Joe_Carrick

Yeah, that would do it. Essentially when you drag a window vertically in 3D thru a Floor Level - Chief puts the Window on the Floor where it thinks you want it. Too smart for its own good.

OK, Then Place them in the Stem Walls (Plan View). That way they show on the Foundation Plan rather than the 1st Floor Plan. You can set the height to whatever you need. If you have a goofy looking hole where the vent isn't supposed to be - Rebuild 3D.

Scott, A Louvered Window is not the same as a Louvered Vent - and it's definitely not the same as a Screened Vent. What if you actually want to have a Louvered Window. I realize those are generally not permitted today - at least not here in SoCal - but they are in some places. Then you would have the problem of it probably showing up in the Vent Schedule. In order to utilize the macro that I provided there needs to be a way to identify that the object is in fact a Vent. The type_name attribute for Windows is the most logical way to do that. There are other possibilities but none that is quite as simple. That macro can even be placed in the Default Window Label and all new Vents will be accumulated - but other Window Types will not be effected (ie: Their Labels will not be changed and they won't be counted as Vents for calculation of the Total Vent Area.)

OK Perry, in your case I assume you are using the "Foundation Vent - Screened". Set the Symbol y origin to 1". Place the Symbol in the 1st Floor Plan Set the Top Height above Floor to -2" If that doesn't get it for you - at least post a pic and the Symbol dbx. or you could post the plan.

I don't think Chief's Library Vents were intended as Foundation Vents. They look more like Attic Vents.

It depends on how much room you have on what drive. I have 3 different system: 2 of them have relatively small C drives and very large D drives. On those 2 I have everything on the C drive except my Projects. On the other system I have a very large C drive so I have everything on that drive.

I would suggest y origin values for: Foundation Vent - Screened y = 1" Foundation Vent - No Frame y = 8" (or whatever your Stem Wall thickness is.

Scott, Sort of...... One thing to make sure of is that you are on the Foundation Floor when you place them. The one with the Frame evidently needs it's y origin modified so that it sits where it should relative to the wall. I may have been playing with that value before I posted the Symbols. A lot of the appearance and how they fit depends on the Window dbx - these are after all, Window Symbols and are subject to the whims of Chiefs' Windows dbx. ps: Once you have the settings right, edit them directly in the Library.

It would really be nice if we could set that up and have Chief repeat the whole thing "On Demand".

Here are a couple of Foundation Vent Symbols I created that IMO are more appropriate than what Chief has in the Core Library. Foundation Vents.calibz

Mick & Richard, I would not rely on the Chief Library Items as far as dimensions are concerned. The calculated values should be based on the "Window" dbx. So if the "Window Frame" is 3/4" on all sides, the opening (vented area) would be 1-1/2" less in both directions. To get a full 16"x6" vent the Frame needs to be set to 0.00" on all sides - which would be the standard nail-on vent purchased as a 16"x6". OTOH, a vent with a frame for installing in a Foundation Stem Wall would have less vented area. I have modified the macro to indicate the true vented area - but you have to make those "Frame" changes to the Vents. Set all Frame Sizes to 0". That will cause the "Vent Schedule" and the output of my macro to be the same (within 0.01 Sq. Ft.). The difference is that I calculate each vent area in sq.in., then add those together and divide by 144. Then I round the result to 2 decimal places. The output of my macro will be the true vented area. Chief's Schedule only provides the area encompassed by the outside of the frame. IMO, that's a bug in the way Chief calculates the "Area, Actual. (Sq.Ft.)". Foundation Vent Macros.zip

Try this: Foundation Vent Macros.zip

Chief does not give us access to those - and in most cases there is no way to even get the underlying value. I suspect that they have done whatever calculation in programming and "Global" macros simply are returning a text string of what that value is.

Richard, In your "Vent Schedule", did you uncheck [Group Similar Objects] ?

Here are a couple of macros: %Foundation Vents% ---------------- Make this the Label of the Vents in your Plan %Foundation Vent Totals% --------- Put this in a Text Box Create a Window Schedule that only contains "Vents" with the "number" field included. and uncheck Group Similar Objects Make Sure "Vents" is not checked in your regular Window Schedule. Note, I used owner.width*owner.height to calculate the areas. If you are using a 1" frame around your vents then the macro would need to be changed to (owner.width-2)*(owner.height-2) Foundation Vent Macros.zip

There will be the following: 1. Roof Area Schedule: ------------------ $50.00 2. Floor & Total Living Areas ----------- $50.00 3. Openings (Doors & Windows) ------ $150.00 4. Site and Building Area Analysis: --- $200.00 All four for $350.00 I will be putting together a video of each. I still need to do the documentation and instructions for the last 2 but I should have them all available by June 1st.

Greg, Do you have any programming experience? Are you familiar with Ruby syntax? I don't want to give away something that I spent a lot of time putting together. I also am not really interested in teaching a Chief Ruby training course. However, if you have a real desire to invest in learning how I could do an online meeting to explain the basics of how I accomplish this. I will be offering several packages for sale. See my post in Offering Services https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/5324-roof-area-schedule-package/.

I am offering my Roof Area Schedule Package for $50.00 This package consists of macros to accumulate the areas of Roof Planes in a Chief Architect Plan and Display that Data in Text Boxes as formatted Schedules, etc. It stores the Data in several Ruby Global Variables that can be used by other macros to calculate and display the results of those calculations. Here is some of the sample output: The notes were simply copied from the Chief Help, These samples were done with no existing or demo roof planes, so there is no difference in the numbers at the bottom, but if there had been either of those categories present the calculations would be apparent. This can be used on any new or existing Chief Plan versions X6 & X7. I have not checked it on version X5 or prior. If you wish to purchase, PM me with your email address and I will create a Paypal Funds Request.

Tommy is just telling you how they used to build things in his part of Texas. They did use full 1"+ Shiplap Siding on Interior Walls. Very little Lath and Plaster and back at that time drywall was unheard of. In the mid 1900's there was a move away from wood lath to 1/4"-3/8" lath (made like drywall - but used as a base for 1/2" interior plaster.

I understand..... It's a part of the construction process. As much as we try to avoid "cutting", the fact is that construction is always going to have some imperfections in measurements. There are also expansion and contraction problems to deal with. I think the best we can do is come close and make things so there's as little cutting and waste as we can get. For that reason it's usually better to make things a little bit smaller than bigger. You can cut a few inches or centimeters off of a sheet of plywood but it's really hard to stretch it at all.

You do know that you can take a picture of a material, import it and convert it to a texture, right?

You need to think in reverse. Your Exterior Wall Layer is "Hardieplank". The "Wall Material Regions" you would use would be a "Thin Material" with "Cuts Wall Surface Layers" checked. You make these about 1/2" wide or tall (depending on the direction) as seams to "break up" the wall surface. IOW, you are making "Reversed Wall Material Regions".

Hi Graham, I understand. There should be some way to specify a material thickness but there isn't. That might be a good suggestion

Graham, Since the OP just wanted "Open Back" bookshelves with no doors, I think "Match Front" is easier.

Perry, I could extend this to a finer level of control - Existing, Demo, New. All it would require would be using the appropriate line_styles.