Evolution

You said: First thing I did was make sure the heights are matching for the Porch / Open to Below, as well as the floor finish / structure. Uncheck Sil Plate in the railing specifications. Did you uncheck sill plate because you did a concrete slab and foundation? My build is deck construction of 2X8, 1" decking, with piers and post foundatiion.

Angela, that does look better than what I've be able to do so far. Not sure how you got it to this point, I can't open the file, as I am running X12 not worth the cost to upgrade, but thanks!

Working on adding a deck and roof to the this house. There so many little nuances trying to figure out why the deck floor and foundation doesn't show even through I did build (foundation / framing) and best I can tell told the software to auto build-rebuild and for some reason the ceiling won't generate properly even though I set the room height, and checked roof above and un-checked ceiling above. I want the steps to "inset" into the deck, so; do I create a separate deck room there and call it open below, in order to have the beam extend out to the edge of the steps? EDIT: I thought since there is a roof over the steps the software would read it that way-no. So, I added invisible walls around the steps, called that room open below (suppressed the label) and a ceiling now generates over the steps, but still appears too low. I selected the invisible wall at the top of the steps and made it a railing with balusters (checked invisible) but the post to beam still does not extend over the steps. I wouldn't think I'd have to to a 3D solid to have it generate the beam, and post on out to the corner of the deck? Help appreciated! NEW FRONT PORCH ADDITION 1256 BLOOMERY ROAD.zip

Ji- I certainly didn't expect you to do all this!!!! Looks like if I raise the roof pitch to 12/12 would fix the header over the landing. I'm calling this one solved with your gracious help and expertese with the Soft-ware.

The co wants $250 for drawings. All he needs them for is to hand over to the HOA (they want to see the esthetics, and since I'm his uncle he wanted a freebee, and I've only spent about 30 mins on the drawing thus far. I was playing around on my own time to see how hard it would be to model the typical structural support. I've done that but can't get it to insert in the floor plan. Having fun on my part that's all.

i need to model metal building (structure system) the kind you by and they deliver and set up. There is reason behind this madness. I have made the structural support from a 3D molding poly line and have it shaped and sized as needed and added to my library as "hardware" for lack of (a better option) now. Problem is I can stick as many as I want on the plan in elevation, but I haven't figured out how to rotate it to place it in floor plan view. Since we have to draw walls using the build exterior wall tool I attempted modeling a new wall type but the item needs editing and that option doesn't appear to be available in X12. what other options would you propose? The frame if 14ga square tube 2.5"X2.5". I wasn't planning on going so far as to model connectors, splices or any such, if I can just get the symbol so I can place it in plan view if I am not able to edited the wall type to include it in the materials. ACCESSORY BUILDING FOR BRAD DURHAM 25'X30'.plan

Take a look at this tutorial and see if it offer's any help. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1605/ to build the room. I needed to build attic space without adding an additional floor. This helped me accomplish it. For the ceiling you might also try using a ceiling plane (I've done that before) to drop a ceiling under the trusses, but of course I think you'd have to raise (maybe not) your walls enough to give you the extra space (the tool=build>roof>ceiling planes) In order to do an example, I selected a room, open the dbx unchecked flat ceiling in that room, and then build>roof (tool)>ceiling plane. Set the pitch to zero (locked it) and height from finished floor in my case 84". Hopefully one of these options can help you figure it out.

