guides follow the same sourcing hierarchy as calculators — a claim has to trace to a specific source, not general contractor knowledge.
Code references & citations
Every IRC, IBC, ADA, or ICC A117.1 citation on this site is checked against the actual code text at review time, not carried over from another calculator.
[VERIFY]-flagged figures
Where a number hasn't been traced to a primary source, it's shown with a visible flag instead of presented as settled fact. That flag is itself governed by this policy.
How a number earns a place on this site
We rank sources before we open a spreadsheet. A figure's tier determines how it's labeled — and whether it can publish at all without a caveat attached.
1Code & standards bodies
IRC, IBC, ADA Standards, and ICC A117.1. The default and required source for any geometry, structural, or code-compliance calculator. We cite the specific section — §R311.7.5.1, not just "IRC" — wherever practical.
2Industry & association guidance
Span tables and technical guidance from bodies like the American Wood Council, where a figure is widely adopted but sits outside a formal code citation.
3Manufacturer & product specifications
Lumber grading, fastener load ratings, and composite decking specs sourced from published manufacturer data sheets, cited by product line rather than treated as universal.
4Field-observed convention
The lowest tier, used only when no published source exists — Marcus's on-site framing experience, for example. Always labeled "common practice," never implied to be a code requirement.
A fifth state, not a tier: [VERIFY]. When a figure doesn't fit any tier above — usually because the situation isn't directly addressed by code, like a fixed-ladder slope threshold — it isn't quietly assigned a tier it doesn't earn. It's flagged in-page as unsourced, and queued for research rather than left to look settled.
No calculator goes live on one person's say-so
Three people, two gates. Here's exactly who checks what, and why the gates are split the way they are — not a generic four-stage process with no names attached.
1Draft — sourced from the start
A formula is authored against a specific cited source from the tier system above. Nothing proceeds to review without a source already attached — there's no "draft first, cite later" path.
2Subject-matter review
Geometry, stair-type, and code-compliance calculators are reviewed by Marcus Hale for buildability. Structural and material-specific calculators are reviewed by Elena Voss, PE for load and structural accuracy. Each calculator gets exactly one subject-matter reviewer, chosen by category — not a rotating generalist.
3Implementation & live verification
Jordan Okonkwo builds the calculator, then checks the live tool's actual output against the formula the subject-matter reviewer approved — not just the formula on paper. This is the second, independent gate: a formula can be correct in review and still ship wrong if the code doesn't match it, so both are checked separately.
4Publish with a visible source
Only after both gates pass does a calculator go live — with its code citation, or its [VERIFY] flag, visible on the page itself. There is no "publish now, verify later" path for any calculator on this site.
Why only three people, not a large editorial board: we'd rather have two named, credentialed, accountable reviewers per calculator than a longer chain of anonymous sign-offs. Every gate above traces to a real person on About Us, not a role.
What happens after you tell us we got something wrong
These numbers get used to cut real material and pull real permits. Here's exactly what happens once you flag one as wrong.
1How to report an error
Use Contact Us and include the calculator name, the inputs you used, and the result you got. We read every submission ourselves — there's no ticket queue that dead-ends.
2How it gets fixed
A confirmed error is re-derived from the original cited source, not patched around the symptom, and re-tested against the same edge cases used at launch — the same two-gate review above applies to the fix.
3What gets logged
Confirmed corrections are recorded with the date, the calculator, and what changed. We don't quietly swap a number and move on — the log below is public, not something you have to request.
4Code-edition changes
When IRC, IBC, ADA, or ICC A117.1 publish a new edition touching one of our formulas, the affected calculators are queued for re-review — we don't wait for a user to notice first.
| Date | Calculator | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | Homepage | Rebuilt with sitewide search, a live quick-calculator, and this corrections log itself. |
| 2026-07 | Stair Rise and Run Calculator | Documented in the calculator's FAQ why tread depth floors at IRC's 10" minimum once riser height climbs past roughly 7.5", and why that can push the angle chip past the comfort range even when riser and tread individually pass. |
| 2026-08 | About Us | Replaced role-only team summary with named, credentialed bios (Marcus Hale, Elena Voss PE, Jordan Okonkwo), added headshots, and linked each to a full profile page. |
| 2026-08 | About Us | Added the site's ownership story and explicit publisher identity. Corrected a trust-row line that implied ads were already running when they aren't yet. |
| 2026-08 | Editorial Policy | Page published — sourcing tiers, named review chain, and corrections log formalized in one governing document. |
| 2026-08 | About Us | Corrections section condensed to a pointer; this log is now the single canonical record instead of being duplicated across two pages. |
Note: we intentionally haven't published a fixed response-time commitment (e.g. "acknowledged within 3 business days") until we've run this process long enough to know we can hold ourselves to a specific number — we'd rather understate than publish a promise we might miss.
Who influences what you see — and who's actually writing it
Two questions we think any reference site should answer plainly: who's paying for what you're reading, and whose name is actually behind it.
1Editorial independence
No supplier, manufacturer, or advertiser has ever paid to influence a formula, a recommendation, or which calculator we build next. The site currently carries no ads — see About Us for how it's funded and owned.
2Named, human authorship
Every calculator and guide is researched, built, and checked by Marcus, Elena, and Jordan — the people named on About Us. Nothing is scraped from other calculator sites, spun from a template, or outsourced to a content mill.
3Ownership
mystaircalculator.com is independently owned and operated by Marcus Hale, Elena Voss, and Jordan Okonkwo — not run by an agency or a company none of them are part of.
4Link & referral policy
Links between our own calculators exist to help you finish a project. We don't accept compensation to recommend a specific supplier, product brand, or contractor.
Where this policy ends and other pages begin
We'd rather point you to the right page than let one document try to cover everything and end up vague about all of it.
✓ Sourcing hierarchy
Which sources outrank which, and how figures get labeled by tier — covered above.
✓ Review & sign-off gates
The two-gate chain every calculator passes through, and who owns each gate — covered above.
✓ Correction workflow
How errors are reported, fixed, and logged — covered above.
✗ Individual credentials
Reviewer bios, licenses, and years of experience live on About Us, not here.
✗ Data handling & privacy
Covered in full in our Privacy Policy.
✗ Legal liability terms
Covered in full in our Terms of Service.
Found a gap between what's written here and what you actually see on the site? That's exactly what Contact Us is for.