Alaskan_Son

...unless you use it in Room Mode...

Can you clarify what your problem is and maybe attach a quick sample plan? I don't have any problem changing decking material either through the DBX or with the material painter...both work equally well and without problem.

Without a plan file its all guesses, but I'm putting my money on your exterior wall definition. I'm guesses your Build Platform To Exterior Of Layer: is set to your siding layer. Either that or you don't have any exterior layers (they're all on your main layer) which would force that setting.

It really just depends on the fireplace. Sometimes you can use the actual window or door panels (frame, glass, hinges, handles, and all) to create your actual fireplace unit and not just as a hole to put a freestanding unit into. In the example I posted I was simply trying to recreate an actual site built fireplace that truly did have bifold doors. I haven't done this but a person could even using window coverings (curtains) to recreate that mesh stuff that used to be so popular. A lot of possibilities.

OR bifold doors...

I don't think the 32 inch and 36 inch requirements are actually in conflict. It pretty much takes a 36" door to get a 32 inch clear opening with the door at 90° once you account for the thickness of the door, any hinge offset, the doorstop on the latch side, and maybe any stop mounted weatherstripping. One thing that is kinda interesting to me though is that they only require one door to meet the requirement. This is a lot different then a bedroom egress window situation because a person can relatively quickly find the largest opening window in a room but knowing which one of the six exterior doors in the house will allow your wheelchair to fit through in case of an emergency AND being able to quickly reach that door from any given location in the house is a very different situation.

I absolutely agree with this is well. I don't think the layout method is slow, but it's much less flexible and versatile than what we would have with plan view cameras or at least ref sets being tied to layer sets.

Absolutely agree with Joe. If you've named your pages in such a way that you know what they are, you can essentially do the whole thing right in the plan as long as the layout is actually open by using your project browser. Double click on the layout page in the project browser and then double click on the view in layout. You're only in layout for a split second. Honestly don't see how it could get much quicker than that. You can also even add a bunch of temporary/throwaway pages at the end of your layout for the sole purpose of creating an index of sorts during the rough design phase. Actually, you could even put a whole bunch on one single page by just downsizing the layout box and using the label as your guide. Definitely quite a few possibilities though.

The following is a quote from some IRC commentaries I recently read... "The code now specifies that the required net clear opening dimensions & the method for measuring when the door is opened to the 90 degree position. The minimum net opening dimensions are now consistent with the door requirements for means of egress & accessibility for persons with disabilities in the IBC." If the intent of the code is indeed to fall more in line with accessibility requirements, which I believe it probably is just based off the following 2 lines... "The means of egress shall provide a continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egress travel from all portions of the dwelling..." and "Egress doors shall be readily openable from inside the dwelling without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort" ...than I can very easily see how a double door with an astrigal would not meet that requirement. Does the device require special knowledge? Maybe and maybe not, but is it a bit of an obstruction and does it require a least a little special knowledge and definitely some effort (especially if you're elderly or in a wheelchair)? I think the answer is YES. I can see that its a bit of a gray area but if I'm an inspector, I imagine I might not let a 5ft. double door fly.

Ya. This should really be reported to tech support. I don't think it should behave this way. And just in case you were wondering... I'm quite sober. I was just being silly : )

Might anudda way, but me thinks you hafsta tricking Chief... 1. Checks this box... 2. Change your layer color. 3. Go back in and unchecking that box 4. Change your layer color back. Last 2 steps are really optional. Might take a bit longer in some circumstances but could be a lot faster in others.

Glenn pretty much hit on the most important points, and good advice about spacing the top and bottom evenly. I'm usually pretty good about figuring out stuff like this. That one definitely never occurred to me though. Kudos Glenn! The one thing I would add to Glenn's list of truss editing tips though would be this... You can get pretty much ANY truss configuration you want manually by using these tools... -Trim Object(s) -Extend Object(s) ...Both of which work for truss framing members just like they do with CAD objects -Join and Lap Ends -Join and Mitre Ends Anyway, just wanted to throw those additional ideas out there before I check out for the night.

