ChiefChuck

Hi All,

I come from a world of mechanical and electrical CAD, where grouping objects and abstracting them into a virual "box" is a commonplace thing.  So I have a tendancy to want to do the same thing in architectural CAD with Chief, but I have this feeling I need to see things through a different lens with Chief, hoping someone can educate me here.

I have a plan file which has both an existing home (as-built) and a proposed new addition.  Right now it's all one plan, but obviously when it comes to framing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, materials, etc etc, the only thing that is going to matter for drawings, planning, costing, etc, is the new addition.  It's a very clean line of separation, just 16 feet of exterior wall where the original home and the new addition meet.  One side of that line is the original home, the other side is the new addition.

So my goal is to either "group" the entire original house as an object, and "shut it off" when it comes to using functions like auto-framing, materials lists, etc, or alternatively to "group" the new addition and identify it as such, and then apply such automated functions/materials lists/etc to only the new addition, so I can gain some idea of what the materials list for just the new addition will be.  I've found some mentions of "slab pour numbers" and "framing groups" that initially sounded promising, but I can't seem to find further beneficial info on those. 

Basically I just want to define a section of the plan and treat everying in that section, from the foundation to the roof shingles, as a separate plan.  Yes I could copy it into a separate plan file, but I want to always show the existing structure for context when displaying 3D views etc, so I want everything in one plan file, it's just that only the new addition matters when it comes to the actual building effort.

How does one accomplish something like this in Chief?  What's the right "perspective" here, how does one go about grouping an entire addition or existing structure into something that can easily be included or discluded from any particular function?  Please keep in mind the plan file that includes both already exists, so I can't just develop this from scratch. 

I'm happy to watch some training videos if I can just know what is the right video to search for.  Any thoughts or suggestions appeciated.  Thanks!

~Chuck

X14 on PC

Thank you both.

Hello All,

Does anyone know of a way to import a price list for basic building materials in Chief?  Or even better is anyone aware of perhaps a service that allows you to purchase a rough price list for your region of the country, and import that?

I'm using X13, and everything I search for on the topic seems to come up empty.  It seems like Chief can produce a list of materials, but it then wants you to enter the pricing information manually after it's been generated... that seems like a lot of work, especially because the materials list doesn't auto-update, and has to be re-generated with every plan change.

There is a materials "Master List", but again it seems to come from a post plan-specific materials list generation.

Granted customer-specific choices for things like appliances or fixtures would be unique to a specific plan, but anything that's a commodity... framing lumber, plywood, cement, etc... seems one could at least get a rough SWAG of the cost of, say, framing materials by importing a default price list for your area of the country and then pushing the Generate Materials List button.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  Fyi I'm planning to load X14 Beta this weekend, if by chance they've magically added that feature in X14...

Thanks!

~Chuck

Very familiar with CAD in the large but a relative newbie with Chief

X13-X14