Joe_Carrick

For Exterior Walls I set the Default y = -6 I left the Interior Walls at y = 0 It's really your choice. There are different Defaults for the various Wall Categories.

You can change the "Pad Elevation" for the Terrain. IOW, you move the Terrain up or down - not the building.

I have my Wall Types named so I can easily see what the construction is. I have defined the default Label for Exterior Walls and Interior Walls as: Wall-%floor_number%.%wall_id% -- %wall_type% so that when I draw walls the label shows me what I'm using. I also have most of my Wall Types saved in folders in my Library so I can just select what I want to use at any time. This takes a little bit of setup but it works for me. Note: The Label is the name that will be given to the Wall Detail in the Project Browser. That's a nice additional feature.

When the electrician has to do a horizontal run thru a solid framed corner it is a lot more difficult. I do understand your statement about hold-downs and very often we have something even more substantial than 2x's at those locations. However, particularly for interior walls it's less material and less work for other trades if the corners are framed the way Chief does it. The pic Greg showed in the OP also limits the sheathing attachment at the inside corner to a very small width. The pic Larry shows is better. OTOH, I don't usually show Chiefs' framing in the ConDocs - leaving it up to the framers to do it the way they are accustomed to. That's normally the way that will require the most material and labor

Perhaps I misunderstood one of your videos. It looked like you were using Level 1. I will have to review that vid again.

My approach is a bit different because I very often am working with a site that slopes up or down away from the street. Depending on the terrain, the Garage may be at the lowest level, an intermediate level or the top level. I seldom have a basement that's totally below grade - mostly every floor exposed on at least one side. Consequently I set the lowest Floor at "0" elevation and that's my Level <1>. I really don't care what it's called Basement, 1st Floor, Sunken Grotto, etc. I then set the Terrain using that Floor as the "Pad". If it happens to be the Floor that has the Garage then it's pretty much what Wendy described. However, if the Street and Garage are 20 feet higher then it's a different situation. So basically what I'm saying is that I always make the lowest usable floor Level <1> and I don't care what I name that Floor. If it's a 3 story house with the Entry on the Middle Floor I will call that Main Floor Plan and the others Lower Floor Plan and Upper Floor Plan. IOW: Level <0> Foundation Plan Level <1> Lower Floor Plan Level <2> Main Floor Plan Level <3> Upper Floor Plan Floor Names are just NAMES. Levels are numbered and Chief has it's own rules. Unlike Scott, I use Level <0> for the Foundation - but I do handle the Foundation Stem Walls in a similar way.

If you do change to that type of corner framing - the electrician is going to hate you.

Wendy, You are not - as Scott Hall says - out here in Mono-Slab Land. But it sounds like you also put the Basement on Level 1. Is that correct?

I suspect that there's a Filler at that location that doesn't have a backsplash. Or perhaps the backsplash is supposed to dependent on the wall cabinets above and it doesn't go all the way to the end wall. Post the Plan and someone will figure it out.

One key element is that on a severely sloping site is there may be a variety of "Rooms" at the Foundation Level at different elevations and with the bottom of the Footings also at different elevations. The "Basement" may be "crawl space" in some areas and "habitable space" in other areas. In those areas where it's just "crawl space" you just leave out the floor slab.

Larry, Sometimes Basement Foundations are built with Footing Walls and the Slab is poured later after appropriate gravel and sand fill has been placed. I rarely get to use a MonoSlab up at Big Bear - but "Walk-out Basements" are common on severely sloped sites. Also, the footings are very often required to be offset and keyed to act as retaining wall footings.

Yes, you can build any kind of Foundation. Really the only thing different is as Larry showed - you have to set the Floor Elevation and make the surrounding Walls the desired Wall Type. Just think of it as the Basement (Lvl 1) has to be sunken in to the Terrain. Otherwise there's nothing different from a normal Floor. You might need to change the name you display in Layout but that's it.

Thanks Larry, I've been having a lot of trouble with my WiFi. I got a new powered Extender but it's not working right either. I'll have to call Tech Support on Monday. IAE, I just haven't been able to upload a video - keep losing connection half way thru.

The Room Finish Schedule and the Room Labels are both rounded to 2 decimal places. With imperial units (sq.ft.) it's not a bit deal but I can see that with metric units (sq.m.) it would be about 10 times as much. I've never used the Totals in the Schedule so I'm not sure why that is off. There is a way to calculate these to whatever degree of accuracy you need using a Ruby Script (macro) but that takes a bit of programming to do.

Start from the top of your building and work down, setting the elevations. I know that's the opposite of the way we think, but that is the way "Chief" thinks.

Lady, Go to the Level 1 and in the Master Bedroom "Floor" section of the Structure Tab un-check "Floor Supplied by the Foundation Room Below" That should fix it. I still would separate the Foundation From the Basement by using different Levels. I just don't like using Level 0 for anything except the base Foundation.

Dennis, Open the Schedule dbx and check "Other"

Mark, I haven't looked to see what you did but here's how I would do this: 1. Get a Cabinet Door from the Library and place it "free-standing" in the Plan 2. Size it as needed 3. Marquee Select and Block it 4. Open the Components dbx and change the Description to "Refrig Panel" a. You can also specify the Mfr, and Comments in this dbx that you want to appear in the Schedule. 5. Open the Object dbx and check "Include in Schedule" / "Cabinet" 6. Add it to the Library. Now you can copy it from the Library, place it where needed. It will be in the Cabinet Schedule as a separate item and will have a "Cabinet Label". You would need to do this for each Style but you could change the size by selecting the Block, hitting Tab and Opening the dbx. The Label and Size in the dbx will reflect those changes. Note: You don't have to add it to the Library. I would do this only if I expected to be using the same size and style in the future.

Where are you seeing these values that you don't agree with? Room Labels? Finish Schedule? Materials List? Without knowing exactly what you are referring to there's no way to answer your question.

I would definitely use the Cabinet Tool for the Bench - but with a 3/4" Plywood Counter Top. The cushions I would fashion separately from Custom Counter Tops and convert them to "Furniture Symbols". Doing it this way would be consistent with the real world and the Schedules would be correct. I think CA took a shortcut on this video

Robert, Maybe that's what the Reference Manual says - but it's not how it works on my system. AFAIK, it has never worked that way. The only thing the Floor Camera does differently from the Full Camera is it limits the view to the Current Floor. The Floor Overview Camera doesn't show the Ceiling. If you look at the OP's pics, you will see that there is no ceiling in the structure tab (section view) of the dbx. The above pic shows a ceiling. OTOH, the fact that this her room is on Level 0 may have something to do with her 3D View. This is just one more reason to limit the use of Level 0 to the Foundation and use Level 1 for the Basement.

I don't think that's correct. The Floor Overview does that but the Floor Camera should show the ceiling.

Do you have a 1st Floor? You might also want to check the boxes for Ceiling Height Defaults. It appears the ceiling is about 20' above where the 1st floor would be. Post the Plan.

Place the Door Panels from the Library as stand-alone in the Plan. Then move them into the proper position on the front of the Appliance. I think they will still be in the Cabinet Schedule.

Dennis, Select the "Select Material" button then "Plan Material">"Edit". That's where you can edit the Pattern (even selecting a custom pattern file), etc.