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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.

There are Chief Architect videos on building manual roof planes where you want to build those infill cricket roof planes. Those valleys produced by those cricket infills and where they join the adjacent roofs are called “bastard valleys” lol where I come from. We work in millimeters and degrees for roof pitches as well. You will figure it out if you how to build roof planes in real life. Have fun.

Hi @NewUserSargent, What @Chrisb222is suggesting is correct way to go about this issue. First things first, that roof plan is not what your elevations are showing. I take it that you want your roof plan to match what your elevations are showing is that correct ? Secondly this has nothing to do with the software but on how to represent those roof lines with roof construction knowledge. Manual roof editing will be required to get this roof correct after setting the gable positions with the walls underneath and then building the roof automatically. Where you are showing angled hips and valleys on your roof plan you should be showing straight lines for your gable ends and ridge lines. If you can understand what I am saying you will be able to fix your plan and 3D model. A draftsman who does not have a competent knowledge of roof construction shouldn’t be contracted to draw your plans. I recommend that if you cannot get it right yourself, please use a professional in your region who understands roof construction. Have fun learning !

Hi all, I did a test with X15 to try a negative offset for the dry wall layers for internal walls. I couldn’t get it to work so I would recommend using the @Renerabbitt method so that your ML stays accurate. Don’t need extra pony walls messing up the 3D model or the ML.

Ok I understand that. I get the Plan7Architect add every time I go onto facebook lol. I would be interested in your review. I just upgraded to Home Designer Pro 2025 Perpetual and I am happy with it. They say that P7A is for professionals ? I can see way too much work to get plans ready for the local Authorities. Please see this demo from YT. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6bcqrHN0RZc

Hi @ portrait , I have had a look at Arcon and even the Arcon Professional 2024 video demo. Arcon Professional looks quite decent and I even have a very old version of Arcon too. The Plan7Architect looks quite simple in comparison to AP2024 from what I have seen on YT. HDP would be not be a realistic comparison to P7A IMO.

Timed subscriptions are becoming the norm at present and some CAD companies are still transitioning towards them. As someone mentioned above, the market will get saturated at some point with the timed subscription models. I hope this will force the subscription prices down through market competition between CAD software vendors. Time will tell anyway. I don’t believe that subscription models will help CAD companies develop the software any quicker. I feel that some of them could actually become negligent but the competition should drive them to develop the software even more so with potentially more revenue ? I feel like I am forced into playing slot machine CAD .

Hi @Renerabbitt, Were you able to find a way to retrieve your custom sbsar files since this post date ? Looks like the X17 file saving system has caused a big problems for you ? Is it still in your computers cache somewhere still ? Hope CA technical support can help you.

They are sort of allowing us to do that by marking a wall as furred in the DBX so it doesn’t connect to the stem wall. I am assuming that it has to be a square room first before it will obey those rules ? If that’s the case we may have to use invisible walls as well ? I haven’t tested it yet. I have so far found that everything in their videos that I have looked up work fine for me. But I only watch the ones that concern me. I don’t like fighting any CAD software program to get it to model in the manner that is straight forward and logical. It can take more time in other CAD programs to set connection defaults but at least I don’t get as frustrated when fighting the automation of the CA room module control. I know it’s much much better now and if we are doing many non complicated project homes. Chief is the best tool for full construction drawings with framing and a useable ML and including cabinets. The more custom design shape homes we design, the more the need for other CAD solutions. If I wanted my house to be shaped like a stealth bomber I would use a CAD program that models jet planes lol. We all work with Chief according to its automated rules and we all have to be aware of how to get the model to build correctly with it. Chief is quite simple to use in comparison to other CAD/BIM systems out there but along with more complexity comes a steeper learning curve and more time to design a building those models correctly. The more you want your house to be different and customisable the more sophisticated the CAD software needs to become. I agree with your wall connection wishes and keep on making suggestions of how you would like those wishes to be implemented in CA.

I am trying to follow this post and from what I learned in this video below, is that the wall needs to be specifically marked as a furred wall in DBX. That stops it from connecting to the concrete stem wall because it doesn’t create an island room. Is that what is causing the problem above that you have highlighted in red or is it something else in this case ? https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/93/creating-basements-with-furred-walls.html

To be sure, professional users and DIYers have very different needs and earning potential and so do software developers. So I can see where you are coming from. The DIYers have a plethora of Home Design Software to choose from these days. So we will basically end up with a 2D DXF/DWG file to work from, that is if it is actually accurate enough too. Even many of them are becoming subscription only.

I think Chief Architect are being very fair by keeping legacy SSA perpetual going for existing users who continue to pay the yearly fee. Not so with many other major CAD software vendors who have changed to subscription only now. If you have perpetual licensing with others, many of them can no longer be upgraded. If I was living in the US, I would be seriously considering keeping legacy SSA perpetual active so I don’t miss the boat with newer versions. We all get near retirement so it is understandable if we need to stop for those reasons.

All cool ! As long as the video graphics card can handle and future proof you for newer versions of Chief, then all should be ok. GPU capacity is the most important consideration with any CAD software system.

Have you taken a look at the new Mac Studios ? I switched to Mac M1 in 2023 and I am very pleased with the performance of Chief and other CAD software on my Mac. Just my observations. I really had to do a lot of extra work to look after my old PC’s and the same is true of my PC laptop that I have now. They are not as much work as they used to be but I am saving much time with Apple devices these days. They cost a bit more, you can ask other Chief Mac Studio users to chime in.

10 years later lol, I was reading this post because I don’t have X13 to produce automatic purlins. To clarify @DRAWZILLAis correct, we call them under purlins and they can be placed on the angle or vertical and supported with struts, we have pictures of both methods in the Australian Standards AS1684 for timber framing. The other purlins that @Kbird1is referring to, can be timber roof battens fixed on top of the rafters to connect roof tiles to or metal roof sheeting. Thank you for the tips above on how to draw them in versions prior to X13.

It’s alway good to ask the sales team for advice and what older licenses may actually still be transferable ? I wouldn’t hesitate to ask them.

Might be good to ask your question in the Sales Questions part of the forum ?

I haven’t tried this in CA yet but is it possible to draw the profile of the metal standing seam sheet using a 3D molding polyline and then extrude it ? I have drawn corrugated curved roof sheets in CA but I have only used a surface texture to represent the corrugations in the metal. I am sure there are other methods too available in CA right now.

@Renerabbitthad a free wall cut away symbol/tool, that might work for now if it looks right in plan view as well ?