JiAngelo

Either, Left Room Floor = 0' & Right Room Floor = -10.5" OR, Left Room Floor = 10.5" & Right Room Floor = 0' Whichever side is divided into more rooms, then I'd make that side 0' Every room on the side that is +/- 10.5" has to be set the same +/- 10.5". Chief sees this as one building, floor = 0' everything benchmarks off of that. You don't get to build a second structure independent of the first it must bear some relation. This is not much different than a front porch, which I generally set to -8" where house floor = 0', Instead of a slab you want hung joists. The entry may be 9', but the porch is 9' 8" (assuming ceiling height didn't change (like when I drop the porch roof a foot to make sure it's roof clears the bedroom windows above. Then the porch room height is 8' 8". off the lower floor. Here's one I did a while back. Instead of "hung" we created a pony wall with the top 6" thick and the bottom 12" thick so that the joists would bear on the lower wall. OSB was flush with the top of upper wall. . I remember it took me a day to figure out how to get it right. This was on poured walls so I used different colored concrete to let me know where the floor trusses were bearing, but same concept. Chief's original company name was Advanced Relational Technology. All the rooms in a plan file are related, even if detached. I don't know who told you top down. It's first floor, then up for the upstairs and down for the downstairs. Based on the plan you draw and how you told Chief you want to build, it will finish the roof and basement for you. It will even draw the framing. If you left all those settings on default, then it probably won't draw what you want. Since your building experience is the same as mine, then surely you've built at least two houses in the same subdivision. Every plot plan in that subdivision has FFE, FGE, TOW and TOF reference points that are measured off the same baseline above sea level. Every house may have 9' basements, 2x10 joists, 9' first floors, etc... but their FFE, FGE, TOW and TOF's all vary - unless you live in Kansas. It's all relational and Chief looks at the overall plan in much the same way. I agree there are many unnecessary complications - to me. But they do mean something to others. And many times after I've figured something out, re-reading the instructions shows I just didn't understand what they were trying to say. Active views still drive me nuts on occasion. Hope this helps.

Check and see if this works better. You can cut and paste the elements over to your original plan if you like. Here I just, Transferred the Pinemont asphalt drive from modifications outlined above. Turned the existing concrete into its own slab. Used a 20 driveway centered on the angled road you had drawn. Ran this back at 20' wide parallel with the tank. Both these driveways have a 10' radius on either end. Created a smaller perimeter drive for the new slab connecting to the existing concrete and the radius drive to Creekmonte. Extended the smaller drive to match up with the asphalt drive coming from Pinemont. If I had the survey (it says that file is still sitting on your computer in a folder, not in the plan itself.) I would have added its language for you. Let me know if this helps. 670311519_SitePlan2-3.plan

#3 - The line removed going across property from Drive to past Creekmont Street? The only line I'm seeing is across Pinemont Road. I went to the end of it and dragged back the errant point. I then reconnected it and simplified the polygon points. #2 - Which lines are the survey lines? If it is the 2 arcs, they both travel past 90 degrees and aren't the same distance from the Piedmont. A straight line connection would cross both of them, so I moved it outward, 2" from 90 degrees at the lower, which is 1' 5-1/16" from the upper 90. I assumed you wanted the existing 18' asphalt drive to meet the upper radius point. And the bottom existing 18' asphalt drive line is 1-1/4" below the lower arc, so I just connected it. Is this what you are looking for? Someone moved your terrain to boundary property line layer. Chief didn't like that. I recreated another polygon to represent the P/L's and added 2' high fencing to remind me where those lines are in 3D view. I then switched the terrain to terrain layer and expanded it to encompass both roads at either end. This is what Piedmont looks like now. I can clean up the curb if you tell me I can cut back those radius lines to meet your road at 90 degrees. (the purple lines in first #2 image above.) #1 - 24' line sloped to side to meet new concrete drive which I again assume is the red radius lines below? and the that road you have running at an angle can be deleted? If so, I added a break to your new drive polygon at 90' gas left upper slab corner. I moved the other end of that line to the gas right upper slab corner. I created a parallel line across the way 24' added a measurement to show it is 24' wide. And promised myself not to ask why the new gas slab is 19' 2-1/4" wide The arcs at the street are 25'8" apart if you run parallel from the bottom one up. I then followed the same steps as #2 above to create this. Then created a road polygon and added some slabs (and 9' tall slabs w/ footings to represent the sheds.) Problem is I don't know if this is what you wanted. I would think you'd want the two driveways connected as one continuous length and I'd color the roads darker than the asphalt drives, then clean up the intersections. Let me know your thoughts..

