zowie123

Yes, I had a floor finish on top of my plank joists. I don't know why thats a default in my deck rooms, but will have to go back and change my template to rid that surace--bad surface bad. Thank you very much for your help.

Hi, I probably sprayed a new material on it thinking that would change the deck material, not add a layer. Maybe my concept of how materials work is not correct. Anyway, I can zero out deck planking, but I want my deck planking, how do I get rid of the layer on top of the planking? I can only seem to pick the room which isn't showing this material in materials. I'm sure I'm missing something simple. Has anyone else come across this? Thank you, Barry

I just upgraded to a 17-4790K CPU @ 4.00 GHz 16GB of fast ram with a GTX 760 with an SSD (Desktop) and it's plenty fast. Handles Raytracing and Working simultaneously with out a hiccup. But my favorite upgrade was this 30" Yamakasi 2400x1600 Monitor for $420 delivered--Amazon. I took a chance since the Dell 30" seemed to have many issues out of the box. You need to make sure you have the correct card for using it--all 30" monitors need Dual link DVI connections. But the resolution of 2400x1600 is as good as I've seen and the real estate makes working a lot more fun. However, after getting this I decided two huge glaring white monitors side by side were a bit much to stare into all day, so I changed all my backgrounds to black. See other post about that. Life is good.

There was just a long discussion on this about a month ago if you do a search.

Update after a week. I love having all dark backgrounds, I wish I had done it years ago. It's so much easier on the eyes, I will never go back. No more blurry eyes at the end of the day.

True dat, Lew. I can select all the walls at once then set the default wall ht. Thanks.

Thank you...Jim, Lew, Scott and Perry. You've all been a tremendous help--I didn't mean to make that sound harsh, Scott, that was not at all my intent. I always appreciate all your input. Thank you. Yes, Jim's answer worked, I just don't remember having to toggle that as much in the past--there should be a hot key for this. 5 clicks per wall to get in and out of a common task. Cheers!

I think I included in there that F12 is not doing anything for updating this situation, any other thoughts? Thank you.

Hi, I recall a time when my gable walls would conform to roof changes and I'm wondering if I have a setting off? Gable walls don't want to update to fit under a roof that I change pitch on. I have to manually change them to conform. Anyone have any thoughts about this? Thank you, barry

Hey Thanks, Jon! Looks like I'm going to have to get some liability insurance for this one:)

Yes, thanks Alan! I didn't see the chain drain as you pointed out. So now we know the water doesn't just drip over the edge. I wonder how a hidden gutter detail looks and if it's problematic in Seattle? If I were to guess I'd say yes.

Hi! I'm seeing these more and more, but I don't know where the water goes? Thanks for considering Barry see image attached

OK here's my research on the dark screen and background for everything in windows 7. It's much easier on the eyes, but it takes a few days to get used to working with.. Keep in mind, theme changing all windows dark gray and black is much easier in windows 8. Theres' a Google extension that changes all webpage backgrounds to black too. There are plenty of dark themes out there on the net, just search Windows 7 themes and look for one that changes all the menus as well as the desktop. I went with Steam Beta which is a dark gray and still allows Chief Tools too be seen. Steam comes with it's own program to pry open theme management permissions. Yes do a virus scan and read up on what's going on, I did't find anything. There are youtube videos on how to change themes in Windows 7. You should do a virus scan as you're doing this. The result is worth the effort. I'm no longer staring into a light bulb all day. Cheers!

Thanks Gary, After a bit of searching, I found this little program that works like a charm. It's called Negative Screen, very easy to turn on and off. It's a small program, work from the task bar, right click the icon to adjust. Comes with themes and can make your own. Much better than using the Windows magnifier option. Answered my own question all by my self. Thank

Hey all, My eyes get tired of staring into a 30" light bulb all day and I'm sure it can't be good for humans to do so. Has anyone found a way to work with a black background that doesn't screw up printing in gray scale or black and white. It would be a shame if we all went blind before all the Autocad geeks just because we wanted some 3D action:) Thank you, Barry

Hello, I hardly ever use the plant search, but now that I have need, I can't seem to find one of the most common back yard trees here in the NW. Perhaps I'm missing some content. I thought I had downloaded all the libraries and bonus libraries? Anyone come up with apple tree when they do a search? Thank you for checking?

Thanks! I thought it was just me.

Yes, that works! Thank you. With the preview pane on, you can still search via details and the image will show up. Rather small either way though.

Hello, I have preferences, file management, thumbnail images checked, as well as trying to save them manually, but I don't see an image as a folder icon in windows explorer. Is that what it's supposed to do, create a folder icon? Perhaps my expectations need adjusting:) Yes i switched my folder view to icons. Is there something else I need to do in windows to make this work? Thank you for considering. Cheers! B

Hello, I've seen a lot of info about the efficiency of 24" increments when it comes to length and width, but not a lot about building height. Pre-cut 8' and 9' studs are generally 3" shorter to accommodate 2 top plates and bottom plate minus floor and ceiling thickness, this works well for 8' and 9' drywall efficiency-- I"m not too sure about sheathing. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has some sort of efficiency rule of thumb for heights after 9'? It seems like 12 would work on the same principal, 14' and 16' as well. So perhaps 2' rule works for height as well-- with 9' being the exception. Which leads me to: Part 2 At what height should a wall be split in two? Are 16' 2x6s more efficient then using shorter lumber for a 16' height? Thanks very much for considering Cheers! Barry

I often send a reference layer on in a color pdf to people I'm working with for clarity. Particularly useful with split level plans. Maybe there's a different way, but it's the easiest way I know. I changed all my reference lines to dashed, so you can see what's what, and since the pdf is in color it's very clear for contractors and engineers. YES THAT WAS IT! Thank you, my Draw Reference was set to last on this one floor. Not sure how it got that way, but that fixed it. Kbird, hero of the day. I didn't realize that dbx existed. Cheers! Barry

Hey, Thanks you guys, that was super helpful. I'll check out the program. Looks great. And thank you Joe for including a door. Cheers! I see I can edit stock garage doors to look like glass panels if I pick louvered garage door, I don't see how to edit the interior panels to look like glass if I don't use this louvered option. Anyway all good for now. Cheers!

Hi, I looked on the internet for glass garage door/ Chief Architect, but didn't come up with anything. Most of the library is filled with very nice down home looking items, but short on contemporary. Thanks for considering, Barry

Hey all, If I turn on the foundation reference layer which has a red dotted line, that line really wants to bleed through my main walls and show it self when I send it to layout. Is there anyway to send reference layers to back? I have the walls perfectly aligned, so it shouldn't show up so well. I also made all my reference layer line weights very thin, but still there. Just wondering if anyone else sees this? Thank you, Barry

Fellow worker bees! I want arrows to stay where I put them because auto position doesn't seem to save me any time. So I un-checked the auto position head and tail toggle, but they seem to act the same. Is there any way to make arrows not stick to text--ever, not even a little bit? Thank you, Barry