Thank you so much rwills. I had not heard anything of the bug...leave it to EA. I will try what you say.

I should start out by saying that I had all EP's including AL, then I got Mansion & Garden SP which for some reason I have to use to launch the game 
Anyway, since installing M & G i can't place connecting stairs next to a wall (which needless to say is a huge pain in the butt). I can't find a patch for M & G yet. the only thing I have even close to a hack is Numenors recolourable stairs ( the ones that don't use the scriptorium ). Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions, solutions??? Any help is greatly appreciated. 

Really cool rendition & just gorgeous!

Squinge's mods are now on the Sims2Graveyard site, but note that they are unsupported, so you use at your own risk. There is a sticky about it somewhere on here.