Joe_Carrick

Haven't any of you figured out that thread this is SPAM? Look at the user name "CALIBZ". That's the extension of Chief's symbol Libraries when exported. Chief Architect LIBrary Zipped.

Richard, IMO it's more complicated than that. it sort of works like that now but not totally. I agree with others who say that it should work form the bottom up since that's how things are actually built. The problem currently is that you might have a multi-story building and want different floor heights in different areas of the floors. This represents some unique problems: For example: 1st Floor area 1 - Floor Elevation 0.00 - Ceiling 108.00 area 2 - Floor Elevation 24.00 - Ceiling 120.00 2nd Floor area 3 (doesn't match area 1 or 2) - Floor Elevation 136.00 - Ceiling 96.00 area 4 (doesn't match area 1 or 2) - Floor Elevation 154.00 - Ceiling 96.00 There are conflicts that may be present depending on Structure, etc. Without a 3D View to see what's happening it's very difficult to tell where those conflict are. In some cases it might be necessary for the Structure to be changed or additional "Room Dividers" to be created in order to make everything work the way you want it. Generally I find that working in 3D Floor Overviews without any Foundation or Roof allows me to get the results I want. But I have to follow the "Top Down" approach to get it right. Working in just a Plan and Section doesn't provide enough feedback.

Only if you send the Elevation as an Image can you rotate the Layout Box.

See, Chief does have some capabilities - even if they are not immediately intuitive.

Johnny, 1. Select the Object you want to cut 2. Select the Solid Subtraction Tool on the Edit Toolbar 3. Select the Object to be subtracted. Both objects have to be the same object type (either 2 Primitive Solids or 2 Polyline Solids). There are 3 Tools: Addition --- combines 2 Solids into 1 Subraction --- removes the volume of the 2nd from the 1st, leaving only the remnant(s) of the 1st. Intersection --- creates a surface where the 2 meet, deleting both objects I like to do these operations using a Plan and 2 Elevations or a Perspective View. Positioning the Objects is the key.

Todd, There isn't an "Automatic" function. However, you can edit the individual windows by selecting the "wall" and then hitting the tab key and opening the dbx.

As I said before, deleter the Foundation, make room adjustments and rebuild the Foundation. - or - Turn on "Auto Rebuild Foundation" If that's not ON you will not get the Foundation to adjust to the new Floor Values and consequently the problems you are having. If you want Chief to make all these adjustments automatically then you have to have "REBUILD ON". Same for Roofs. The rule is that what's above and below control unless you tell Chief to "Auto Rebuild"

Larry, Try this: Delete all Roof Planes and the Foundation Change the Room Heights in the Structure dbx Rebuild the Roof. Rebuild the Foundation Did all the Rooms change or did things work the way you wanted them to?

One thing I would like to clarify. In the Structure dbx, if you change the Ceiling Height you are essentially changing the plate heights. Scott indicated that it would not move the Roof up or down and I said it would. Both statements have some validity. If "Auto Rebuild Roofs" is on the Roof will move up or down. If that setting is off the roof won't be changed - but the plate heights will change and depending on what is above (another floor for example) with rooms that may not span more than one room below the results can be confusing. This is probably the one reason that it's critical to work from the top down when setting these values. It is also a good reason to get all the rooms set before building the foundation and the roof. Those tools rely on the rooms, but once the foundation and roof have been built it can be difficult to get everything to work when things are changed. For example, I usually have an "Attic Floor" that encompasses the entire boundary of the floor below. If I subsequently change the ceiling height of a room below that floor, my "Attic Floor" is moved up or down accordingly and all other rooms are effected. I am not sure if this was true in X5 or X6 but it's definitely true in X7. To avoid this, I simply break up the "Attic Floor" with room dividers that match the places where I want to change the ceiling or floor heights. It can be tricky to control. I understand Larry's confusion.

