Rpadge

Will the laptop be your primary Chief Architect computer? Or is it for taking out to client presentations etc? or both? I purchased a Sager, with a fairly high end graphics card that has works well, its a little heavy, but thats part of the price you pay.

Pretty sure that would not fly in our area.

Its hard to tell from your picture, but heres an article that may help https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00930/creating-custom-muntins.html

A technique that you see done on a lot of Florida homes (which tend to have a lot of offsets and angles) is to incorporate covered porches and verandas to square off the plan and make the roof lines potentially simpler.

Why are you considering switching?

You may have to uncheck "draw rails"

I believe you can also check the box for furred wall, to keep from having a room definition.

alright, thats some good info, thanks guys

I saw in a post where a user was creating door symbols to use from his user library. What is the benefit of doing that as opposed to using the door tool? Are most users using the library or are you using the door tool? Just curious, I want to make sure I am not missing any advantages, one way or the other.

might help to specify where you are building (what part of the country)

I got rid of my printer a few years ago, but...I seem to remember having to add small lines (I used a plus symbol) on the actual 4 corners of my layout at whatever size I needed (30 x 42, 24 x 36 etc). Otherwise I could not center my plots correctly. You can make them a non-printing color I suppose.

some good info here:

one tip, you need to have at least 2 framing direction lines (in different directions) before you get the framing to change

I name mine Smith_Current.plan and as I make changes I save as Smith_200608 (2 digit year / month / day), that way I dont have to relink the layout file.

Kinda depends on how your going to use it, and whats important to you. I have a 15" Sager and am happy with it, but its heavy. I knew that when I bought it, the additional weight was a compromise I was willing to make. I think it would make a great desktop replacement, with its size and graphics capability. However, if you want a notebook that you can take down to Starbucks and work on while sipping your latte, then you might want something different.

Really like how your stuff Looks Joey, you should do a video!

I think if you draw another divider somewhere else in the room, you can delete the one thats in the way

Datacad is still around, on version 20 or 21 now I think. It is a really great 2D program, they are trying to go into more of the 3d world, but seem to be really struggling. I don't think its any harder to learn than any other cad program, in fact, probably easier to learn than Autocad, definitely easier than any of the common 3d programs (CA, Softplan, Archicad etc.)

A sketch would probably be a big help

The updated plan you posted has the interior room areas listed (Rooms, Interior Area), I think what you want is to turn on Rooms, Standard Area - those square footages should add up.

Have you searched the Chief website? I see this, maybe it will help https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1537/corner-cabinets.html

I opened and closed the DBX of the base cabinet below the offending BS and it went away.

Anyone do any coach type lights that are mounted on top of masonry columns, similar to the attached jpg?

Back in the days of drawing by hand, we drew 4" walls and dimensioned to the center - that was how builders wanted them. In todays world od CAD, it really makes more sense to use actual wall widths (3.5", 5.5" etc) and therefore dimension to one side. However, 13'-6" center to center, is the same, plate to plate, so it really shouldnt be a big deal.

I had a Surface Pro, it was ok for on-site field work, etc. but with the small screen, a secondary monitor is a necessity. It also didn't handle larger models very well.