mdcurrier82

This is what I was finding out when playing around; the idea that I need to adjust the heel height to match the structure depth is what was tripping me up. Yes, which is what brought me to this question, because in X14, this is exactly how it would operate - I could change the pitch as much as I wanted, and it would automatically adjust the "heel height" to compensate, leaving me with my desired structure depth over the exterior wall. At that point, I could raise the roof plane to my desired height, effectively doing exactly what the heel height adjustment from X15 does, but at the end instead of at the front side. The marjority of homes that I work on do not have any sort of raised heel, so if I cannot get X15 to operate as autonomously as X14 did, then I guess I just need to make sure that I adjust my heel height to match structure depth every time I build a roof plane. It just seems messy that you cannot lock the heel height to the structure depth, because now when changing a manual roof plan from say 6 to 8:12, I have to also make sure to change the heel height to match the new structure depth, creating another potential error point. Furthermore, the structure depth is certainly not precise to 1/16", so it is never going to be perfect. I am in the Pacific Northwest, our energy is pretty stringent. This is more about how the program operates and how/why it changed. It makes intuitive sense to me the way that X14 handled it, and it was more exact. If it was a standard truss, it was perfect out the gate. If I needed an energy heel, I locked the pitch and made the baseline whatever my wall height was +12". Easy. Ain't that the truth, but at least in this situation it seems like it was, and now it is not. Which I find unfortunate. I super appreciate you all taking time out to hold my hand and walk me through this stuff. What a great community that has helped me on numerous occasions!

Thank you both, but I think that I may have confused my intentions - I guess what I am trying to accomplish is a standard trussed roof system, where the 2x4 top chord would always be resting on the exterior edge of the top plate, no matter the pitch. Ideally, the same thing would happen with a 2x6 top chord as well. Right now, I can get X14 to do that just fine as the plane defaults to top of plate either way, and it assumes a 3.5" structure (no matter what structure depth I set in the "build roof" dialogue box?). I can adjust the pitch all I want, but the roof system will maintain the 3.5" over the wall, like a regular truss would do. But with my X15, it seems to default to "baseline height" and using the "build roof" tool and either trusses or rafters, it will not do that. I hope that makes sense....

No problem - hopefully these images will help. Essentially, X14 will default my roof control to top of wall plate, but X15 seems to be defaulting it to Roof Baseline, and it does not adjust the roof plane height when I change pitch or roof thicknesses like X14 does. X14, section at each pitch showing that it maintains 3.5" lookout when I change pitch, and that Top of Plate is default: X15 showing how it does not have a clean 3.5" over the wall, and that the dimension changes when the pitch changes, because it is the Baseline height that is set to default.

How can I set my default roof height/pitch to be locked to "top of plate" instead of "baseline heigth"? It is messing with my lookout thicknesses and sticking my roof system down into the living space if I go with anything thicker than a 3.5" structure and 5:12 pitch. This is on X15.