Joe_Carrick

Working here in Southern California most of our homes are built using Slab on Grade Foundations. I have struggled with "MonoSlabs" since they were first introduced (X5 I believe). The Exterior Footings didn't offset outside of the Slab Edge which is the typical way they are built. In addition, they are difficult to edit in 3D because there's no "Wall". Eventually I went back to Stem Wall Foundations with the Floor Structure being a 4" Concrete Slab. However, this results in a Stem Wall Centered on the Footing but in the real world the inside edge of the Stem Walls isn't formed and so should be like a MonoSlab Footing. There are some settings in the Foundation dbx that allow the Stem Wall to be thicker (an additonal wall type) and the footing to be offset. This has allowed me to get my Foundations properly defined and detailed. But it's a bit of work to do it. I Think this can all be fixed by Chief programming with a few extra options in the Foundation Defaults dbx so that Interior and Exterior footing walls would be created the way I need them in the first place. The changes should be made for MonoSlabs so that there are options for different Interior and Exterior Footings. There should be separate depth settings and for Exterior Footings the Footing should be offset to the Exterior.

Alan, Try this one. It's just a single section but it can be stretched both length and height. You can superimpose multiple sections so the columns are co-incident as needed. Glass Panel - Alan.calibz

A programming trick I learned a long time ago - make something happen on the screen and the user will not think the system is slow. It all a matter of perception. Interestingly, a process that might take 3.0 seconds will appear to be fast if there is a screen update every 1/4 second - while in fact, the screen updates might mean that the process is now taking 3.2 seconds. The screen updates actually take some extra time but the user thinks it's much faster - and if asked might say it took less that 2 seconds.

A couple of Options: 1. Panel Railing on a Pony Wall 2. Molding Polyline with 2 moldings (one Molding Profile for the glass & and a 3D Molding Symbol for the posts) 3. Make a 3D Symbol from a set of Primitive Solids (Interior Furnishing) with a Stretch Plane at x=0.

Mickey, You have to open the Symbol dbx by right clicking on the item in the Library and selecting the little chair icon. Set the Z-Origin there. After that, any door you place will be raised off the floor. While you can't do this directly in the Chief Library or a Manufacturer Library, you can copy those symbols to your user Library and make those edits there.

If you use a "Library" Door with the z origin set to .75" if will have the gap. There's no way to do it with a standard Chief Door - it has to be a Symbol.

I used a Soffit.

Alan, Is this what you are trying to do? The 1st pic uses a Divider Wall and a Half Wall. The 2nd pic uses a Half Wall, No Room Def moved into the opening created by a Doorway.

Have you considered using a full width doorway and a half wall inside that? There are several ways to accomplish this - that would probably be my choice, but you could also use a divider wall and a half wall.

You need to use a "Panel" Railing Wall. Solid will not work.

Rob, Use a Railing Wall for your toilet partitions. Put a doorway in that wall and convert it to a hinged door. When you raise the door it will not generate the panel below.

I make my own. It's just a matter of putting together the Furniture & Fixtures for what you normally use. Then just group them and add to your User Library. Make sure to put them into a Folder Structure so you can find them later.

Rob, Open the Symbol dbx. You can change the material names in that dbx.

Alan, That's one you can't change. Almost all of Chief's Labels are assigned to a fixed layer that is related to the object type. If you create a symbol you have a little more flexibility by selecting the Symbol Category. The other thing you can do with a Symbol is to add the text to the 2D CAD Block - which works for the Plan View but for Section/Elevations you have to add the text manually.

Cheryl, I think you could fairly easily create that and make it a "Millwork" Symbol. Then it could just be positioned in each corner.

I've compared one of my more complex plans with exactly the same settings in X6 and X7. I can't see any difference.

If you are doing full log homes rather than log siding.......... I use a single layer wall (transparent material) the thickness of the Logs. If you want chinking you can make the original wall 3 layers with only the outer layers being transparent. I place all windows and doors in those walls which provides the casings, etc. Then I stack Log Symbols just as if I was building the log home in the real world. This is the most realistic method I've found.

Tim, 1. You need to have "Wall Labels" layer on for the Label to be displayed. %wall_id% -> 1,2,3,..... %automatic_label% -> Wall Detail - 1, Wall Detail - 2, Wall Detail - 3, ...... %wall_type% -> The Wall Type Name. 2. Don't forget the underscore character "_" as it's part of the macro name and without it you'll get nothing.

For what you're describing, I would add a Material Region (don't cut the wall surface) and then apply a "Hole in the Material Region". That's an icon on the Edit Toolbar. IOW, it's easier to add a Material Region Layer to the Wall Surface and then cut a hole in that. If it needs to be deeper than that I would use 2 walls back to back - pretty much like it would be built.

Sliding Barn Doors in "Bonus Content" online.

This one is real simple. 1. Exterior Wall has Drywall on inside face 2. Second Wall has Drywall only on inside face 3. Put a Pass Thru (no casings, no lintel, no sill) in the wall and make in "Not Through".

Rod, I'm not seeing that in X7. Did you ever have that problem before?

No problem here. I upgraded and installed the library successfully.

Scott, In order to resize: 1. Make sure "Hole in a Wall" Layer is displayed. 2. Select the center area of the symbol and press TAB to get the "Hole" which you can then resize or move. 3. Select the edge of the symbol and press TAB to get the "Symbol" which you can then resize or move. The key to this whole thing is that the 3D Symbol and the Hole have been Blocked together. That way they are treated as a single object for placement but they otherwise keep their behaviors. The CAD Blocks are Custom so it may be possible to play with the y offset but the real solution to this in the long run will be for Chief to make the CAD Block placement match the 3D Symbol Origin Offset. I agree that CA should make this happen with a Symbol Option "Inserts in Wall" with Framing updates just like a "Pass Thru Window". I don't know when that might happen so for now, we just have to deal with it. IAE, I think this is the best solution to the Niches so far.

Here's my new Wall Niche Symbols Library. Please replace the previous Library with this one. These Symbols can be placed up against a wall and they will automatically cut the hole in the wall surface. These objects are actually an Architectural Block consisting of the Niche (Geometric Shape Symbol) and the Hole (Transparent Backsplash) so when selected you can TAB to get down to those 2 items if you need to make adjustments to their size, materials, etc. Note: If you select the "Opening" and then TAB you will have selected the "Hole". If you select the "Frame" or outside edge and then TAB you will have selected the "Niche". I created these symbols without any Floor Finish Thickness. If you find that the hole in the wall appears to be too low you will need to move it up the thickness of your Finish Floor. The Symbols (attached Library) are designed to fit in a 14.5" wide stud space (2x6 studs). They are by default 14"x24"x6" but as I indicated above it is possible to modify the size. I have also included my Washer Hookup which is smaller and a Medicine Cabinet with a Glass Door. Please let me know if you have any special configurations and I will try to add them as my time permits. I would like this Library to become as complete a selection as possible. Notes about displaying in 3D: 1. The Walls must be Framed and the Framing, Walls Layer must be displayed. If you don't need framing you can make you Main Wall Layer "Standard Glass" or some other "Transparent" material and you won't need to worry about the Framing Layer being displayed. 2. For Vector Views, the Hole in a Wall Layer needs to be "Off" -Wall Niches with Hole in Wall.calibz