Scott, I think you need to go back to school. My testing backs up what I said and I think before you make corrections you should test. Then if you really disagree call me and we can do a GTM to verify - and if you were correct I would modify what I said. 1. Changing the Ceiling Height moves the Roof up or Down so that the plate heights are consistent. 2. I stand by this 3. I inadvertently typed "Ceiling Structure" instead of "Ceiling Finish" Now please don't be an a**. All you needed to do was ask if I really meant to say "Finish" instead of "Structure"

Larry, Here's my understanding of this issue: 1. You have a Roof Structure above and if you change the "Ceiling Height" in the dbx it moves the entire Roof Structure up or down accordingly and thereby modifies all rooms. 2. OTOH, if you modify the "Ceiling Finish" definition in one room to add an "Air Gap" and "2x4 Framing" then the Finish Ceiling will move down without effecting the other Rooms. 3. In some cases you can modify the Ceiling Structure but that only works with a Floor above. Changing the Ceiling Finish seems to be the best alternative. It would seem to me that changing the "Ceiling Height" should at least give the option to modify the "Ceiling Finish" definition. But that's not the way it works at this time.

Larry, The best way to change the ceiling heights for individual rooms is by editing the Ceiling Finish or sometimes the Ceiling Structure definition. If you have a second Floor you might have to edit the Floor Structure dbx for the Floor above (or just add a "Soffit" covering the lowered ceiling. I avoid changing those figures directly because it modifies everything else so that the Structure is not modified. I won't say that I think Chief is doing it the easiest way, but I understand the logic.

Sorry, I forgot to close before zipping - check it now.

Larry, Here's your Plan fixed. Basically, I just made sure that all "C" & "D" dimensions for those rooms were all -24". I had to reset some of the "Mono Slab" check boxes. FLOOR HEIGHTS 1-JC.zip

Curt, 1st question: No, all the Detail Plans are in a single Folder. There are individual CAD Detail windows within each Plan and those are linked to the Layout. 2nd question: Yes, most of them are already linked to the my Layout Template. When I start a new Project I set up everything in a set of Folders. That's where I save the Plan and Layout. The details stay linked since Layout Box Links are full path in Chief. As long as I don't move the Detail Plans everything is fine. BTW, I have asked CA to provide a full project setup with automatic folder structure and relink for the project. The idea being that while my Plan Template and Layout Template are already linked, I need to have the Layout Box links updated to the new Plan / Layout paths, and I want that to be automatic if they are in the same folder.

IMO, it"s not really a Gem at all. I would never use it in that form.

Nothing I have would help you in that regard. If it's critical I use the "Wall Detail" and add the appropriate Simpson symbols for Hold Downs, etc. That way I can dimension where they need to be.

I think most of us use "Callouts" on the Foundation and Framing Plans. Perry might be using the "Notes" Schedule system as well.

That makes it pretty difficult. Chief provides some attributes which can be use in text macros for calculating volumes - but the roof shape can make it almost impossible to do that for the attic. If the roof was all gable ends it would be possible but with hip roofs it's another story.

Do you need the Attic Volume as well?

That's true - but it shouldn't be so. Sometimes I frame a window using Simpson Header Hangers to eliminate the Trimmers. Chief should be able to allow "0" trimmers.

Text Style > Options > Rotate with Plan Your other option is to just rotate the Layout Box.

I am not a "Fan" of baths or powder rooms opening off of Living, Dining or Kitchen. However, with modern open concept plans it's not always possible to avoid what would otherwise be an objectionable location. This is particularly true with powder rooms. If a good quality (low sones) fan is installed (connected directly to the light switch) and a good solid door is used there is little possibility of hearing or smelling anything. I use this as a standard for all areas/rooms containing a toilet, tub or shower.

Once upon a time, long, long, ago. I don't know of any such code today - but ti's a really cr***y thing to do.

In the NG Plan, check to see if the material name appears twice. If so, one of them is the bad one and the other one is the good one. Chief will simply copy the name so that there are really 2 different material definitions but both have the same name.