GeneDavis

So who's gonna write up the suggestion for the enhancement that automates the section-view-measure-then-cut-and-paste-to-move-roof-height tapdance? I'm waiting. If you want a feature, you gotta write it up over there in Suggestions.

If one sincerely needs Chief to generate roofs that meet this truss arrangement soffit-formed-by-truss-chord detail, there will be a check box in the structural page of the BUILD ROOF dialog that would say, "locate roof with subfascia bottom elevation at wall height elevation," and then there, voila, you have your feature. Automatic. Wow. So go ahead and write the suggestion and put it on the Suggestion subforum. Until then, you'll have to slug it out with existing tools, first generate a roof, frame it so as to place the subfacia, take a section view, draw a rectangular polyline to gage the height you need to move the roof so that subfascia bottom equals plate height, cut the temp dimension of the box height to the clipboard, go to the roof in a view so so as to select and move it, paste in the move distance, and THERE, you have your roof ready to build your perfect cantilevered truss. I should have timed it. Really quickly done. In the three views here, I show how the heel height can change for an overhang that has the same pitch and overhang distance, but what has been varied is the roof sheathing thickness, the fascia thickness, and the addition of a shadowboard. I set the fraction to 64ths for emphasis. When you copy that move distance, you are at five decimal places in inches. For a trussed job, my roof edge section will dimension heel height, overhang, and roof pitch, and it will call out the thicknesses of roof sheathing, fascia, shadowboard if there, and will call out size of subfascia. They all play a role in the geometry.

If every job one trussed had same-pitched roofs, same length overhangs, and same-spec fascia and subfascia, then one could build roofs right for trussing with bottom chords framing soffits just right every time. Just control it in the build roof dialog as stated above. The OP stated that the spec was to have the bottom elevation of subfascia match precisely the plate elevation of wall, and to do that involves either a trig or graphical solution. Wasn't said this way, but as "bottom of overhang even with walls." I think I understood that correctly. Easily done with Chief in a 2D section view, to arrive at the right z position for the roof plane. But change anything, pitch, roof sheathing thickness, added shadowboard, subfascia size, overhang, and you're back to needing a new solution, BEFORE you generate a truss.

It's static. I use the material list as a way to refine the 3D model (i.e., the plan) so as to have the most accurate representation of how the building is built with real available-to-purchase materials as possible. I want my final issue of the material list to be as close to an actual buy list as possible. Use the "find in plan" feature to go to and edit every single element of the job, from the rebar in the footings, to the knobs on the closet doors, if those elements don't match your intent.

Close plan file. If over 25 Mb then zip it. If under, no zip needed. Attach it to to your next post. We'll get 'em mulled.

Display in 2D or 3D? In 2D plan view, you can control how pony walls display.

Try Sketchfab for 3D Framing Overviews. Very easy interface.

'Twould be nice if you could select an exterior wall and have it expand OUT, but no, not the way Chief works. This ain't no four-wall plan. Lotta turns and more. Suggest something that will make this trouble-free, please.

Done in Sketchup, symbol is a fixture

Just get busy with wall definition and floor finish specs. And ceiling, roof. Framing layers on for the 3D.

Why not cloud storage? Dropbox is pretty seamless?

Late for me to get back but I want to give a big thanks to Michael, for the excellent tutorial, which taught me not just some truss stuff, but some editing moves I did not know. When the vid was first posted I was at my seasonal camp in the north woods, with a slow satellite connection, and it prevented me from going back to the video rapidly after pausing it to go and make the moves in my plan. Well, I winterized the place two mornings ago, locked up for the season, drove back to civilization, and am now where I've got high speed, and was able to watch it in full. The model is now done.

Define "glass size." Every window manufacturer has charts for the glazing area of their windows, but a double hung with unit size W x H from Andersen can have a different glazing area from Marvin for the same double hung type of same size W x H. I think you are using glass to say what most would call unit.

