CharlesVolz

What he said... This wording IS misleading: The CA manual says: "Rooms need to be made up of a completely enclosed space in Chief Architect."

Do not use holes. Use 3 floors. Use rooms so that you can adjust floor and ceiling elevations.

Or, place the terrain on Floor 0 so that cantilevered building areas like boxed windows do not cut a hole in the terrain. Only your foundation walls influence the terrain cut out.

Howdy Rob, It looks like your roof planes are too low. Maybe the roof planes were built before your LVLs placed. Post your plan. Best, Charles

BTW, I do it like Jim.

Here are some old notes I compiled years ago. They may be outdated. At that time you could use the free CA Viewer. Older Chief Architect Versions: X9 does not support reading in plans with the .pl# or .la# extension (files from any versions older then Version 10 (2005). CA 10 (2005) creates *.plan files.). To open these older plans in X9+, first open these files in X8 (or use the free client viewer for Chief X8) and save them which will be in the newer format as a .plan or .layout file. X8 will open plans back to Chief Architect 97 (released August 1997). Version 9 is required to open pre-August 1997 .pln files. Keep X8 (or X8 Desktop Viewer) until all old plans are updated. Chief Architect Viewer (free) allows you to actually view files from any version of Chief Architect from X9 back to Version 10. You won't be able to modify the model but you could at least create camera views. Notes: 1. If you no longer have access to Chief Architect X8, Home Designer 2017, or an earlier version, the X8 Desktop Viewer can be downloaded and used for this process. Once installed, continue with Step 2 below. 2. Plans created in versions prior to Chief Architect '97 (version 5) or 3D Home Architect Deluxe 3.0 will not open successfully in Chief Architect X8 or Home Designer 2017 and earlier versions. 3. Chief Architect never could open drawings from 3D Home Architect® 5.0 or later, as these programs were not created by the same company. Notes from Help: 1. After an older version file has been opened in the newer program, the plan may not appear exactly as it did when it was initially created. For example, textures and 3D symbol objects from the discontinued version may not be recognized. There may be missing electrical and other object defaults, and warning messages may display on opening the file, as well as taking 3D camera views, in regards to these objects. While you could try to replace all of the missing textures, objects, and defaults using materials and symbols from your current Home Designer Library Browser, the real advantage of being able to view the older file is to reference dimensions and object placement. In order to have all of the capabilities available in a current version plan, such as Wall Types and other features, recreating the plan in the current version of Chief Architect may be necessary and is recommended. 2. Plans created in versions prior to Chief Architect '97 (version 5) or 3D Home Architect Deluxe 3.0 will not open successfully in Chief Architect X8 or Home Designer 2017 and earlier versions. Chief Architect never could open drawings from 3D Home Architect® 5.0 or later, as these programs were not created by the same company. More information can be found in the X9 Reference Manual or the X10 Reference Manual on Page 54, "Compatibility with Previous Versions", and on Page 1338 and Page 1369, respectively, "New and Improved Features by Chapter - File Management".

Not hard, impossible.

Yes! That can be done. Structural supports such as columns, beams, headers, bracing, etc. will most certainly need to be designed by an engineer licensed in your state and added to the renovation scheme. Best, Charles

Hey, hey, hey. I just saw this. Billy paid for 20 hours. I worked 12.6 hours. I terminated our agreement and refunded 7.4 hours. My agreement has the right to terminate by either party. I terminated (for reasons I will not air out here) and refunded the unused portion per our agreement. Fair and square. If anyone really cares, just call me. Best, Charles

Look at default sets.

Use 3D solids in elevation.

I put the terrain on Floor 0 or Floor 1, depending on the plan: basements, cantilevers, etc. Placing the terrain on Floor 0 prevents cantilevered building areas like boxed windows on Floor 1 from cutting a hole in the terrain. Then only your foundation walls will then influence the terrain cut out. Also, in CA the terrain is moved up and down as needed, not the floor elevations.

Always put everything in plans...if: You really want it to happen. You want it to happen a certain way. You don't want to pay for it (as a designer). I never want a subcontractor or their employees as a co-designer. Not just because they are probably not qualified, but because they usually have a conflict of interest. They may profit more by building less and building wrong. A detailed note may be sufficient, depending on what it is. It is probably not a small inexpensive detail, if you are talking about a rectangular channel drain with a grating cover, thickened slab, additional reinforcing, etc. Best, Charles