Hole In The Wall

This is maybe the best Library Object I've ever created.  It will cut a hole in the surface layers of any wall.  There are 2 ways to use it:

1:  Click and Drag in a 3D View - creates a rectangular hole in the surface layers of that side of the wall.

2.  Single Click in a 3D View - removes all surface layers of that side of the wall.

Note:  The Hole can be selected in a 3D View and edited basically like any Polyline.  IOW, it can be reshaped, filleted, moved, broken and stretched, etc.  It can of course also be deleted at any time.

Hole in the Wall.calibz

Note:  I've found that sometimes when I use this with a new plan I have to edit the material definition.  It should be a General Material with 100% transparency. 

Joe, how about a quick vid. I am confused.

OK Scott,

Here's a short vid  http://screencast.com/t/jbJxuYlcOqLP

Really great stuff Joe, thanks.

Joe - I noticed that in my plan when I did it I had to change the definition for the stud layer to have no texture or

          an insulation air gap.  It seems X7 OOB comes with a texture for the studs that applies across the whole wall

          not just for the studs themselves.  Sort of like another layer of drywall.  I am using an OOB interior 4 wall.

Joe:

THANKS .... I really appreciate your doing this.

Yesterday I sat in on Dan Baumann's webinar and asked how he does niches.  His suggestion, that I was planning to use, was changing the wall layers such that the sheetrock layer was real thick and then use the material region tool to cut away the sheetrock for a niche.  I think I like your tool much better as I won't have to mess with wall layers display in plan.

In real life, if there's a niche in say a 2x4 or 2x6 partition wall, what will a typical builder have in the back side of the niche if it is to be tiled.  For sure there will be GWB (my assumption) on the back side of the wall.  What goes against the shower side of the GWB?  Is some sort of tile backer board or cement board glued to the GWB?  Then some liquid-applied water proofing?  Then the tile?  That seems like the way it should be but I am not sure that is what is typically done by builders/tile installers.

Dennis,

Here are some options:

1.  Frame the wall - Studs will show

2.  Change the wall definition so that the Main Layer is "Insulation - Air Gap"  - you will not have framing

3.  Change the texture of the Framing Layer to Air Gap or some other transparent material - Studs will not show in Render but will probably show in Vector Views

4.  Leave the Framing and just adjust the stud locations when they're in the wrong place

5.  Lobby CA for "Surface Cutouts / Niche Symbol" inserts that the framing will recognize. 

Joe:

I placed two of your "hole in the walls" in the 2x4 partition wall above.  Both were black when 1st placed ... like the one on the right.  For the larger one, I opened up the hole in the wall material and it was already defined as a general material with 100% transparency.  I OK'd out of the dbx and that got rid of the black look but now I get what Dennis is talking about .... a solid sheet of fir framing.  If I delete that surface, it goes directly to the sheetrock layer on the back side and no studs visible.  I did build wall framing by the way.  Your thoughts?  How did you massage the wall in your video so you could see the studs?  If I set the stud material to opening-no material then there are no studs.  I guess I don't know how to tell the framing layer to not have a texture.

Curt - change the material definition for the studs to just have a color but no texture or define the texture as an air gap.

I don;t know why that texture applies itself across the whole wall.

Joe - I like suggestion #5!  ;o)

holeinwall.JPG

 

Joe:

 

I placed two of your "hole in the walls" in the 2x4 partition wall above.  Both were black when 1st placed ... like the one on the right.  For the larger one, I opened up the hole in the wall material and it was already defined as a general material with 100% transparency.  I OK'd out of the dbx and that got rid of the black look but now I get what Dennis is talking about .... a solid sheet of fir framing.  If I delete that surface, it goes directly to the sheetrock layer on the back side and no studs visible.  I did build wall framing by the way.  Your thoughts?  How did you massage the wall in your video so you could see the studs?  If I set the stud material to opening-no material then there are no studs.  I guess I don't know how to tell the framing layer to not have a texture.