Yes, Michael, I watched the video, which showed how to do a big rectangular notch in a truss where a window is desired, but as you explain in the exercise, you cannot work the under-window part to get the truss to have a hole in it. My truss is a hybrid with a hole. Hybrid in that its upper half is an endwall drop-gable type, with a window hole, and its lower half is a workhorse of a girder, picking up a 3-foot wide tributary area of roof load, and carrying along its one side the load of all the monotruss jacks hanging onto it. Chief would have to give us "pony-truss" modeling plus framing for windows. See the CAD sketch attached. The truss guy has all the specs and will produce his drawings when this one comes up in the queue.

I just uploaded this one done in SU to the 3D Warehouse. Search "Bilco Door." If you want a closed version of same search for "bulkhead bilco" and you'll find one. Just like mine, but closed. I built it exactly to Bilco specs.

OK, model me the truss. 2x4 webbing and 2x6 top and bottom and overhangs for the bottom girder part, reduced gable endwall at top, and with a 27x27 window opening where it belongs. I am not interested in seeing just the truss envelope, but the details, the heavier parts for the structural part, and the 2x3 verts on 24 centers for the gable end upper part, plus all fours side members of the window opening. Here is the file. Wonky Truss.plan

The reason I wanted to do a CAD detail from view of the truss was this truss. See the pics. For a dutch gable feature with a window in the gable (lighting storage space in an attic over a garage), the truss engineer says they can make the truss with its full girder features (100 psf ground snow load, 30 foot span) where highlighted, and above in the gable area, same truss, a dropped-top end wall gable truss, with the window opening in it. Chief cannot meet the challenge of modeling this truss, with the as-is code. What I wanted to do was to simply draw a reasonable representation of this quite special truss in 2D, and show it with a note on the roof framing page of the con docs, really just to show my client, the builder, where this is going. The CAD detail was to be a start. It turns out that the CAD detail Chief creates (Truss Detail), if you unlock the layer, is showing us SOLIDS. Doing a CAD detail from the view, gives you CAD lines, on the same layer as the solids. Select and edit anything in the detail from view, and the truss is unaffected in the 3D model. But now this little exercise has led me to something new that is really cool. You can go to the Chief-generated Truss Detail page in CAD Details, unlock the layer Framing, Roof Trusses, and have your way, your own very way, with trusses. Chief creates, for the purpose of a semi-realistic 3D rendering for framing, a truss as a group of solids, think polyline solids, one for every chord and web of the truss. When you unlock the layer, you can manipulate and sort of edit those chord and web elements. You can definitely take an endwall gable truss and edit it to create a framed window opening. But I don't really need to do this, as I have had the back and forth with the truss guy, and copied the builder in on the emails from both sides. I'm attaching an image of that truss after I tried a little editing.

Interesting, Glenn, but why would it lock what I believe to be just a 2D CAD copy of the trusses. Now I am afraid to touch the one of concern, thinking that this CAD detail is somehow linked to the 3D truss in the model. I did not know that creating a CAD detail from view created its own layerset, which it seems it has. Straight to ALDO.

Open up the CAD detail, if you have a truss or trusses in your plan, and you get non-editable images of the truss or trusses. Now make a CAD detail from view of that detail. See if in that new detail, you can work with the CAD. 'Cause I cannot, and wonder why. And I just tried it in brand new unspoiled little plan and same.

Whenever I do an Open Below room I say to myself, Look Out Below! Having worked as a framer, I can say things are a little spooky until you get those temporary guard rails built.

I did not try it with a truss. BRB Back. Does not work. I pulled the lower return roof away so the truss has the full-height envelope, specified it as dropped gable, end, and it did not work. Specified it as dropped gable, end, and attic, and still not working. Forced rebuild both times.

You are looking at the attic wall framing in 2x4 with header. What the truss guy says is he can do a hybrid truss with parallel chords and webbing to handle what the 30 foot span and 100 psf ground snow load dictates, but the upper half of these girders will be dropped-chord gable-end trusses and they will have the required window opening.

Line wt 200 arrow 15

Just came across this and wonder. Can it be done in Chief? The truss plant will build what we need. I drew it with a parallel chord girder underneath, and framed a 2x4 attic wall over and of course the attic wall has the window opening.

Measure in 2D section, adjust stemwall height in the basement room dialog.