I'm not sure if I have a proper answer. I reread your original post. I take it the dwg doesn't have contour layers you could specify as elevation data when importing? Don't you already have a file of just points? And a second file that now has them as elevation points? Then create the splines in the second and cut-paste them to the first should work. Does the county have a topography layer of the parcel on its gis website that you could use to judge placement of contours better? If the chief terrain is too busy set intervals to 2' or 5' might make it easier to see and trace. Start at 5' and cut-paste then switch to 2' and repeat if you need finer contours. You could also copy-paste any of those points you want to keep. I hope this helps.

Check with your county gis departments. Ours have downloadable files, others I've had to contact to have them email the data. Some require you purchase it for a minimal fee. Another source are surveyors. The county recorder has the plat on file and there you will find who the surveyor was.

Where's the dormer? That looks like a split level house where you walk in and go up or down a half flight of steps.

You can export just the current view to dwg if you want. Turn on/off the layers you want to see on each floor you export.

That's a dogear arch in doorways

Hello, I misspoke. I was using that tool to create piggybacks last week. Here's a link to a video of what you need to do using the clip tool. To snap to the compound shape you just need to select both members then trim the desired member to both in one click. The extend tool works similarly. Chief Architect Premier X16 2025-03-25 11-03-08.mp4 The video was too large to upload.

Use the merge and join tools in the lower right bottom to reshape the web connections

My bad. I also didn't know that setting existed. When I drew a custom countertop it still left the back of that cabinet hanging outside the wall. It only happens to one of the cabinets. The other truncates properly.

That's a countertop. Manually draw the countertop over the cabinets should eliminate that. You may need to replace the sink.

1. Turn on the reference layer for the floor below and draw the room over the red lines. OR 2. Copy the 4 walls below switch to the upper layer and paste them in place. Either way, then open the new room and select Open Below for the room type. It will now appear as one big shaft. And you can repeat this for multiple floors. Remember the openings you put in those walls belong to the floor they are on. Best if the walls belong to that floor too.

Gene, it took me a minute to figure it out. Draw your first truss and then draw a general framing member down the length of the ridge line. Next open a section view of the truss. Pick a distance down from your peak for your Piggyback Truss bottom chord height + 1-1/2" for laterals = Hip Truss top chord height. I chose 2'-10.5" and 3'. Next resize your general framing member to 3.5 x 1.5 and raise it to fit between the chords and copy them to either side like so, Next select the truss and break it at the 3' line and drag the peak down to the opposite 3' line. The truss should auto rebuild itself into a Hip Truss. Next go to plan view and draw a second truss farther away and still in the cross section camera view. Then return to section view and select the new truss you see drawn above the hip truss. Grab the bottom cord and raise it to the 2' 10.5" line. Next drag the tails up to the 3' line (so that the piggyback tails rest on the hip truss top chord. You may need to scroll and zoom to get the moved points in the right location. The upper truss should have rebuilt itself as well. Check this in dollhouse view with trusses turned on and next we have to fix the tails. Select a truss and open the cad detail page for trusses. Zoom to the piggyback truss. Below it draw a general framing member about a foot longer in either direction under the bottom chord. Move this member to 1-1/2" below the bottom chord. Then use the red circled "Join and Lap Ends" tool twice. First time click on one top chord, then 2nd time click on other top chord. (you may need to adjust the member depending on how they snap together) Then raise the tails to match the top of your member (1-1/2" below the bottom chord.) and delete the member. In plan view move the trusses so that one is on top of the other. Select both trusses and move them to one end of your building. While both are selected, multi copy them 24" oc.and make the necessary copy for the end truss as well. Then look at your seamless 3D views. Note, I actually moved my piggys to a copy of the truss Layer, so that I could turn them on/off separately from the hip trusses. Also, if you select the end hip truss and change it to an end truss it updates automatically. Last note, I tried this first in truss detail view and the hip created fine, but the piggys kept jumping around - it seemed like in detail view the bottom chord always began at the TOW. In cross section view it gave you more refined control to create the piggys. Hope this helps.

Nice Gene. We've had a couple clients install those a little higher to fill/rinse mop buckets.