HillsideDB

Yep, this is exactly what was happening in my file. I have sent the issue to the Chief team and I'm sure they will figure it out. I did tell them that it works flawlessly in the closed off rooms and I look forward to having such a tool.

Thanks for the reply! I don't have any rooms above. I will get back into the plan later today and double check everything and then submit a bug report if still having issues. thanks! BTW, it worked flawlessly in the bedroom. It's an awesome tool and definitely glad to have it!

I haven't. I thought I'd see if anyone else ran into it. And the last time I commented on something, I had a Chief rep give me answers, so I figured they would chime in. I'll probably go ahead and submit something to them.

I used the 'auto tray' tool for the first time tonight. In a master bedroom it worked fantastically. However when I went to use it in the Great Room I was working on it kept messing up. I had set the room to 10' and wanted the ceiling to tray up to 11'. Instead of recessing the tray and creating the 11' height it brought the ceiling down to 9' and brought the tray to 10'. It gave a warning of: the ceiling platforms above this tray are at different heights. One thing I noticed is I had used a few room dividers to close off and create the Great Room. If I draw over those with interior walls, the tray works exactly as it should. But the moment I make those invisible, the warning pops up again and the tray grabs exterior walls around the adjacent areas creating a perimeter around the Great Room, Kitchen, and Dining. You can see the bedroom in the back of the pic, the auto tray worked great. And in the foreground, the auto tray ignored room dividers and brought the ceiling down to 9' but left the walls up at 10' along with the actual trays. Very odd! Note: All 3 rooms here are set to 10' ceiling heights. X12 beta.

Lived in the area for a few months last year and thinking about returning. Any idea of salary? Seattle is an expensive area of the country and I'd like to know the pay before applying. thanks, Tony Wright

We've finally decided on where to move. We've gone back and forth too many times and we like Northwest Arkansas. Just curious if there are chief users down there and what plan work is like in the area. Also veteren users, curious how I might go about fitting into a new area where most people use architects for their plans. Any ideas on getting my own business in and keeping up or competing? Thanks!

Hey Paul, I see this was 3 years ago, but I'm going to be moving to NW Arkansas in a couple months and would like to grow my clientele. Let me know if you are still in the business and need any help. Thanks.

Craig, I'll be in NW Arkansas soon. I know it's a bit, but if you still need help let me know.

I worked in Omaha and lived in Council Bluffs. Did you get set up?

I have upgraded to the latest version of Chief Premiere (10) and recently had seen someone selling an older version even though they still had 10. Is this possible? I don't need v7 for any reason, I guess I figured it was all under the same serial number. Thanks for your help!

Yeah. I was figuring I probably can't use them. I haven't asked. I know it's weird, but I figure they'd just see it as competition and say no. They're really paranoid and weird about it. Not like standard level. Like they didn't want to tell me the name of a builder that was in the office cause they were afraid I'd steal them.

Thanks David. I agree, they can have the plans. I did the rendering work and believe it to belong to me. At the very least be able to use it as examples of my work.

I just left a job at a house plan business. They have a website that sells house plans on the internet. While I worked there, one of my jobs was to create renderings for each house plan for the website and marketing material. Do I have any rights to that rendering work? I would like to use some of the images for examples of my work to advertise to contractors and future clients to show them what I can give them. Can I use the images or do i need permission even though I created them while working for someone else? We never had a contract that said anything about renderings. Just not sure if I can use the work as examples. TIA.

My family is looking to start traveling as my wife takes a traveling nursing job. With this we'd stay in an area for 3-4 months. I'd like to keep drafting as I grow my knowledge of Chief Architect and different drafting styles. I'd like to be able to network with people and companies all over the country to be able to help out with any excess drafting/rendering needs they may have. I'd basically be a sub-contractor. Am I crazy for thinking this is possible? I'm excited at the possibility of growing my skills and abilities to serve those that need drafting services. Let me know what you think! Any leads would be great as well! Thanks!

You can get a nice 2 story in CO Springs for around 250k though. Its not too terrible there yet.

Outside of Omaha and Council Bluffs, where I am, you can buy a 2 acre lot for 35k. If I'm going to build a home I plan on doing a lot of the work myself to save cost and keep that final bill to around 200k. My problem is EVERYTHING my family and I love to do is out there. I've been obsessed with that state for a long time. Every time I think staying here in CB is the good idea something pops up to remind me how awful it is here. Just found out my county is 91st out of 99 counties in Iowa for health and being active. Which is the exact opposite of what I want. I've grown up here and this area just doesn't have anything to offer me or what I want for my boys. We're still planning a visit to CO Springs at the end of the month. Hopefully be able to make a decision after that. We keep going back and forth.

