Crusader103

I do not provide materials lists, as a rule. I work with many builders but one in particular I've done probably 75-100 homes for, so I know just how he builds. We did a little test to see how practical it would be going forward - a service he'd be happy to pay for if it worked out. He was kind enough to give me the takeoffs that the lumber company and all other suppliers gave him based on several of my spec home plans. I designed the next plan (a straightforward neighborhood spec home) using those takeoffs as a guide. I didn't give him the materials list for the new one either but he did give me his based on the takeoff. It was nowhere near close (I'd say 70% and that's not good enough for me). The amount of time it takes me to input all of that and generate a 70% takeoff (or more accurately, 30% deficient) is simply not worth it to me. Most suppliers are going to do their own anyway because if they are wrong, they want to be wrong for their own reasons. The lumber suppliers around here would never use a materials list generated by anyone but themselves. When I combine that info with the practical knowledge of not always knowing who is going to build the plan, it's prohibitive to even try. Some builders use engineered trusses, some are stick framing, I've got guys using OSB, others using ZIP panels, some that will use CMU block with a 4" slab and others that are monolithic slab only. They use my plans but they have so many individual variations I couldn't keep up. Recently, a customer just had to have a materials list. I warned him in advance and marked "For Estimating Purposes Only. Do Not Rely Upon." all over it. He sent me a text message telling me the materials list was not right and just about demanding that I redo it. I said no. I provide all typical schedules and information. Materials lists and takeoffs are not a service I ever see the possibility of offering again. On the other hand, if a builder asks me for the number of squares of roofing, how much LVP, carpet, etc., I can typically entertain that with reasonable accuracy to get them close.

Probably because I was too boneheaded to think of that and overthought it. Thanks.

I would like to display construction lines on the front elevation to convey the location of ridges in relation to other points. The adverse effect is that they also show up on the rear elevation, where they don't make sense. Is there a way to display construction lines only on the front but hide them on the rear? The only thing I thought of was to duplicate the plan, turn that layer off in the other plan, and relink the layout to that plan. But it seems there might be a better way to hide those construction lines in a single elevation that I'm overlooking.

I'm just advocating for purchasing your own large format printer. I have two - HP 520 and HP 630. It's so much easier to set everything the way you want it, make variations between plans, and not have to communicate that to someone behind a counter. I always print one set of plans to proof before I print the rest to make sure there's no errors. I can print in real time and not waste trips to the print shop. You can always charge your clients for the prints, still less than the print shops, and make a little money there. I use poster board to cut binding strips. My kids put the plans together. I do a lot of plans (I use 40 rolls of paper per month, so 6000 feet of paper) and can't imagine outsourcing that. My plotters have paid for themselves a dozen times over. And my kids are cheap labor.

I've had the same issue. Not sure why it does it. It occurs for me when just moving a building or structure say 10' feet or so. It will also occur when using the reverse plan tool. I do not find that it occurs when you use the "edit - edit area - edit all floors" to select what you want to move, which may be an answer for the OP. I use the same thing when not only moving objects but reversing the plan and reflecting about a line.

I have essentially used your method. Sometimes I will use soffits, set the bottom to 0", and can give them the exact rise/run that I want to. I make one for each step and then make them into an architectural block. I might change the layer they are on to my stair layer, etc., depending on where I need to display them later. This way they still show up as a solid in 3D views, ortho views, and such. Whether I use your way or my other method just depends on what I need to show and how quick I'm trying to be.

Go in to your wall settings. I would check my foundation and exterior walls. Make sure that you have your foundation set to build to exterior of your main floor layer, assuming that's what you are trying to align with.

When I print the layout from Chief, I always select "Chief Architect Save AS PDF" from the dropdown, the paper set as landscape and Arch D selected for the size. This prints it to a PDF, the benefit that I can also email it just like this to a builder/client. When I physically print the plan, I simply open the PDF, select print as I would anything else, go to page setup, again select the paper size as Arch D and make sure the page sizing is set to "actual size."

Several ways I've found to do it. On this home I'm finishing today the entire upper floor has a 5' wall height, the interior sloping to the typical 8' ceiling. I have an exception though, and that's the bedroom on the back of the home. I didn't want any slope in that room. I drew a new roof plane over just that corner, move in the Z plane 3' to make it 8' on the exterior, and joined the two roof planes together. If you are moving the whole roof plane on the back of the home as it appears you are, I'd use Javatom's recommendation and just Z that whole plane the 4 feet and rejoin the planes. If you are wanting to keep rebuilding that roof plane without having to repeat that manual roof process I'd do as GlennW says and create a room on the second floor and use autoroof.

Both good options working out well. Thanks.

How would you draw this front porch/roof detail? I'm not sure my method is the fastest/most effective. I'm simply doing a gable over the front porch with no overhang (which is kind of what the picture is showing) and then using a polyline solid for the curves and placing it over the wall. Thanks for the input.

I would separate that porch into more than one porch with a room divider or invisible wall. The porch with the gable, I would set at 1 foot higher than the main roof, give it the gable, and unselect ceiling over this room. For the porch with the lower pitch, I would select its option as having no roof at all. I would then manually draw those roof planes. In 3D view I’d then clean anything up by joining roof planes.

Here's what I did. May or may not be helpful. I had recently gotten married (long ago now) and my father-in-law was a well-respected custom home designer (he learned on the job from a licensed architect). My father-in-law didn't know how to use a computer in an area that was moving towards that nearly as a requirement (Seattle). I didn't know anything about designing but I knew how to turn on a computer. I literally went to Barnes & Noble, bought "AutoCAD for dummies," bought Autodesk LT, and sat in front of my computer reading the book and working the program. I started out taking his rough drawings and developing small things like garages. I was soon doing the same with 8,000 square foot homes. I went to job sites with him, listened to the builders, picked up a hammer, and figured out how to build a home. I figured if I was going to do help design them I should have an understanding of how they're actually built. Fast forward several years, my father-in-law has passed away, and I've moved far away. I hadn't been drawing for awhile but decided to design my own home. I bought Chief, sat down with the program, watched every video and read every tutorial. My own house was my first Chief design. The builder I contracted with loved my plan so had me do a couple of neighborhood homes. My plans were a lot more detailed (learning in Seattle but moving to a much less regulated area) than builders were used to. He talked to a couple of other builders and they started calling. Private families and realtors started calling. In three years I went from buying Chief Architect to working with 20+ builders and lots of individual families. I designed 281 homes last year (you read that correctly), have my wife and kids reviewing, printing, packaging plans day and night. Can't say I would do much different. It has not been easy. I read everything I can find, watch every video, stay up late, memorize "for dummies" books, get involved with builders, look at their work to see how everyone is doing stuff. It really helps that I learned the keys to designing from a well-respected designer who had homes in magazines, Seattle home shows, had previously been a builder himself, etc. I have found that it is a very unique combination of having the knowledge of how to build, being able to pick up the hammer if you need to, lots of self-drive, a true ability to envision design, the ability to talk and relate to people, and the ability to pick up the phone when it rings.

Jesse, can you post a link to your actual plan, not just the DWG?

I'm actually going to upgrade to X12. Just haven't done it yet.