builtright3

Joe, What is the difference between what you just shared and Richards video?

That worked really good Joey all my stuff is in order now and works great!!!

Thank you Joey I think I will try that!

Well Joey I think you should put all your files and data and put it on an external drive and wipe out your internal storage drive, delete Chief and re load the program so you get a fresh start.

joey_martin, on 26 May 2015 - 09:47 AM, said: I do the same exact thing with drop box and it works great and is another backup. But in order to run from another computer you would have to have all the data files. Like the library, templates..... Do you also have that in drop box? Or is the whole program in drop box? I keep my data files and plan files as per the attached picture like this on my second drive which is also in drop box. In this way every time I install a new CA program version I can keep tract of what version I drew it in. When I open it in an earlier version I save it in the latest version. The problem is when I set all this up with the two different drives and drop box I got things working but mixed things up and don't know how to straiten it out. I need to understand better how the data files are kept with CA because now I have duplicates and I'm afraid to move things around. Does anyone know of how I can get instruction of how to straighten out my mess? Attached Thumbnails

Would that just be your plan and layout files you put in drop box? Do you still leave all the CA data files on the C drive?

I would love it if CA could have an "in house" spread sheet or a way the we can export excel into it and still have the working calculations. In addition to the macros to work with the spread sheet would be nice. I think it would be easier then using the schedules for some of the things we do. Does that make any sense or do we already have something like that or am I just nuts?

Not to sure what you are talking about. All my projects I have to match existing. Attached pictures show the existing house on the right and the new back side of the garage we build. The materials aren't a perfect match but similar look.

Now this other home I'm working on is clearly historical. But the owners knew what they were getting in to and so there are no issues. We are going to build a pergola off the back deck over the garage and of course it will have to match the other materials.

Ok, you got me started! So the home on the right is historical and the home on the left is not. Can anyone tell me the difference? I can, the home owner on the right has to pay out $1200.00 for planning review to tell him that he has to spend a crap load of $$$ to buy expensive wood window sashes because they wont allow him to put vinyl block frames in the existing wood frame like all his other neighbors. Go figure!!!??? I think that before escrow closes that the new home owner should be aware that they are buying an historical home and have to sign off on it. I mean, with a home that looks like this would you think it is historical when you buy it? Most people would not even give it a thought.

In Whittier CA they want any improvements or additions to historical homes to match existing. I myself would never live in a Victorian home but some people like it and I like to drive through the historical areas and enjoy the beauty to the old homes. I personally like the craftsmen style homes. I'm okay with the city's regulating the historical areas but some of the areas in late 30's to early 40's they go a little to far with the regulations. When anyone buys a home they should always find out the city regulations for historical homes before they buy because it can be very costly to improve them. I'm working on a job right now that we are adding square footage and they have spent a lot of un expected money that they don't really have because of it being an historical home. 1941 Is the cut off year and that is the year his house is and the one next door is 1942 and he can do whatever he wants. Too me that's just stupidity at its best. If they are going to regulate they should go by neighbor hood or street in group not just pick on a house in the middle of the neighbor hood. It just doesn't make sense to me. Sorry, went off a little

It would be nice if they did improve the fireplace.

I typically put the exterior wall dimensions on my plot plan around the perimeter of the house but I don't use the dimension lines. I just put the text. But can I dimension it as normal but not show the lines with arrow? Does that make sense?

That's what I was trying to explain but Joe put it in better words. Good job Joe!

Good call Dennis! I moved the wall to the bottom though because when I move it to the top it messed things up. I never saw that there was an invisible wall until you called it.

Thanks, I could remember my version but not when I bought it. So that means I have been using CA for 13 years now and I'm just now learning how to use it effectively.

I put the Y offset to -1/4 and it puts it inside the layout box so I can have the two labels side by side and maybe I will off set the scale to the right a little so it will be centered. Maybe more work than its worth. Another suggestion for CA to come up with a better way to do this.

You can always add a note "Details not to scale" on your plan no matter if it is or isn't. I have seen structural engineers do that for the same purpose Perry is talking about.

My two cents; Double plate isn't necessary but a nice added feature if your going to drywall or you have to do blocking. If your budget is tight you can save 40 or 50 bucks by not putting it in. Also its a little more labor so I don't include the extra bottom plate unless the customer wants it. I work mostly for people with average to low incomes so I keep things tight as long as the quality doesn't drop two much.

Does anyone know what year version 8.0 came out?

So what you end up with is the plan label has to be above the scale when it goes to layout? Not what I had in mind but it works.

I tried for the last hour to figure out what you are telling me here but I just cant seem to figure it out. Can you give a little more detail? I'm sure I'm missing something simple.

All my details are set at 1/2" scale and all my text for 1/2" scale is set at 2.5". I don't remember any time when I ever used any other scale. There has never been a need. You can make a detail size as small as 1/4" per foot and still read a 2.5" text size though. I understand what you are saying about the library. That's why it is a hard decision to make because its very handy to take details right out of the library and drop it in the layout plan. Its easy to send the details from the plan file also, it is just a matter of getting used to it. I'm not going to try and sway you one way or the other. Just stating what works for best for me.

I know your question is for Joe but I would like to comment on your question as well. I have totally rebuilt my plan templates mostly on what I have learned from Joe and Perry. I have worked with setting up my details in the layout plan in the past and have recently changed everything into a plan and sending it to layout. I found that working in both scales can get confusing sometimes and so I made a decision to real world scale for that reason. I believe Perry is very well organized and is used to his method but I just cant seem to get used to that particular method. I like to keep everything to real world scale. Works best for me. I made a plan called "details, notes & other" and I keep all my details in it. The best way I found to access the details is to open the plan and select the detail you want in the project browser to open it and send to layout.

Hey guys, I would like to know if there is a way to set the layout plan label to plan specific? Another words in this layout page I attached I have a roof plan and a floor plan. They are both set up with macros but they are two different plans (roof plan & floor plan). I thought it should be tied to the anno set but I couldn't find a macro to find the title.