Steve_Nyhof

I got it! I was trying to put a point to point and manual dimension on the foundation, but when I drag the dim to the right it changes to another point- whatever! I'm trying real hard not to bank my head against a wall.

Ok, so I deleted the foundation, and then deleted the room divider. Then I added the room divider back and the floor values were still in place so accepted that and it made the foundation stem wall height correctly - Now I am adjusting the lower floor height.

That added foundation around my lowered floor - and made extra high walls, maybe using my lower foyer as the main 0 point. I will try some other things and keep this post updated. Thank you

I have messed with this split level floor thing for several hours trying to get my heights correct, and found I can get my floor and ceilings correct, but the foundation wall remains low by 2-5/8" (2.625). I am only guessing, but I set up my defaults to use i-joist at 11-7/8" - I drew several test homes with these settings in place and all worked to the right heights. so I decided to learn about split levels - small Bilevel homes that I draw often here in West Mi on 6" wide by 3'6" high foundation walls - with sill plate, 3'7-1/2". I used the hidden wall per some videos I watched and all seems fine after I adjust my floor joist and heights. - note that the bottom entry floor is 2x8 joist. (I also tested with 2x10, but that did not help and fix the foundation height issue. Side note - for the past 50+ years, the conc floors in MI are poured 1-1/2" over the footings, with the remain 2-1/2" below the top of the footing. In Chief this is not possible so I made my floor 1.5 and will deal with my sections later. The reason is because the 1-1/2" sill plate offsets the 1-1/2" over the footing leaving an 8'0" rough ceiling. Please don't tell me about it's issues or that it is wrong as methods of building are different all over the world - Thank you! So back to line 1. - Question: Is there something left over in the "global" values from the default 11-7/8" joist, now being changed to 9-1/4" lumber, leaving a 2-5/8" discrepancy in the foundation wall? Where is this 2-5/8" coming from? Note, I am able to go around the foundation and lift the top of the foundation wall into the right position, but that seems like the wrong way to fix this. I will upload my plan for anyone wanting to look into this. Thank you SND_D_Residential Template.zip

I set the main floor to Default to bottom and it seems to work - So maybe when it is over daylight and walkout wall with the same material as the first floor, you need to default to bottom so it is not overlapping like it does on a foundation wall.

It did show up for this view, and now that it is lined up, the icon is no longer there - so it must be lined up. Maybe I just need to start again as I mess with things that could be causing this.

Very good - I will check that

I'm thinking it may be a foundation thing. Typically when siding is applied, it is put on an inch or so over the foundation wall. When I check the floors between the top of the first and the bottom of the second, they line up, and there is no visible line on the hatch pattern.

Yes it is

I will look at it. I am setting up Chief so working on getting all my walls and heights set as defaults so it is not much of a plan. So you are saying that it should not be overhanging that that?

Ok, so I see that the siding does overlap the floor joist and sill plate by 1.5" - so that seems to be the interference. Thoughts?

So along these same lines, I have this all figured out, my heights are perfect for walkout and daylight. However, on my elevation view, there is a line where the First floor siding is overlapping the lower wall siding. Do I have some height issue? The 3D looks perfectly

So I found I needed to make a pony wall if I was going to put windows and doors in the wall on the Lower level. Then breaking things and dragging down worked great.

I pulled the daylight walls down without an issue. I broke the wall where I wanted and in 3D pulled the wall down. good Then I pulled the frost wall down on the side (walkout area) and that worked fine. good But when I pull the top down (1) to the top of my conc floor (walkout), it also pulls down, (2) and (3). Is there a way to lock a part of the wall so it is unaffected? Thank you

This is a bit of a bias community - LOL - but I am very excited to be learning Chief. I think I spent so much time (years of programming) and money on ADT that it was my investments that I felt obligated to. Three weeks ago I deleted the demo I was testing and told the sales guy I wasn't interested. He replied with something that made me want to at least spend an hour with him on a demo. So I downloaded it again, and things like hotkeys would not save in the demo so I purchased Chief a few days before my demo meeting. I have been having so much fun setting things up and testing everything that I am truly hooked and wish I checked it out years ago.

This is excellent! Thank you!

This is a great tip! I'm going to give it a try - thank you!

