GeneDavis

I'd like to be able to get some wall framing close to what will happen when building. An unheated and uninsulated RV barn has an octagonal turret feature for its man-door entry, and Chief made a mess of the wall framing when I did autoframe. See the attached pic. Studs, when selected in plan view, can be rotated, but there is no way to "make parallel" to anything, since the command is not there. I want to pair studs at the wall junctions as the autoframing did at one of the corners, but am having trouble rotating studs to do so. I select the stud, grab the rotation handle, start the move, hit TAB, and enter a rotation angle, but I am not getting it rotated right. All I want to do is take a stud that in plan view is "upright" with its 5.5" vertical, rotated counterclockwise 22.5 degrees. How do I do that?

Only way to show it is the Sketchup model I uploaded to the 3D Warehouse. See the image. You'll be able to ID it and download it into Sketchup. The model shows half, and the other half is almost a mirror of what is shown. The headers join with large screws over a post that is below, and the model shows the half of the header set that actually bears on the column. I've no idea how this can be accomplished in a locale with earthquake codes like exist in CA. I did in NY, the part of NY that has its own earthquake code. As-built, these wall corners all had truss-framed hipped roofs all bearing atop. Spacing was 2/0 and there were very small loads from roof over the window bays. The large beefy headers were there due to porch roof beams framing into them from outside, the beams coming into Simpson concealed-flange hangers.

Two images attached. 2x6 walls, casement windows, default set to "ignore casing . . . " First image shows windows tight but without making the special move to go tighter. 6" is the offset. The 6 is the 5.5 framing plus the 1/2" R.O. margin. Second image shows what you get when doing what I call the jam move. The corner "post" offset is given by the program as 2-9/16" What I want is 4" (4x4 corner post actually 3.5" square, plus the 1/2") and there is no way to get it. Try it yourself and see. For Andy, yes I know one can edit-frame a 4x4 there. What I want is for Chief to build it and show it both in the 2D plan for layout, and in 3D for rendering. I have framed this condition myself. The windows adjacent the corner are bought with 4-9/16" frames and 2" extensions are field-applied at three sides, their head and sill legs mitering into each other at the corner. The corner inside casing is a 3/4 x 3/4 strip. The framing headers have an interesting joinery arrangement with the 4x4 post. If you are interested, I will show it here.

I've said this here before, and now with a new release, I'll say it again. A 4x4 post can be used in an outside wall corner, to get two adjacent windows tighter together. It's a nice detail if framing with 2x6. Chief can't do it, still.

What you want is a roof plane for which its baseline is in neither the X or Y direction, but rotated. Use geometry or 3D CAD to solve for the baseline direction and slope, then draw and edit edges as needed in plan. Then move as needed in Z.

Sounds like a call-in on NPR's Car Talk, where the brothers are trying to draw out enough information to solve the problem, and when they are getting a little tiny bit of a view of the issue, the owner says, "oh, I forgot to tell you it's a diesel."

Hi, 566043364. Try this. Out in open space, no walls, no nothing, draw a roof plane. Take that roof plane, the rectangle, select any edge, and add line breaks (keying the number "3" activates the break tool), then drag breaks around to edit the shape. See the pic attached here. And consider editing your profile here at the forum so we know your name. Very few of us have digital names. While you are at it, create a signature line that displays details about your Chief software, and the hardware you use to run it.

You can raise and lower a roof plane or a whole collection of roof planes, by selecting what you want to raise or lower, and using the transform/replicate object tool, moving the selected roof or roofs by entering the appropriate value in the z direction box. That is the quick way once you have the roofs built but want to change things. To get the roofs to build the way you want, before placing planes or doing auto-build, you'll need a good clear understanding of specifying and building walls, and doing room specifications.

Have you tried shaping the edge of a flat roof with the editing tools?

Question for Alan the OP: How automatic do you want this to be? Be real specific here. You have already seen how Chief will table the openings by floor.

Or as you probably know, control the placement by casing width, using the wide casing that locates your jammed door correctly, then select all doors placed thusly, and change their casing widths. Chief does not have an auto-placement feature such as what you may want, but you can go on the Suggestions forum and make your case.

Thanks, Michael. I was able to force the break where I wanted it in elevation. The job's a wrap.

Here is the plan file of the job that is giving me fits. I gotta get this thing done. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4lhxbqskpd4ldcn/Barn3A.plan?dl=0 I can live with the behavior, mentioned above, where the breaks will place and allow pony wall heights to be specified differently, but the north wall near the NE corner cannot be broken where wanted. My plan file has heavy red CAD lines I placed for guiding me where I want breaks. The wall appears to break where wanted and the pony wall heights are specified, but as soon as the dialog box closes, the wall breaks further from the corner. And only this one behaves this way. Why?

A job is to have brick wainscot on exterior walls, and the top of wainscot varies. I place wall breaks where the top of brick changes from 60 inches to 135 inches, and all is well. I set the top of brick in each segment in the wall dialog box where I specify upper and lower wall and height of lower. All looks good in 3D and elevations. Coming back after adjusting some window heights in the wall, and needing to adjust the height of brick in a segment, I click on the wall to select, and lo, my breaks are gone. The pony wall height is called "no change." But viewing in 3D and elevations still shows the segmented wall, or rather it shows the up and down brick heights as I set them earlier. I've lost the breaks, and if I specify pony wall height in the dialog (where it says "no change") the wall is edited for its entire length. What's up with this?

I'm sorry, but I do not get this math thing. I am using X7 and can get addition and subtraction to work, but only if I include the inch symbol following my numbers. Thus 96"-40" returns 56" when I either press ENTER or TAB, but without the inch symbols, 96-40 returns 96. To add to the strangeness, I can get good results by dividing with the / (dash) symbol, and 96/3 returns 32. I cannot multiply using the asterisk, and Chief gives me a warning message if I try 32*3, saying that the * is not a valid number.

The math works in the dialog box, but I would rather not have to type in the inches symbol. Typing in just the numbers (i.e., 96-42) returns 94 and not 54.

But, what's the best route to the look shown in the original post. I'm thinking CAD, use a grid, and draw the brick-lines using snaps. I'm trying to imagine the custom hatch that would deliver that look. It would have to be a great big thing to be able to have the nice randomness of what was shown. A suggestion for Chief for next release?

Yup, there it is. Third from the bottom. It's not easy to find Waldo when he's a blank!

Thanks, all. I tried both methods and both work. So, Bill, would you change your wall-move way and use the invisible wall junction way?

For the brick wainscot wall I have on a face elevation, client wants it to wrap only 12 inches on adjacent sides. Framing is 2x6. I have this as a pony wall and need the pony wall length on the return side to be 12 inches. I cannot get (or force) the wall break for this pony wall to be that close. Closest I can get is 14 and a fraction. What controls this?

Thanks! That was it. Closed the section view and, voila!

I wish for the section camera, which I am displaying as a callout on my floor plan for layout, to only display in that plan for layout. It is in my framing plan and I do not know how to turn off its display. Please advise.

It may be worth it to learn enough Sketchup skills to be able to do symbols like that.

You all are correct in saying I did this bass-ackwards. I have since schooled myself and corrected the model by using the foundation build dialog. All is now perfect. Thanks!

Thanks! That did it for me.