Jacquilla, I won't get into the rest of the plan, just want to help you deal with the dilemma at hand. Your main problem is right here... All your layers are main layers which means you can only dimension to the one side of your dimension layer, the center of the wall, and the outside edges of the wall. What your wall definition should probably look like is this... Now you can dimension to both sides of the main layer as well as the center and outside edges.

I know you do Scott, and I appreciate you as well good sir. The points are a fairly minor detail although they do give a certain sense of satisfaction for an oftentimes thankless and underpaying job. My real point was that AT LEAST 3 people (judging by how rarely people distribute points I'd venture to guess the real number was much higher) either didn't take the time to read or comprehend my post (which wasn't all that complicated by the way) or they just chose to ignore it (pretty inconsiderate in a forum situation if you ask me). The points are just evidence to suggest the time I took writing it up may have been a waste of time is all. It's really no wonder so many people have such a problem attaining any sort of mastery of this program. If a person can't read and comprehend the forum, the manual, or the help files then they're stuck learning from videos. It would take countless hours, days, and weeks of watching videos to gain what you could learn in a few hours reading and taking time to comprehend what it is you're reading. I've noticed over the years that people seem to "understand" better when watching videos but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that they never really grasp the concept though unless they've trudged through and figured it out through hard earned first hand experience getting it done or by reading to comprehend. When a person reads something and puts forth the effort to really comprehend what the writer is saying, they're making a conscious decision to invest in learning something. They are very purposefully learning and it's more likely to stick. A video is very passive...you can much more easily fade in and out of consciousness watching and you don't have to put any real effort into learning. I've noticed that many people who require videos are some of the first to forget how to do it. They can't explain how it's done without pointing somebody else to another video and they're constantly re-watching videos because they don't remember how. I'm starting to ramble so I'll be done. It's just kind of frustrating to go out of your way to help and then realize people aren't even reading it.

Yep. That's exactly why I spelled it out in the post just before yours. It's funny, you got 2 points for making a video that just repeated exactly what I had just finished saying but I got nuthin'. I'm very seriously starting to question people's ability to read and comprehend anymore. If there's no video people just can't seem to understand. Not too encouraging...I probably shouldn't have wasted my time. But yes...great idea Perry, thanks for bringing it up.

If I understand correctly what you're trying to do... 1. Open an old plan that still has those wall types and draw one short section of each. 2. Open a new plan (this should open your template plan) and copy/paste those 2 wall types into your plan. 3. Delete the walls. 4. Click on File>Templates>Save As Template. You should be good to go. You can also... 1. Open an old plan that still has those wall definitions and File>Export>Export Wall Definitions. 2. Open a new plan (this should open your template plan). 3. File>Import>Import Wall Definitions. 4. Click on File>Templates>Save As Template. This option may give you some unwanted wall types though as well. I would personally just recommend the first option. Or... 1. Open an old plan that still has those wall definitions. 2. Draw a short section of each wall type (if they aren't already in use), select them, and click Add To Library (in the edit tool bar) 3. Open a new plan (this should open your template plan). 4. Select the walls from your library one at a time and draw a short section of each in your plan. 5. Delete the walls. 6. Click on File>Templates>Save As Template. The last 4 steps are optional and only necessary if you want the walls available in your drop down list. If do as Perry suggested and add them to your library, any such walls will be available to easily select and drop into ANY plan in the future. In other words, using the first 2 methods I spelled out above, the wall types would only be available in your template plan whereas placing directly into the library, they would be available to use in other plans as well. And BTW, these are all options already mentioned by the guys above. I was just trying to clarify and elaborate a bit.