I knew it worked this way but it is exciting to see it all happen by my hand . Thank you for the encouragement

Thank you! I was a big space bar user also and miss the single keys, but I have to admit that as I work and set up my defaults and draw a test plan at the same time, I am assigning hotkeys and I am beginning to enjoy the flow. From what I have drawn and and fine tuned to produce what I want, I am feeling overjoyed with Chief and how it will produce documents in what I believe will be faster than in AutoCAD. I could produce a simple 1500 sq.ft. home in maybe 4 to 6 hours - Done! So I will be using that reference to see how Chief performs with how I am getting things in place. Mind you that while I place some furniture for the client to see in 2D, I am now looking forward to showing them a realistic model. I have accepted most of the Chief defaults in many areas, and so my plans will look different than before, but I am very happy with what will be produced.

I will add, that the tip above that I added is very cool and a quick way to change the selection of objects. It's a tip to use with a hotkey instead of finding the tool icon!

I'm sorry you have a specific perspective on the world by which you expect others to operate within. Us low-life AutoCAD users bow in awe of your "Chiefly" presence! I just purchased Chief less than 2 weeks ago and have been really impressed with how it works. Yes, I have run into things that I find do not work for me. One big part is the use of AutoLISP, where I spent years learning and programming ADT to work just the way I wanted. This is a huge investment (years of my life) to let go of. One can only wonder why such a great software like Chief would not offer a programming language, and yet the more I learn the more I realize I do not need it. You may consider backing off a bit on the AutoCAD thing. There is a lot that makes up a life, and I am sure a lot that makes up your life, of which I can appreciate and applaud your accomplishments - I'm sure they are many. But try not to lose sight on others who also have spent their livelihood learning and growing in ways that others would also appreciate and applaud. Im sure you have a lot to offer here in this forum and so I look forward to learning from you!

Seems I have touched some nerves! I agree with you guys and have adapted very well to learning Chiefs ways of doing things. In fact I have been very impressed with many aspects of how the relationships all work. This forum is called "Tips & Techniques" - so I thought I would offer a tip in how to place walls accurately without placing a wall anywhere and then having to move it into its place - via the dimensions - per user manual. Yet, both processes work and are offered within Chief. Chief is the first system I used where the tutorial tells the user to build your walls by just placing them on the screen with little attention to being accurate. Then (second process) select them one by one and change the dimensions - work your way around the plan - this works - go for it. Just because they teach this process does not mean there isn”t another way that is equally fitting. I have taken advantage of the Tab key and enter my exact distances I want. I know the walls are all placed accurately on the screen to start with. Is there harm in this if it does not fit the "way" things are taught? I'm really not someone who likes to resist, I just do not like to conform if there is another way that I find works better for me - and may work better for others... Thus a tip! I resisted Chief at first because it didn't fit my paradigm of how CAD should operate. But the more I get into Chief the more impressed I am with how things work and my paradigm has shifted a great deal! I am learning just how limited ADT really is and that Chiefs relationships are amazing! Nevertheless, That does not mean my almost 40 years working with CAD and with their programming languages, from 2D DOS AutoACAD, to ADT, that I have not learned and appreciated the minds behind these software's. Honestly, I feel attacked by you fellows who seem to want me to be open minded to new ways of understanding software by forcing me to conform to a strict "way" to operate within Chief. Thank you for your understanding.

Yes as I have noted in other ways to do this. I'm just saying that if you want a new wall copied from an existing known wall location and type, then your new copied wall can be located correctly in one operation vs two or more. I love how it works as it is very close to ADT - so maybe that is me, but my understanding is that many new Chief users are coming from ADT.

There are a number of options to copy and paste an existing wall to a new location. Some require a popup where you enter info, or just Ctrl+V and click into the plan and drag to some known place, and then drag, click Tab and add the distance. Then I found a nice command called Copy/Paste which makes a copy of the wall and waits for you to pick its location. To make an accurate "offset" from the wall you are copying, click the Move grip on the highlighted wall and drag in the direction you want and click the Tab key. Then enter the Distance you want and hit Enter or the OK button. In ADT you would make a copy, pick its start point with the grip and drag in the direction you wanted and add the dimension. This makes it very easy and fast to lay out accurate wall locations. I set up a Hotkey with Alt+C for this command Select the wall Enter Alt+C Select the move grip and drag in the direction where you want the new wall to be added Hit the Tab key Enter the Distance and Enter key or OK

Thank you - didn't know it was something that was missing I will write something up - Thank you!