BigKahuna

It does bring to mind as to when I should delete old versions and their X5, X6 data.  I currently am running X7 but have X6 still on here as well as all that data.  I need to clear some of if not all of itb out as its on my smaller C: SSD  and archives and data are taking up around 12 GB. I need to review all that so I don't delete or remove important stuff

I have not even downloaded the X8 beta.  I figured I would wait until bugs worked out.   I used run as administrator several times. it kept doing same thing.  I opened a Plan in X6  and I believe after closing it and rebooting again   x8 worked for whatever reason.  I have no idea why or what I actually did or didn't do to fix it.  I do know it didn't save about an hour or so worth of work but I blame myself for not saving the work early on as it was a new project.

I did just update to Windows 10 from Windows 8 2 days ago. Not sure if that had any effect.

Thanks Lew...  I got it going again finally.  thought I was going to have to reload X7 

Not sure what happened but I opened  X6 and then closed it and for some reason when I tried x7 this time it opened.

Lost the entire plan. Nothing in archive . Thankfully a smaller simple project easy to recreate.

Lesson learned  save early!

I was working on a freestanding garage and  suddenly I tried some command ( I cant remember what)  when the program simply closed. Sadly I had not yet saved it even though I was pretty far along. 

The issue is now I tried to restart program ...X7 thinking I could simply catch a saved version....but it keeps saying its running already and running 2 is not recommended or even giving me choice for that matter. I have shut down and rebooted and it still wont open for me.  Any suggestions?  I tried task manager but it doesn't show the program running

Any help appreciated

I use an Epson Workforce ( about $200 ) and buy 12 x18 Paper online so I can get pretty accurate 1/8" scale check sets and send out for 24x36 sheets or larger. Works great and fairly cost effective.

Several companies make printers that will do up top 13x19 prints/ photos

these were from a very narrow lot design but same concepts apply

Be careful of doing your own designs. it can be costly to you in mistakes, changes, resale, actually enjoying the spaces. etc if the design is not well thought out. While you may think its functional. its far less so than you are thinking. right idea on where spaces go...public spaces to back, utility type spaces at front. Many will avoid answering because nobody likes to bash someone doing their own designs and seem like a jerk.

Here are my 2 cents

1. The entry is very underwhelming and tight to enter and doesn't open you up to view of the lake beyond or a nice room. I would relocate possibly to where the bath is. Be sure to show furniture in each room so you can see if you have enough room

2. I wouldn't enter a laundry from the middle of the kitchen. traffic is right through kitchen and is a mess. Consider moving door to hallway. pantry could be there or get reworked.

3. Kitchen layout is not very efficient and its closed off from living room. Lake houses should be more open. Windows should go in front of sinks not either side as it reduces wall cabinets and they are too close to Ref.  Cooktop appears to be in corner and should be centered on sink wall or pantry wall as a featured space with counter space on both sides for prep. I would also want a nice size island to gather.

4. Dining space should be more open to kitchen and living. It doesn't look to have enough room for any decent size table that lake homes should have with many guests.

5. Living room looks too small especially with a piano in there and laying out furniture will be hard. You also have traffic patter to get to your master suite right in middle of that room. where are tvs going?

perhaps flip stairs and move entry to where the 1/2 bath is?

6. You have a bathroom door opening into your living room. think noises, smells and awkward guest interaction.

7. Just a hunch but stairs look too narrow and location is ok but maybe not best. is there a basement / stair needed? if so stairs need to be wider for going down next to foundation.

8. Doors and windows to sunroom from kitchen should be symmetrical, or use a 4 wide slider so you don't lose space to door swings. should have a door from sunroom to patio or porch out of way of furniture layouts.

9. Many windows on sides especially are not placed well or in a few cases too many.

10. Master bedroom should have bed on opposite wall when you walk in with a window over night stands and spread apart. Closet for master is tiny and unusable as laid out. you need 5 ft wide for a single line of rods/ shelf and best for 7 ft to double load rods/ shelves if single...door should shift to one side. Too many windows in a small closet.

11. Master bath is not well laid out and shower size is small it seems to me. 36" x60" a min I would do for a master shower. anything bigger is better. Vanity sizes are small, toilet on wrong wall and tight.

12. Consider a covered porch that's not screened in off of living room ? 12-14' deep. its nice space out of sun/ rain but still open view.

13. The bedrooms/ offices and baths upstairs seem a bit awkward in size and function. a lake house usually wants to have more bedrooms due to number of family and friends who come to visit. Halls are narrow and the one is dead end into back wall by office. All less desirable than you should get.

Exterior.

1. The front is very bland and lacking any curb appeal. that draws your eye or pulls you into it. Garage doors could be painted a white or contrasting color to break things up.

2. Window sizes are all same size and shape. they give you no hint of what the space inside is. Lake front in many cases also has some nice grid patterns.  could be simple and in top pane of double hungs only which I would suggest for most windows. The can be larger, open better, don't swing into patio, deck or walk space and are usually cheaper than large casements.

