MJanelleQ

Thanks Alan! Didn't realize back clip would work as well and maybe better. . Still learning not to think CAD thoughts and applying to CA.

Haven't been using CA long, so some of this is very new to me. I have been developing a house plan with a disconnected garage that is set at an angle from the house. I found this thread because I have been frustrated with getting the elevations to show only one of the structures at a time. So after reading this, I made 2 files: -House and -Garage. Love the paste & hold position for a -Combined plan to show the overall things that I will need (site plan, etc). My question now is, can I send send the layouts from the -House and -Garage to the -Combined layout file so all my construction documents will be in the same file? Or do I have to have 3 files and convert to PDFs and combine PDFs? Xref (external reference) in CAD worked wonders for this type of thing. Could manipulate the original files and it would automatically update any file that had the Xref links. The ability to link files would be AWESOME!

Think I figured out a work around. Built the crawlspace as a full floor and added the main floor next. Dropped the height of the crawlspace after and checked the slab foundation box in the room specifications. Then built the foundation and it worked! No more ghost foundation. Did have to delete the flooring finish of the crawlspace and also had to designate it as "unfinished" vice "crawlspace". When I used the crawlspace designation it ghosted the foundation again. Now I have 2 options to go with! Thanks for letting me bounce ideas with yall.

I'm trying to build a short floor (40 in) over a slab-on-grade foundation. Have had no luck using the monolithic slab tool and creating floor 1 as the crawlspace. The foundation doesn't show when I have tried. CA does show that a floor 0 is there, just no details, lines, or 3D view. Kind of like it is invisible. When I try it with a full height floor it works just fine. I'm sure there is probably a setting or default that I am missing, but don't have enough experience with the program to figure it out. Glennw, this is a great idea. So simple. Don't know how I didn't think of it! (Imagine a Head smack emoji!) I could put the HVAC in the ceiling spaces above the wings and let the HVAC pros figure out how to get conditioned air into the communal center areas of the house. Might need 3 zones...

Designing our retirement home near San Antonio, Texas. Want to use an encapsulated crawlspace to run mechanicals as there are vaulted ceilings in the center of the house that precludes running ductwork through the ceilings to get from one side of the house to the other. Where we are building, we have bedrock within 36" of the grade, so digging down isn't a viable option. Most homes here are built on HUGE thick slabs to compensate for terrain. Luckily our property only slopes about 18" over the span of the footprint of the house. Our thought process was to design the house as a slab on grade and build the crawlspace as a 40" "floor" level (level 1 in CA) and have the main floor be level 2. When I designed it in CA that way, the foundation disappeared. It wouldn't show in the plan or in the 3D view, nor any of the cross sections. So, I started over and built the foundation using the walls with footings approach and that worked except that the crawlspace is now below grade and I haven't been able to figure out how to raise it up so that the footings are below grade, but not the walls. From the training videos I have watched, it looks like it's possible to adjust this when adding the terrain. I have attempted the terrain using the survey information we received from the surveyor when we purchased the land and, to say it is difficult, is an understatement. So, I have hit a proverbial wall and am not sure the best way to proceed in our design process. Need some "outside the box" ideas and am hoping someone with some experience with this type of structure might be able to offer some advice. Thanks for any thoughts you can send my way, Janelle Quinn CA 12 & 13, MacMini 2018 with Radeon RX 580 GPU

Figured it out! At some point the program lowered the ceiling height back to height of the rest of the house. I initially increased the height of the the central part before adding the second floor. When I added the second floor and made the stairwell, it reset the height so the stairs only went as high as the rest of the house but the floor height on the second floor didn't lower, thus the gap. So I fixed it by increasing the height after adding the second story above the central point. Now the stairs are correct. Can't believe I didn't catch it.... :\

All, Sorry for the delay in responding. Family called me away just as I was posting. Don't usually post as I can usually find what I am looking for but have been unable to find anything similar to my stair issue in the forum. As you can see from the attached photos the stairs don't match the floor-to-floor height of the central room. The central room is 11' with a balcony type mezzanine for the 2nd floor. Only the center has a second floor and is open to below keeping the central part of the space open to the ceiling which is 23' from first floor. I tried to add steps but they don't render correctly when I do. I used the draw stairs tool since I had to go around the corner to get enough steps and leave enough space underneath to get to the master suite on the left. Any suggestions on how to get the program to render correctly? Thank you for your time, Janelle

Putting in stairs in a new plan and everything looked great until I realized the stairs didn't meet the next floor height. Room height is 11' (133") but stair height is 114". That's using the "best fit" tool. When I went into the utilities, it showed the correct floor to floor height. Can't figure out how to fix this. Anyone else have this problem? Couldn't find anything using search tool.

Have been working with AutoCAD for Mac up until recently. Hard drive crashed and I lost all my files and the program. With new computer, decided to jump ship and switched to CA. Having difficulties with a custom home I am working on. I know what needs to be done, just can't figure out how to do it in CA. Haven't been able to figure it out with the videos and reference materials. Worked my way through all the training videos online. Wasn't enough. Looking for someone who will work with me one-on-one to fill the gaps that my lack of experience with CA has left in my plans. Have finished the floor plan, foundation, and most of the roof. Having difficulties with the roof and with stairs to the bonus space above the garage. Also have extra walls floating in the air above an open to below room that I can't get rid of. I just don't know enough! I live in the San Antonio area if there is anyone local. If not, could set up electronic meeting.