Thanks for your intense help however, I am unable to open the files as I'm running X12 and I can't without upgrading to the newer version of Chief and it's not worth the expense. Also, you said (And I just realized you have floor to ceiling windows, which means you need a floor above to place headers over the exterior openings on the second floor. (or you need a raised heel height for trusses to hang on those headers.) I’d planned to use I-joist or floor trusses to add support over the windows. When our Engineer provides his comments/structuraldesign, I will most likely need to drop the window heights to adjust for heavier headers. I went back to the second file you'd sent me. I unchecked ignore top floor, changed 12" ceiling height to 1-1/2" (basically a 2x6 sill atop the floor structure.) And then turned on autoroofs. (for version 3) I used an auto-floating dormer on my latest rendition and was going to add framing later to frame the opening but for now I’ve got to figure out how to create an access to a small observation platform via doors in the dormer in lieu of windows. That will require some playing with the software if I can figure it out at all! I advised them we are already at max allowable height and the inspector may not like that idea plus it adds another opportunity for roof leaks. In version 4 I changed your heel height to 16", deleted the perimeter walls and only used the dormer walls, adjusted to fit under the side roof planes. This version has the roof building off the outer walls +16". In both, I extended the roof down over the stairwell to encapsulated it within the roof planes. Obviously, you are more “experienced” with the software and since I’ve never been as deeply involved with using the various tools, I’m not quite sure how to do the things you mention here? again, thanks for your time and help!

Still working on the Coastal res for the boss. He and wife want access onto what would be the floor of the attic and out through a dormer onto a small observation platform / deck. I dropped in a floating dormer, but I am not able to turn it into something like a roof top balcony with access via the dormer room. Since I added the dormer on the roof, it is (showing) on the attic level and I am not sure if I need to go down to the floor below which currently I do not have any walls placed. I built the attic using the tutorial for building a story and a half room. How would you model the "observation deck" and access? COASTAL RESIDENCE FOR CECIL and HELEN WILLIAMS OPTION WITH DORMER DECK FOR CHIEF FORUM.zip

I still need help with this issue, if anyone can? ADDITION TO PLC.zip

After changing my end walls (2) to gable and being directed to change them back to HIP style, one of the end walls changed back to HIP, but the other refuses to, even though under those walls' DBX I changed it to HIP. I know the software is MUCH smarter than I. Help please. COASTAL RESIDENCE FOR CECIL and HELEN WILLIAMS for CHIEF TALK FORUM.zip

John, thanks for the detailed response. Note: this is the only tutorial I could find that addressed my issue of building a room in the attic without adding a full third floor, which is my goal-Designing a One-and-a-Half Story Roof - Video | Chief Architect and according to that Tut I needed to set the height low, thus 12" knee wall. (YOU SAID: I would also assume you want a rear dormer overlooking the view from the deck.) Yes, I now have a space (room) I can use (if needed) but the intent is the boss wants to use it to add a balcony over-look where you have drawn the dormer (facing the water). He already has so much deck but insist on having that one extra spot to go out onto to look at the "sunsets". He will probably add the walls to enclose the space about +/-17' wide and the length is whatever he can get and may-may not finish it. That said, I basically have the area / attic space to work in. The main issue now is I couldn't get the walls on the end of the house away from the water to be "hip" style (although I have "HIP" selected for those walls) even after checking them to be hip. I am surprised that you were able to. Also, I may be able to go with a 12/12 pitch if the jurisdiction will allow. I'm waiting to hear from the building inspector to confirm the max-height. Can you send the file back to me or did you overwrite it in X17? Thanks again, regards!

JiAngelo- I added the floor, after watching and re-watching the training video for the One-and-a-half-story roof. the first take the roof was wonky, so I selected the roof planes and transform/replicate and raised it in the "Z" direction until the roof line straightened out. Now the issue is: The person this is for decided they didn't like the "HIP" roof so I changed the roof to full gable, (all around) but in order to keep the over-all height at the max allowed on the coast, I had to drop the pitch to 6/12 which they didn't like so I changed the roof back to hip but now the roof on one end of the home remains full gable (even though) I have the hip roof selected, while the opposite end changed back to hip with no problem. Any idea's of what is going on? COASTAL RESIDENCE FOR CECIL and HELEN WILLIAMS for CHIEF TALK FORUM.zip

DBC-apparently that was it. Thanks

This should be simple, but I can't seem to find the trick to fix it. The snip on the left is my layout sheet I want to print for the client to look at. The snip on the right is what the print preview is producing which is all of one camera. How to I get it to print correctly? i don't see anything in the printer command