In addition to using Transform/Replicate, here are 3 more solutions... 1. Edit>Edit Behaviors>Rotate/Resize About Current Point. Now drop a temporary point at one end of your arc and rotate it as you wish. 2. Use the arc's dbx. You'll need to lock the appropriate end of your arc and then use the Chord Angle to rotate your arc... 3. Just rotate using the normal rotate handle. You can then re-position the arc by grabbing it by the appropriate end edit handle using your center mouse button (essentially tuns any edit handle into a move handle).

Looks to me like you accidentally added or edited that one entry manually. Look at the start and end times. It says you've been working on that for 6 straight months.

Michael, Is there a reason you don't just use the landscape orientation and rotate the layout box? This is what I think I would do. Also, something else that may or may not come in handy...try unchecking "Rotate With Plan" in the appropriate dimension defaults. I think the first idea I mentioned above is the best solution though.

Try either... A. Using Custom Countertops (which is what I normally do myself) and control the display via layer settings or... B. Set the line style for your cabinets in one of your layer sets (maybe create a new "Countertop Layout" layer set) to the "invisible" or "blank" line style... This way only your countertops will actually show.

Larry, I took a quick look at your plan but it appears the version you attached had already been changed so I couldn't test with your original settings. What I think was going on though was a result of your using one of Chief's tools incorrectly...specifically, the Slab Footing tool. That tool isn't a normal wall type and was designed to build monolithic slab foundations with (which your foundation really isn't). I think you should be using an entirely different wall type, probably a normal foundation wall. I think the program is just getting confused when you try to paint the wall and was doing a rebuild of sorts to those walls which were reverting to their original purpose (the footings for a monolithic slab foundation) and therefore the attempted change resulted in a mono slab. Hard to say what exactly was happening without the original plan though. That being said, Perry was right that you should still be using an exterior layer. What you were trying to do was essentially paint the footing which as far as I know isn't even possible except right here... and regardless wouldn't have resulted in an accurate model...you weren't going to build that foundation with stucco were you ?

Dan, Make sure your Foundation layer is turned on. It controls the display of anything and everything on floor zero. Hope that helps.

There are a lot of things to consider when using walls in creative ways (like you have for the shower glass) and I don't want to get into all of it, but for starters... Try getting yourself familiar with the Edit Wall Layer Intersections Tool. Specifically, for the plan in question, select the 2x6 wall, click on EWLI and then drag the MAIN LAYER back so that its flush with the inside face of your glass wall. Hope that helps.

2 additional tips: 1) You can use a WMR or you can also use a Custom Backsplash. The WMR works well for most situations but a CB has some benefits of its own. For one thing it automatically cuts out for cabinetry and appliances but it also (and perhaps more importantly) only covers a single story of any given wall (whereas a WMR will cover the entire plane top to bottom including sections of the wall on other floors). You'll find that both techniques will require a little modification to the polyline from time to time depending on what exactly it is that you are using it for but it's definitely a handy trick. 2) Slightly off subject, but in addition to what Joe has suggested using it for, you can also use the same technique to produce polyline solids in order to create additional finish layers that; A. Display properly at outside corners (WMRs DO NOT). B. Can extend beyond the wall area onto adjacent structural components. C. Don't display the extra vector lines that often times take so much effort to deal with when creating rooms that span multiple levels, split levels, and multiple wall types/heights. D. Allow for various wall covering options...all in the same plan...that can be toggled on and off via layer settings. E. Allow for other customizations and more stability than WMR's often do. ...I'm sure there are others. Note: You can also use additional single (or multiple) layered walls to achieve much of the above and they will automatically cut out for windows, doors etc., but they come with a host of their own challenges and limitations. Anyway, just wanted to throw all that out there because those particular methods have really come in handy for me.

Thanks for the kind words Joe. Here are the direct youtube links for those videos (part 1 and part 2)... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-aYs2jmoo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1EerA1D_gIs clfry, I would also recommend you take a look at this thread if you're going to be changing a bunch of CAD blocks. There are a few things in that thread and in the related video that I think might come in handy for you. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60C5mFXNUu4