mtldesigns

3 hours ago, Tryingtobezen said:

It is kicking my butt

This will be fun.. and thanks for sharing.  This is quite the roof line, I lost count on how many roof planes and all the different pitches.  But to answer your question on not having a "upstairs layout", I don't think you need one.  The shell should get you what you need to start with.  By looking at this 39 page attachment, with measurements, pitches and photos, I would think you could do this.  Page 5 gives you all the wall dimensions.. draw that profile first. Create second floor by using the same profile from below, then adjust accordingly by using the pictures.  Page 9 gives you the soffit depths.  Pages 11-18 give elevation profiles and more dims.  On page 32 a more detailed roof layout with ridge and valley dims.  Lastly, all the pictures of this house can get you a good idea on how exterior walls align, for example over the garage.  It's a lot, but I think you got this, just do one step at a time.

Curious on what "Hoover" is and what they do?  I like this document BTW...  

I am assuming your using Chief Premier, X17 

18 minutes ago, Jyknight93 said:

who has ready-made stock plans available

Your looking for a pdf plan set, not the Chief model -layout, right?

Something like the attached?

2 hours ago, Fotis1960 said:

How do I create this wall?

A couple of questions for you.  First, are you going to provide a wall framing detail showing the studs OC dims?  And are you going to run a report for materials and cut list?  Are these post a true 6x6 or are the 5-1/2 x 5-1/2?  I asked this because I did have a home where the post were a true 8x8s.  That changed my approach some.  The few I have done the builders could have cared less where I showed the studs, so I located my post per the spacing requirements, then I drew a wall, a normal wall right on top of it, with the post being centered with the framing.  I am assuming the girts are on the outside of the post of your build which makes it a little different than what I had to do.   With the post of mine being true 8x8s, I had to put girts inside the post to post to make up for the difference with the 7-1/4" wd studs.  Builders Idea... and it seemed to work since their living in it now.

On the second picture, you'll see I just placed my wall in-line with the post.  I did place some "end view" of stud cad blocks in my floor plan, for understanding how I wanted this to frame without doing a framing plan.  Also, you have to keep in mind the requirement for the kings and jacks framing at the windows and doors, so that was another reason I placed those stud end views.  

Hope this helps...

2 hours ago, DBCooper said:

I would encourage you to give your posts better titles because I almost ignored this because I thought you wanted to hire a draftsman instead of ask a question about the program

@jknapp

SAME HERE

8 hours ago, RichardD said:

convert it to its elevation

I believe so Richard.  Chief will not recognize those lines as anything but lines.  The need to be elevation lines to work, IF your trying to show the contours in the 3D model.  

7 hours ago, Ed_Orum said:

Can I draw it as a separate plan, with my garage defaults, but then send it to the same Layout as the main house without one plan's defaults and preferences trying to impose itself on the other plan?

I have before without issues, I haven't tried it in 17 though.

@Ed_Orum

I’ve had this come up before and have gone back and forth on the best approach. A few key questions come to mind:

• Is the garage being built at the same time as the house, or before or after?

• When you say the garage will not inherit any properties of the house, can you clarify why? For example, will it use different building materials, a different framing method, or a different construction standard?

• How close will the garage be to the house? If it’s located a significant distance away on the property, it raises the question of why it would be shown on the same plan set at all.

One possible approach would be to reference the garage within the same overall plan set but place it on its own dedicated sheets, showing its location clearly on the site/plot plan.

If the garage construction is planned years down the road, it may make more sense to issue it as a completely separate package, especially since permits are typically time-limited and may expire before construction begins.

That said, at the end of the day, it’s generally best to accommodate the client’s request—as long as it’s legal, ethical, and doesn’t create downstream issues.

I do understand why the builder would prefer to submit everything at the same time; it likely saves both time and permitting fees.

1 hour ago, Gary-Doski said:

similar to the corner window

Hi Gary,

I tried this on a 2x4 wall and got the same results.  I'm thinking it has to do with wall framing, and that makes sense.  When I change that wall to a 2x6, the niche filled in, except at the bottom corners (1 and 2 attached).  However, when I continued either wall in the plan view, the whole box did fill in (3 and 4 attached)

.  