I think you will find that if stud layer is on, you see studs, if you turn stud layer off, you will get the ply shthg look.

Dennis:

I think I need to take up drinking.  My brain isn't working today.  I can't figure out how to easily change the stud material to not have a texture or an air gap.

Scott:

You're right ... turn the layer on for that 3D view sure helps a bunch.

One thing that worked for me was to select one of Joe's hole in the wall, after I have gone in and checked the material properties (gen. mtl./transparent), and then save it to the library under a new name.  Then when I place a new one using that one, it cuts away the wall layer framing surface and displays just like in Joe's video.  Thanks again Joe.

Back to my other question about how in real life a tiled shower niche is built (layer by layer) in a framed partition wall.  Any takers?  Does anyone know?

Curt,

There are now "Foam Inserts" that fit between the studs and can be tiled with thinset.  The Foam material comes with a waterproofing so nothing else is needed.  I saw several of these things at KBIS this year.

If you do like Curt and save the modified material to the Library with your "Profile Plan" and save the "Profile Plan" then the material comes in "Transparent" with any "New Plan".  This problem with items saved in the Library not adding the material to a Plan that doesn't already have it has been reported to CA and should be fixed in the next patch for X7.

Curt - If I use opening no material under chief's insulation I get just the studs.  So insulation air gap is not the right thing to use.

Simple solution.  For Camera View, turn of the Framing Layer.

So, I got to thinking (very dangerous) and I wondered if there was a way I could combine the "Hole" with a 3D Object and have it work together.

Here's what I came up with:

I made a Niche Shape and placed it in the wall.  Then I put a hole in the wall at the same location and blocked the 2 things together.  I added that block to the library.  When I place it in the Plan and move it into the wall so that the "hole" is located at the wall surface - and then unblock - The hole magically appears in exactly the right location, size & shape.

I've attached the Library for you to try.

Wall Niche.calibz

Now, I challenge CA to make this work without having to unblock, just using a defined symbol - with the wall framing automatically adjusting to frame the hole.

IOW, let's get a Symbol Option that makes it work totally.

Nice one Joe.  Thanks for sharing.

Dennis:

Thanks ... by the way, I like your new avatar.  You are almost as handsome as Joe.

Joe:

Thanks for the updates.  I have a 3D niche box similar to yours I made a few days back that I will have to try. 

"Thanks ... by the way, I like your new avatar.  You are almost as handsome as Joe.

Almost - storey of my life!  ;o)

Thanks Joe, you are the symbol king

Thanks a lot Dennis, now I have to find another one, thought I was the most handsome.

Thanks for sharing Joe.

When I saw this I got very excited with the possibilities, but not sure it will do what I have been after for a long time. Maybe it will with some tweaking.

On the exterior of a building, you often see recessed areas in the surface, primarly stucco surfaces, that look like chanels or expansion joints, where the inside surface is the same as the face, or it could be different too. Is there any way to make the hole only go so deep, like through, say a 3/4" layer of stucco and then in your wall have another 3/4" layer of stucco right behind that still showing?  In the past I have done this with solids of the same sheet spaced out over the wall surface, but it is very time consuming and a pain to change, like around openings.

Thanks

Craig Meyer

Chief Dinosaur

For what you're describing, I would add a Material Region (don't cut the wall surface) and then apply a "Hole in the Material Region".  That's an icon on the Edit Toolbar. 

IOW, it's easier to add a Material Region Layer to the Wall Surface and then cut a hole in that.  If it needs to be deeper than that I would use 2 walls back to back - pretty much like it would be built.

Craig,

As Joe says.

The Material Region is the tool. 

Here is another way to use that tool to get what you want.

Place the Material Region on the wall.

Check Cut Finish Layers.

Have one layer and change its thickness so that it's surface moves out in the wall.

The back of the Material Region will locate onto the wall's main layer.