It's probably even easier here in Iowa. Thanks for all the help guys. Recent events would have me believe that we're probably going to be staying in Iowa. It will probably be easier and less risky with two little ones. We can build a house on an acreage for around 200k here. And as of yesterday, I've got about 5 side jobs lined up. Im pretty torn. But I think it makes more sense to stay where we know for certain where we'll be and know we can provide well for our kids and will then have plenty disposable income for traveling and such. Maybe I'll just build a cabin in CO for visiting instead. Making adult decisions isn't always very fun. LOL!

Thanks! We're heading out there at the end of April to check out the area and decide where we might want to be. We're playing the back and forth game of do we move away from family and take a chance on CO or stay in Iowa and live cheaper where we already know people and have good jobs and such. We'd really like to raise our boys out there but then we're paying more for childcare and all that. This adult stuff is no fun. Ha!

It really is sad. Big money controls a lot of things and you can see it in state and local city governments. For me, honestly, I really enjoy using Chief and the problem solving that comes in this field. How to build certain things. And figuring it out is the fun part. If I didn't have to charge people, I don't think I would. Or I would be really cheap.

man, I don't like to think of the housing market taking a tumble like that again. I know the head of the building trades association for Colorado Springs and she is saying permit numbers are up and getting into the market in CO right now is pretty good. That sucks to hear about the state government. I'm surprised they allow so much fracking when a large population of the citizens are for the environment. With the outdoor scene there it'd be nice to see that stuff get controlled a bit more. Tough to go against big money though. Those are the kinds of stories you want to have! Although that might be a little too close to death for me. LOL. I had some fun with my old xterra on some off road trails near Avon. I love that state. We're looking at Woodland Park. Smaller town outside CO Springs. Trying to be out there this summer. Pretty excited.

I think the reason it's turning into Cali is so many Californians have moved there and it's becoming yuppy-ville in a lot of areas. I was talking to a couple guys in Fruita about the weather and the area and they wanted to make sure I wasn't from Denver or the front range basically. Lol. That was one problem I was seeing in Fort Collins, that it was trying to be like Boulder. Ive got to get to Telluride and Ouray area. It looks amazing. I honeymooned in Crested Butte. Love it up there.

Heck yeah! I haven't tried snowboarding or skiing yet but I plan on it. I love mountain biking though. I rode in Fruita and Moab last year and had a blast. Like to get into rock climbing too. CO is definitely the right place for us. My friend that lives in Longmont has an aunt that is the head of the builders association in CO Springs, so I'm trying to talk to her to get a feel for that area. I'm not trying to make a killing. Just be comfortable and enjoy the mountains.

Another thing I like about COSprings is its smaller than Denver. I'm not crazy about big city. Denver gets pretty crazy on the interstate. I hate the traffic in Omaha and I think its probably twice as bad in Denver. I like the idea of the public transit but from what I read its pretty expensive (light rail) and not very reliable.

I've got a friend who lives in Longmont and he says there are always stuff going up around him. I know that area and the Fort Collins area is building. But the costs to live up there are quite a bit more. I can't justify 320k on a 1200 sq. ft. ranch. CO Springs is really affordable. You get a lot more home for the money and the mountains are a lot closer and tons of trails around and right in town. That's what attracted me most to that area. I've looked around a little and have seen some new construction but wasn't sure about how busy it was. I would like to work the whole front range though. I don't mind traveling a couple hours if I need to so I can stay busy. I would still reach out to builders and home owners in the Denver area and maybe even up to Fort Collins. Its only 2 hours from the Springs to Fort Collins and there are a ton of town in between. Monument and Castle Rock are gaining attention and would be a real easy commute. I also talked to a Chief user on the Chief user Facebook page and he said he is in the Denver area and designs/draws bath and kitchen remodels and then goes and does the work too. Has his contracting license. He said there is more work than he can get to. I think I will do a bit of both. I framed houses for about 10 years and have a lot of experience with siding and windows and doors, decks, roofs, and am working on my own kitchen now, so I might try to get into some of that too. With prices as high as they are out there I would think most would rather remodel their homes as opposed to buying or building new. Where ya moving from? I'm coming from Council Bluffs, iA. I work in Omaha, NE right now. Ready to get out of the midwest.

That's great to hear. I've heard from some others that I can still draw plans in CO but just have to have them stamped by a structural engineer. And the. If you think the area needs good carpenters then I should be good to go on a design/build firm. Thanks for the input guys!