DBCooper

FYI, I wasn't the one who gave you the down vote. Not sure why someone did, maybe they didn't like the cryptic title to this post? Personally, I like more descriptive topics (but not really long ones!) so that I can tell if I want to look further. Maybe something like "How do I edit my posts later?". Not sure if you can change your post titles later because I very rarely start new ones. As for making changes to your posts later, if you look at the top right of your post you will see 3 dots. Click on these and you will see the "edit" as well as a "delete" option. Sometimes it is better to start a new topic, such as when you want to bring up a new issue or question, and other times it is better to continue a thread, such as when you want to add some very related info to the original topic. It's really just a judgement call.

I haven't had any plans where the invisible walls get added automatically since they got rid of the "connect island rooms" checkbox. You should post your plan and someone might be able to figure out what is going on. Or, just turn off the layer they're on.

I don't think there is a way to do this automatically but maybe someone else can come up with a hack. You might want to send Chief a feature request if this is something you really want: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/8-suggestions/

This is actually the forum for Chief, not Home Designer. The forum for HD is here: https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/ That said, Chief has a toolbar button and hotkey (F8) to turn the color on/off. Maybe you accidently turned it off?

Probably not but "flared" stairs might work good enough.

So typically what you want to do is first select the object that is located by the dimension and then select the dimension # you want to change. If you have a true point-to-point dimension, then there should be a marker at each end so you would need to select the marker first and then move it by typing in the dimension value. Sometimes other things can block the movement though. In your case, changing the dimension rounding (as suggested by Michael) will probably work fine but I wouldn't do that with more important things like walls where you want them located correctly or other things can get messed up. Another thing you can do in cases like this is just override the dimension value that is displayed.

A normal curved stair in Chief can only be a simple arc with one radius. If you need a J-shaped stair, you will need to have multiple sections with different radius. Might want to start with cad lines for the centerline just to figure out the correct path and radius to use. Good luck.

Not unless someone sent it into to Chief. If it is something you want, you should send in a suggestion: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/8-suggestions/

Chief is getting confused by your foundation (for some reason probably related to your walls). If you select the terrain, and use the "make terrain holes around building" tool, you will see the hole that it is using. This hole has holes in it which is why you can still see the terrain inside the building. So one way to solve this is to turn off "hide terrain intersected by building", select the exterior room by clicking on an exterior wall and using next, and then use the "make room polyline" tool, and then convert it into a terrain feature, and then make it a hole. You could also just edit the polyline made by the make terrain hole tool or draw it yourself manually. Since your building shape was complicated enough I think auto generating the polyline from the exterior room was a good shortcut. Not sure what that flag pole is btw. It looks like it might be coming from a bad wall connection which may or may not have anything to do with the terrain hole problem. You might want to see if you can figure that one out and if not someone might be able to help.

You can turn off the opening indicators for the whole cabinet which should work in your case.

Open the schedule dialog and turn off the "group similar objects" option. Also, just as an FYI, objects in schedules are always grouped according to the text that is shown in the schedule. So depending on what columns you have turned on, you may get objects that are grouped together that you don't want grouped. You can always add columns to show data that is different, sometimes even just notes, to get your objects on separate rows. Also, just as another FYI, best to post your general questions in the Q&A forum instead of the sales or chatroom (and you should only need to post it once). And the use of all caps is considered yelling in online forums so most people prefer normal case.

Need to make sure you are editing the correct dimension defaults for the view you are working in. Double-clicking on the dimension button should take you there. Need to make sure you change the locate settings for "locate auto exterior".

You could try something like this: %(room.dimension1+1.in).to_s("'-\"")% x %(room.dimension2+1.in).to_s("'-\"")%

I just drew the addition using normal walls and then built the deck off it. Would need to add proper support beams and posts but seems pretty straight forward. Not sure why you are losing the top of the wall above the deck though. You might want to post your plan.

I think the camera callouts will always use the text style for the camera layer, not the camera label layer.

You might be able to get what you want easier using a "room divider" instead of a cad line or framing member. I just made some room dividers and marked them as "no room def" and then put the length and angle in the label.

Also, if you want to change your "defaults" and then make it so that new plans will start with these defaults, you will need to setup your plan template to have them. This tech article might help: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00463/creating-and-using-plan-templates.html

Another thing is that when you need there to be a 3/4-way switch, you will have to manually place the 3/4-way switch because the automatic stuff won't work when they are not actually connected. Just place the switch directly from the library and it should stick to be what you need.

My guess is that you don't have your walls on the first floor properly defined/connected. If you don't have at least one room, you will not get any foundation walls. Could be other things too so if this doesn't help, you probably want to post your plan.

select the object. use the "cut" (control-x) tool. change the floor. use the "paste" (control-v) tool.

You should be able to just use a pass-thru then. If you set it on the floor and remove the sill/threshold, it should look ok.

You could also use a "triangle arch" set to either left or right side. Still have to fuss with the arch height to get the right slope though. Not sure why we don't have the shape options for doors though. Might want to send in a feature request for this.

FYI, you can always tell if you renamed a column by selecting it and the "reset" button is enabled.

Although it is possible to start with INACCURATE walls for preliminary drawings and then switch to accurate ones later, why in the name of everything good about computers would you want to do such a thing? All of your dimensions will change and then you will have to waste a ton of time going through and fixing everything up. A better solution for you might be to go ahead and use accurate walls from the start and then modify the display to what you want to see when working on your prelims. For example, you can turn off the layer called "Walls, Layers" and you will only see the outline of the walls instead of all of the different wall layers like drywall and siding. Or you could turn on the layer for "Walls, Main Layer Only" to just see the main (usually framing) layer of the walls. You could even setup a "saved plan view" for your prelim plans using a different layer set so that all you need to do is switch from that to your construction docs very quickly without any fussing around. In the picture below, the right side has "wall, main layer only" turned on so it only shows the framing layer of the walls.

You can do one of the following: - draw them from scratch - import them from another cad program - start with a stock one and then modify it (there are some available in the cad block libraries) - start with a cross section view and then add whatever cad, dimensions, and annotations you need - start with a cross section view and then convert it into a cad detail using the cad detail from view" tool This tech article might help: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00766/creating-cad-details.htm