3. The house seems to be all one material? lap siding of some sort? Mix of materials can break up the elevation, scale, add texture, color, variety etc. Rear isn't horrible but still could use work and make sure windows are properly sized and enough room is left for structure / trim etc. Trim details can really help.

4. Also when designing a plan a good designer can lay it out to get good use of materials and reduce waste of materials by using standard sizes for materials and methods of construction etc.

5. If the drawings are not complete enough and you go to bid it to 2-4 builders you can get wider ranges of costs that can cost you in long run. Also banks want a house that they can sell if they should ever be put in the position of having to take it over.

All of this is based on me not knowing site limitations, best views, size and budget limitations or your specific needs and desires. I would be careful doing things so specific to yourself that any resale is killed by having spaces like offices that cant easily be used as bedrooms. Keep in mind $6000-$10,000 could probably get you some good design assistance at the very least. every designer and or architect will have varying price schedules and could be more but if you make many mistakes that you end up changing later  they will likely more than make up the cost of a good designer. plus you shouldn't end up getting done and regretting many of the design decisions. Resale is also hurt or price reduced for poor design.

Go to Houzz website and search lake house pictures and save some that you like. notice the spaces, focal points, use of variety of materials, Entry emphasis, window groupings etc.

Here are a few pics as an example. The renderings were from early in this design and was my first Chief model / project so they aren't great but you get the idea It was designed for a specific person but with resale in mind so it has tons of flexibility in how spaces are used.

Hope this is helpful.

Same think happened to me yesterday. I somehow accidently reset the pad elevation.

Schoenleben EXTERIOR FINAL.zip

Anyone have a problem with what appears to be pixels missing in a ray trace ?  They are happening about midpoint of windows leaving black gaps. They seem to get worse if I let trace run longer.

Also any tips to making trace brighter ? I will look through forum to see what is out there.

Thanks

Thanks Shane. I tried both.   Seems odd that it doesn't  simply default to the meet grade or give you that option. what knee wall is going to stop at the foundation ?

Ok feeling dumb here.

I am setting up a pony wall. Brick 6 wall type changed to stone and will add molding for a cap ( why isn't a molding/ cap profile option built into dialogue box?)

It allows me to determine the height of top of stone above floor but it stops at the top of foundation on the bottom. How can I get the bottom of the stone to go to grade. i thought in past i used to be able to grab some grips and stretch it down to grade.  What control or method am I missing.  Thanks in advance.

Chief has some barn doors in the bonus libraries to download

A few more

Pool House

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/gallery/album/59-new-pool-pool-house/

Farm House

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/gallery/album/58-100-yr-old-farmhouse-addition/

My first entry . A party barn I just finished for a client. 

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/gallery/album/57-party-barn-design/

Curt,  Thanks  I will try doing some searches. I had a feeling it wasn't a quick fix but we shall see.  I haven't done much playing with any settings just do a factory setting one and go So I will have to investigate more.

I too have been disappointed in the stainless look and haven't found a good answer in my searches so I used Brushed Bronze from the metals.  The curved surface helps. Not as sure it does as good on flat surfaces as it does on curved ones though. you also have to actually change the material not paint it .

I love the ability to do these nice ray traces with latest version and a newer laptop. The old one for some reason took forever ( hours) while new one does it in 5-20 minutes. 

The only issue I have is the dark ceilings. I have the lightened ceiling  box checked. Is there any other tricks ?   In this project I also had light wood ceilings. Its a bit frustrating not to be able to highlight it.

 I have attached photos.

Thanks for any suggestions

Im in Columbus, Ohio

Sorry. I thought I had added them but wasnt used to the new forum. They are now in the edited orginal post. Thanks

I am considering having someone with more experience and time do a site plan for an upcoming 6-1 acre lot development for a builder client that could be used upfront in the marketing process and then used for each home as they are built. I would expect to have an autocadd of the attached pdf to import. I am less than skilled at the contour manipulations and feel it might be best to have someone more skilled at it provide it.  It would include  the 2 bordering roads and the private street and a small stream shown on pdf. It does not require adding trees ( optional ).  I can add those and an entry feature and misc. items. A few things I am not sure can be done but would like to investingate.

1. Can a single site model  indicate the whole site as well as show individual property lines? Or does it require adding a fence or some solid polyline applied to the model at ground level to indicate it and possibly building setbacks ? Obviously I would like to be able to easily spilt of the individual lots later as the homes are designed and save a version to add a model of each finished home onto the overall site later. I dont use chief for CD's as those are done on Autocadd so if that makes a difference.I use chief for visual aspect for clients and marketing etc. 

2. If you are interested could you please provide me a price or ballpark price and ask any questions or provide any feedback on this approach. Also if you could give a rough timeframe to complete once given an ok.

Please send your thoughts to me in email.

Thanks,

Nelson Behr

Design Directive

Designdirective1@yahoo.com

RIVERSTONE EXHIBIT A.pdf

Riverstone_EXHIBIT.pdf