Designer1

Mick, no problem! Theres no right way to use Chief and it sounds like with two monitors, your way of doing it is very efficient. I need to get the two monitors going! Thanks for all your help and suggestions Mick it was a learning experience so now I know more about this aspect of Chief.

Yeah all the names are so similar. Id be helpful if it were Exterior polyline molding, Interior room polyline molding etc. Very similar names and functions. Thanks for the input Mark.

Yeah I used the molding ca-64 with 24" height and 6" width.

Ok just tried all three on exact same box and the only one that would work was the third option. Very strange. I wonder why the first two dont work? You mentioned you used the second option correct?

So strange... I just tried that but got the same results. I wonder if its the molding. If you use ca-64 for your molding goes it still work for you?

Thanks Mark. Clearly there must be many different molding choices. When I click on the outside of the box I made three molding choices are available. I selected the first one. which one did you select to get that result?

Chopsaw, that was it...found it! I was laughing because I was counting three over from preferences but it wasnt it... then I remembered I had a custom toolbar on so when I switched to default tool bar it was right there...three over from preferences. So glad I found it! Thanks again for everyones help.

Thanks for the reply. thats what I did to get this result. Everything looks fine but I dont like how the molding overrides the doors. Is there another molding type I can select that respects doors/doorways and will stop when a door is there?

Nice, thank you Chopsaw!

Does anyone know what the best method would be for creating an exterior molding that honors doors/doorways and windows? Right now the molding polyline (shown in the picture) runs right over my door. Any better alternatives to this? Thanks, Chad

Thanks Mick and Eric. I havent ever had this much trouble with room labels in over ten years of using chief. Usually the standard info in room labels is fine. I see the picture Eric provided above. Where do I go to find all the check boxes that I want to include or exclude from the room labels that he is showing?

Hi Glen, what I want is the default room labels...room name and typical room size. Im not interested in the added square feet provided on the label right now.

Yes, I can control the room label if I go in the dbx and uncheck room label. Im wondering how I can get it to display but not have all the square footage extras on there? I cant remember what version of Chief changed layers but I remember a learning curve going from the old standard of layers to the new. Now Im trying to get this old plan figured out in the new chief.

Mick, thanks for the heads up!

Im working on some older Chief plans and am familiar with the text tool to add different information about your plan per each room label. However, I cant seem to be able to adjust items listed per room label. Since it was many versions of chief ago that created these, when I go into room labels its not showing them listing the square footages, plus room dimensions. Where can I go to adjust these if they arent showing up as being added to the labels? Thanks in advance!

Mick the furred wall option was very interesting. I havent used that feature in chief at all, so it appears to be very useful. I will explore that option more. Thanks for the recommendation!

Thanks Mick I will check out those links!

Eric, Thanks for all the examples. Using the two wall examples that Joe and Greenshell gave I have a few questions. 1. What would be the best inset/ frame depth for: (like the window you posted above)A. window inset from the interior of the home? B. (standard interior window appearance from interior) Window inset from the exterior of the home? 2. If a design called for a 24" or 36" exterior wall how would you build (Joe or Greenshells custom walls) upon the wall DBX to build the larger wall? Im trying to figure out how chiefs different layers and insets frames affect the windows both from the interior and exterior. Using chiefs standard 6" walls its a no brainer because they are industry standard, while these other custom walls Im not quite sure how chief reacts and what results develop.

Ok, I went ahead and built Joe and Greenshells wall type side by side. I also took some recommendations from glen on framing. The front window only on Joes wall types did I adjust any framing depth. What recommendations do you have for best results on window framing depth/inset? The main layer of the wall selections must have changed several versions ago as I dont see on wall type definitions check box for making a certain item like 2x6 the main layer? Also, there were only a few small differences between Greenshell and Joes wall types. You can click on them and see the small differences. Custom Wall Types.plan

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. Thanks greenshell for taking the time to do that video and explain the benefits of the custom wall type. I will change the wall type to that measure. Joe, I had a question about your wall type. Its similar to what Greenshell had posted on the video he made with minor adjustments. You being an architect here in California and your work with using chief, is your measurements that you posted for custom exterior walls something youd use on projects requiring thicker wall? 1. If we go with Greenshell and Joes wall measurements would we just add another 2x6 or 2x4 if we needed a wall 18 or 24" thick? Would we follow the same method by adding layers to create these larger 18" or 24" walls? 2. With the custom walls that Greenshell and Joe designed how would you get the windows (from the interior side of the wall) to not be recessed? If you had several 2x6 or 2x4s would you just make the an adjustment to main layer? 3. For interior walls Ive seen up to 24 or 36" archways. Would best measure be to just calculate the number of 2x4 or 2x6s in order to create that with the added sheetrock etc layers? Right now when I need a custom thick interior wall I just add depth to the main center layer.

Thanks Eric. If I add more depth to the main layer versus the stucco layer it gives completely two different results. Usually if builders want thick walls (like for spanish or tuscan style homes) for arch ways or deep set windows...then in chief the best result is the added wall depth to the stucco. If you add depth to the main layer the exterior windows remain flush but the inside window sills are deep set. So my question is why cant we have it both ways with one wall type in Chief? Ive seen both wall types used in homes... some with interior deep set windows and more commonly from the exterior the windows are deep set into the stucco side of the walls. By using my method of adding depth to the stucco I get the desired result, but chief recognizes it as misaligned walls and occasionally will cover up windows and doorways like the plan I posted above. Im hoping a chief tech support person will chime in here and perhaps a couple chief users that are builders so we can get some perspective from other users on this. I couldnt remember why I custom made these wall types years ago but now I do. Wall Thickness.plan

Can anyone give me any insight on how they display thickened exterior walls in Chief? If you look at this one basic box plan you can see near the entry there are thickened walls so the archways appear to be more substantial then the standard 6" exterior walls. I had sent this in to ask chief why the walls were filling in the archways and windows and they said the walls werent in alignment and so the walls fill in the windows and archways. Does anyone know a better way to create thicker exterior walls that will properly line up in chief to prevent this fill in from happening? I attached the plan so you can see the wall definitions. Thanks for any help! Chad Solid_Doorway.plan

Thanks guys for the reply. I will have to use and compare the object painter and match properties tool to see what the differences are. They seem similar but perhaps different enough for me to realize a new convenience. Do you all use those two tools for anything in particular? Im trying to figure out what applications those might work best on. I know object painter can be used per item or entire plan so thats similar but never used matched properties to know its best use. Thanks for the replies and I will check that tool out!

I thought I heard someone talk about a chief tool once where you can make an adjustment to one door or window and then click on an icon on the dashboard and it would apply all those changes to all doors or windows to the plan. Im familiar with object painter and make default buttons but this sounded like something else. Like a one click button that identifies all objects like that you selected and changes those identically. Besides the tools I listed is there another one or was I just dreaming? Thanks, Chad

Thanks Eric. The reason I post the link to where I found it is I dont want to repost other peoples work and not have a source where I referenced it. Also I dont want to save images of other peoples work without permission. Kind of nit picky but I always keep this rule of thumb out of respect for all designers and creative people. Thanks for the reference link I will check it out.