GeneDavis

Thanks! I'll try that. As for my straight symbols, I'll correct them to have differing materials for all the wood parts. I am also shortening them by 6" so the railing height is 36" off deck. The Simpson tension tie product tech details enlightened me. 36 is right for residential and 42 is for multi family and commercial. 36 uses a different tie with a less cumbersome blocking detail underneath. The "Cable Rail Run Panel" and "Cable Rail Corner Panel" models will be uploaded to the 3D Warehouse this afternoon. Edit: trial fit of the SU symbol I built late yesterday for the staircase and landing railings. Final editing to be done. 42" railings up will be corrected.

You know what I mean. My elevated deck has been successfully railed, but it has an L stairway to the ground. Two flights and a small deck that's the halfway-down landing. Wizards awake!

Images of the two SKP models, highlighted to accent everything. I imported each into Chief, set stretch planes, saved, then mirror imaged, did save-as opposite hand of each. The straight is a 4' module. The corner reaches 4' from the post with the cable runs. I used three different colors so it can be textured the way one wants. My detail calls out for the posts as PT SYP lumber, likewise the 2x4 top stretcher, with the 1"x5-1/2" top rail as ipe.

For you perfectionists in 3D, here's a couple symbols that can be used to replicate my setup, and gives you a true as-built corner. I used CableRail on a house I built, and still have the hat Feeney shipped with my order. You can mirror-image them and place stretch planes, to make a useful set of R and L straights and corners. Cable rail post corner R.skp Cable rail post L end.skp

I'm a Sketchup guy, so I tried it the easy way, for me, after failing to understand how to do the invisible layer and offsetting the rail. Here's a repeating symbol popped in at 48" intervals. I can readily edit the SU model as needed to do special spacings at corners and ends.

Now THAT'S an idea I had not thought of, Rene. I'll play with it now. What is the chance of my getting the chamfer cut on the newel bottom, shown in the picture?

See the pics. I prefer deck railings done with newels fastened to the outboard face of framing, or for stairs, outboard the stringers. Is this possible?

No, I learned one thing for sure on my first go-around with this, and that was not controlling this at the individual wall level. I had been trying that and it did not work for my con docs needs. It is all controlled at the Pony Wall Defaults level, and I hope it is cemented into my brain for future use.

Voila! Eric to the rescue. I did not scroll down below "exterior wall" to get to "pony wall." Thanks!

Just did that to no avail. In the screencaps here, I point to the exterior walls that are pony wall spec: framed wall up, stemwall down. All are carrying the default of no specific selection for view, i.e., they are not set to show upper, or lower, or either of the other radio check boxes. I then try and change the display by going to DEFAULTS and changing the display to DISPLAY LOWER, and nothing happens.

I still have no idea how to change my display through defaults. I don't even understand the whole defaults thing. The only way I know for changing the wall default or anything about wall is to click on the wrench symbol up on my OOB toolbar and select Walls>Exterior Walls> File attached. I watched Steve's tutorial and cannot understand a.) how he has his plan views in a dropdown on his toolbar, b.) how he has a tool palette going and what's in it, and c.) how he has something in that palette that brings up pony wall defaults. https://www.dropbox.com/s/01hgiyeqhc1enx3/Irvin Whitney.plan?dl=0

I messed up something in this plan, and am unable to get my lower pony wall to display. See the attached which is what the pony wall dialog looks like in the DEFAULTS. As can be seen, even though the lower wall is specified as concrete stemwall, and BTW the concrete stemwall is set to show properly in wall defaults, the stemwall in the preview is looking like a thick version of my siding wall, and is showing siding on all surfaces. Help me recover from this, please.

It's what I just did. Sorry for the whine.

I built deck framing and then spent hours editing it, moving posts, beams, adding more. Now I am stuck with a bunch of footings I stupidly let go at deck autoframe time as 16" x 16", and since specified round they are really a square edited round. I want them 8" dia. It seems the only way to get them 8" dia is to spec them that way at build time. I don't want to rebuild deck framing and lose all my edits.

And the big thing adjacent is as-built?

For photorealistic trueness, that Schluter metal trim will be drawn in 2D and placed with a 3D molding polyline. Check my 3D Warehouse page for the hinges you will need for that 1/2" frameless shower door. When I was learning Chief, I took a house I had just built, an architectural masterpiece of detail, trim, curves, stone, and fixtures, and modeled it all to be 3D true. It's all worth doing if you enjoy it, but the clients rarely appreciate it, if they even see it. I recently did a kitchen work-up, all the appliances and fixtures matching owner specs, came here to the forum to help solve my issue with an open-front wall cabinet. Specifically called it out in my drawings and the rendering submitted. Her reply, "can I have that open-front wall cabinet we discussed?"

Just do a p'solid or slab on the ceiling surface, just as the tile setter will do. That section of ceiling will be sheeted not with drywall but with cement board, at least that is what my experience with builds has been. You place it where you want and make its material the same tile as the walls. And you don't mess with room specs.

I've a 6' diameter hot tub on a deck, and the client says after it is all modeled and framed and "for foundation permits" con docs, he wants something done to fend off mosquitoes and black flies during bug season, so I dream up a pergola with tin roof he can get a mosquito net custom wrap for. And I do it all in Sketchup so he can see what I dreamed up. SU images attached. I was going to import the whole frame into Chief and place it under the Chief roof, but thought, hey, why not try this with Chief tools. Image attached of the Chief one, which took a little less time than the SU version.

Problem is I edited every single wall detail. Deleting it all loses all that work.

No, I did a search here and came up with that, doublechecked my file's settings, and that's not it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/01hgiyeqhc1enx3/Irvin Whitney.plan?dl=0

I have fully framed the job, and am testing to see what the material list produces for quantities. All interior wall studs are either precut 9' or 8', thus 94 5/8" or 104 5/8". It is not counting any interior wall studs or plates. Yes, I have the walls turned on. I'm set to mixed in structural reporting. For 2x4 and 2x6, I have deleted all lengths except the precut 8 and 9 lengths and 16-footers. I try a material list polyline to calculate just one wall. No plates, no studs. What's up with this?

And in conclusion, while the spike can be edited away, I still feel it is a bug and will take it to Chief. The spike should not be there to begin with. The job I would like to clean up has 49 different trusses and cleaning up the tails of each of these is just not worth it.

Wow! What a revelation! Thank you all! The truss detail layer set is something I never knew existed. Why do you suppose the default is LOCKED when a truss detail is created from a truss build? And why do you suppose that truss envelope editing is available in both the 2D section views and the 3D views, when the real editing is best done in the truss detail view?

Do I need to fly to Chief HQ in Idaho to get training? I am lost here. The "Framing, Roof Trusses" layer is unlocked as anyone who has downloaded my file can see. I make certain I select the truss and open it for spec and validate that [ ] Lock Truss Envelope is indeed unchecked. I then open the truss detail and the window displays the CAD detail of the truss and in a boundary-line envelope shows the envelope. See attached. I move the mouse to select the envelope to be able to edit it as I would any polyline. The envelope disappears. I am unable to select anything at that point.

Must be me. Here is what opens up when I select the truss for editing, and I cannot edit the truss envelope in the truss detail. I can only edit it in a clipped section view.