2 hours ago, ChiefUserGerald said:

enlighten me

Hi Gerald,  Please see the very quick vid wo sound.  

I don't know what version your running, but this vid was using X16

Basically, go to the roof build pull down and select Tray Ceiling Polyline

From there, draw your shape.  Once that is determined, pick the outer "box" of that trey and the dbx will pop up.  You can set this trey to be vertical or at a pitch (degree). 

I hope this helps.

6 hours ago, Evolution said:

but I haven't figured out how to rotate it to place it in floor plan view

I made it a symbol, then once its in your user library you can rotate it.  See the attached.

• make a symbol
• open symbol and rotate on the X axis
• don't forget to make it a 2D block

1 hour ago, JuanR2 said:

Does everyone spend so much time waiting for Ray Tracing and Videos?

No.  500 sample passes take about 20 to 30 seconds.  The one attached took 25 seconds and that's with all the light on.

Maybe someone on here can explain computers better.  Try ChatGPT and ask "how can I make NVIDIA RTX 5070 8GB, Intel i9 32 GB Ram go faster" . I just did, tons of suggestions.

@rlackore

Thanks Robert...  never crossed my mind to just drag the handles.  The other way you mentioned worked great as well.

4 hours ago, JKEdmo said:

few roof planes adjusted downwards, i.e. top of rafter elevations stayed put and the plate heights dropped.

Were these over areas that didn't have a ceiling heights?  Guessing here.. 

I have two dimensions to a point, both are CLs, however I only want one CL symbol to show for good drafting practices. They both are centerline line types, but when I uncheck  "Mark C.L." in the dbx, it changes the line type to a solid.  How can I keep it as a centerline LT and not have the symbol?

3 hours ago, Gary-Doski said:

add molding to landing edges

Great suggestion and has been mentioned like Gene says.  But def. a plus one here. 

I'd like more controls over the landing also, esp. the framing as mentioned, flooring on anther suggestion.  

10 hours ago, capitaldesigns said:

Thanks Michael.

Your welcome Michael.  Glad I could help.

7 minutes ago, capitaldesigns said:

Does anyone know why this is happening and how I can fix it

Actually, two things.  Your lines are not connected AND the one side is at 0"   See vid

check one of your elevation lines is 0.  See if that helps

How do I remove a frieze from only part of a wall on the same roof plane?  I thought I could do like we can with gutters, but does not appear to be the case.

Thanks,

3 hours ago, Jonathan3891 said:

a room divider

Hey Jonathan, I didn't open up the model, but I am curious on why there is a room divider at this location?

6 hours ago, BryceEngstrom said:

Section but not 3D

Yes I did, as recent as two weeks ago.  Could not figure out the for the world why either.  But I was using X16 on that model, so...  

9 hours ago, DJSSDB said:

crosshairs

Not a fan of these myself because your dimensioning to the point and not the object, but as mentioned above you can reduce the size so its not to obvious.  Here is a video on how to reduce the size of the crosshairs.  

21 minutes ago, JasonJFBdesign said:

shows/generates the path of a vehicle

For things like this Jason, I've never seen it in Chief.  However, I am sure you can find the info via a Chat GBT or something.  I also have the online version of Architectural Standards, and that book has everything you can think of..  I am not sure how it applies in Australia though.

https://www.graphicstandards.com/

7 hours ago, MtGipe said:

get the soffit on the upper gable walls to show and the lower gable roof plane to extend to the attic wall

Hey Marshal, do as you just stated.  On the lower section, grab the roof plan, you'll see a grip.  Pull that to your raised attic wall, it should snap right at it.  That will automatically put your soffits in...

On 6/18/2025 at 6:04 PM, Renerabbitt said:

"Auto Detail as Insulation"

See if your working on a Friday night...  :-)

I am aware of the auto fill and use it all the time, that's not my question.   My question is that when using the auto fill, it always comes in with the "batt insulation" symbol.  About 70% of my houses use closed cell as their insulation of choice.  Forcing me to delete the batt symbol and replace with right insul. symbol.  So I was wondering where is the insulation type controlled from and if there is a location, does that also set the fill hatch pattern?  I am not seeing it in the wall dbx, and looked elsewhere as well.