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Hi @cavemanwfire, You can rent CA for a month or so to finish these plans. Plus your surveyor or your engineer can email DWG files of those drawings and you could easily import them into CA to finish them off. It wouldn’t take you very long to do as you are already very familiar with the work needed to be done. Hope you are doing well now.

Yes these are definitely good but there are others out there too that might be a good fit. Let’s see some pics first from @Mucasuma. Yes some who use Chief can do amazing curved design work. It depends on what you want to do or how far you want to go with curved design. When it comes to sculptural design, other applications may be a better fit for it ?

Hi @Mucasuma, Can you please post a picture of what you are hoping to do with Chief Architect.

Not tornado proof BTW . Structural connection details are not shown here for the wind speed category either ??? I don’t know what USA timber framing requirements are for this region but you would think that you would need more than just nails for the uplift force ???

That is really good to hear, roofs can be tricky at times. Either way, by the time it comes to build it, I am sure you will get extra help along the way and it will get built correctly and dispose of the precipitation correctly. All good.

No not at all becuase it has nothing to do with the software but the layout of the roof design itself. Those two roofs should only join at a common gutter that is able to accommodate the water flow area of both roofs, if they are at the same gutter level of course. So first adjust the roof layout accordingly is what I am saying so that it all works. If you can’t figure it out on your own then please ask a roof builder. We are not obligated to support roof construction theory here but on how to use the software to construct a 3D model of the roof that is actually workable in practice and complies to building regulations. Edit: Need to consider how much space you have left to adjust the roof layout appropriately. The height level of both roofs. Then the precipitation loads applicable in your region. By no means impossible to achieve with a bit of tweaking here and there. Then after that we can show you how to build a realistic roof layout in 3D with Chief Architect. Enjoy the process !

Hi @Celtic101, you have a valley meeting directly into a hip corner. That is not common practice because there is not enough room for the valley gutter to be installed. It would be advisable to push that small hip end out enough so the valley gutter fits in correctly. Next you would need to show the heights of those two roof sections that have drawn. Elevations would help. You may consider making it into one combined roof if they are at the same height level too ? It is up to the designer to know how to build a roof correctly, if not then employ a professional to help do that for you. Then look at modeling it in Chief Architect.

Hi @Jake1976, all good. Not real familiar with the how things work in Revit. CA has an interconnected room module system that we have to work with in editing a split level home design. It takes real experience to get a split level model to build correctly in CA. Many here are quite proficient in getting it done. I personally like the straight forward approach better or to design as you would actually build it and not have room modules interfere with that process.

This official CA video may come in helpful in assisting you with your process with stepped footings and setting rooms to build a different levels ? Scott shows us how it’s done. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/322/creating-a-split-level-structure.html

Hi @SHCanada2, have you made any suggestions on how Chief could be improved to stop this sudden change to a different height ? Not only this but also the other problems you also have experienced above with the basement height change in creating a split level home.

Yes this is true but thankfully we do have fake invisible walls to use these days. They all help in the process of controlling the auto rebuild functions in CA. As they try this they will also get other tips from experienced CA users who have done a few split level homes too.

Hi @cougars32, first of all it is great that you have all those working drawings to go off. Split levels can be difficult but I would look for videos and resources on doing split levels with CA. Then also doing stepped foundations with CA. After doing your research then give it another try. Most of all take it step by step and don’t give up it can be done.

You could mark that room space as no ceiling for this room and create a soffit for the part you want covered.

Have you tried using invisible walls and or creating a room underneath the balcony and calling it open below for starters ?

BTW you can still peel that gable back so that it gives the valley a corner to meet to at the gutter height. The pitch of those crickets can be adjusted so that they meet the ridge height of the adjacent roof and the proper gutter height. I think if you fiddled around with your roof planes you could get something to be different but most of all allow those valleys to drain directly into the gutters. There are ways to get that nice roof that will get a similar look to what you are after. I don’t have X17 but you can set your roof pitches to start at the common gutter height with the use of what we call pitch beams that are at the common wall height. I can open X16 plans with permissions given for home designer pro to edit your roof planes and give you some options. If not you could pay a professional who uses CA to give you some roof design options that give you what I am suggesting above. With Gables and ridge lines similar to what you are after.