javatom

There is a function to "align with below" for the walls. That would be a start.

Most people now want the simplicity of gas. Very light units, put them any where and a lot of them are direct vent. I built a real masonry fireplace at my own house but it can be quite a financial commitment. even though its the real thing and I can burn wood in it. I installed a gas line igniter so I can always install a gas insert unit if I get tired of the wood thing.

isokern or similar system is a good way to go. Very few people install actual masonry fireplaces any more. Even these lightweight units need a footing system though. Bad builders try to eliminate it but it is just too much weight to bear on a normal floor system. Especially if you start adding the weight of a faux stone surround.

No. A masonry fireplace has a section that cantilevers out for the hearth. The floor structure is framed around it.

She would just tell them to switch the siding to ship lap.

You might try some of the cable rail manufacturers web sites.

Try clicking on the wall in question. open the dbx, go to materials and tell the wall exterior to be default.

I think robert n and potential custmr. is the same person. He sounds a little needy. Your making it all harder than it has to be. A lot of qualified designers would shy away from you.

Whats the big deal. Just draw in some deck rails and set the specification of the floor to whatever elevation you want.

No.

scan it. Import it and scale to correct size then trace over the walls.

I did a quick version of it.

Open your room DBX and set the floor structure to default (do this for every room). Open "build framing" and tell the floor to auto frame. They will appear. The items you are currently seeing as floor joists are just cad boxes.

I often have to make gray items darker for this reason. If you have your pdf printed, it will look even lighter (depending on your printer service). You just have to adjust for it as you create your plan.

You already have a second floor. You just need to draw in the walls for the room above the room you are calling "storage".

You have to create walls on level 2 for the porch that is on level 2. You just have level 1 wall that are really tall. By the way, you do not have a way to get into the "storage" deck.

You can control the scale by clicking on a corner and holding the ALT key down as you move it.

see attached pic

You have a series of things going on here. You need to get a handle on matching some ceiling heights, aligning walls, etc. For instance, the room with the stairs has a different ceiling height than the others. On level 2, you need to make the wall of the open below area jog around the stair way. That will eliminate the patch of ceiling you are seeing. There may be other things but that will get you started.

You also have a tree sticking into the house.

You will eventually get up to speed on using the program. In the mean time, I have an idea for you. Make a copy of your plan and name it as a "work copy". If you will be doing a change to the house that you are unfamiliar with, try it on the work copy until you are comfortable with how you did it. IF it messes something up, you have only changed the work copy and not the actual plan. If you happen to get it right on the work copy, you can often cut/paste in place to the real plan.

Pretty vague question.

Use a macro ceil. = %room.height.ceiling%

One of the strangest ones I've seen went like this: A multi page pdf that was well made, flattened and ready to import, needed several of the pages rotated 90 degrees (the original PDF looked fine). I did not trouble shoot it. I just rotated them, made the client happy and moved on to the next project. I will agree with Perry though, on projects that I originate and control, I have never had an issue.

I guess I should clarify this a bit. Chief says it's ok. It is ME that is recommending against it. I personally never import PDF files but I work for dozens of other designers that use this practice. When I work on their projects, I notice trends of what works and what can cause problems. This one is a gray area because it sometimes works up to a point.