rlackore

Does the stair landing have a solid fill that could be hiding a wall underneath?

If you're using X6, check the Reference Manual for Material Regions. You can apply these to the wall in elevation, and may work for this application. You can also open the Wall Specification dbx and add Wall Coverings.

Well, duh. I'm Cartesianally challenged. In the other modeling programs I use Y is Z in elevation (or front/back/side) view. This is one of those annoying behaviors that I complained about recently.

Agree with the approach, though I plop in Level Line markers and dimension to those. I wish there was a way of setting a the absolute z-value for lines and markers in elevation - that would make this method more convenient.

I can confirm this behavior.

You can always draw a polyline and query the object for the enclosed area. You can even select a room, automagically generate the room polyline, and there you go. I can't however, control whether CA calculates the area correctly.

Perry, this is my biggest frustration with CA - too many strange behaviors and missing features that we have "live with." I admit that I'm retentive and extremely detail-driven, but surely you can see the OP's point?

The exterior sill usually wants to be just below the bottom edge of the window frame. Depending on where you're setting the window within the depth of the wall. The interior sill, however, is incorrect, IMO. I want flush casing. I want drywall returns. I want an interior sill that that is "flush", or level with the frame - just like a jamb extension. Really, we should be able to specify overall depth and inset for our interior and exterior sills.

You know, another thing Chief won't do is flush flat casing.

I'm no window installer, but I disagree. Chief places the top of the sill at the bottom edge of the window frame. I know there are different ways to do things, but I generally want the top of the sill to be level with the top of the edge of the frame so the sill will butt flush against the frame. Same with a drywall return. Chief DOES "wrap" the wall finish MATERIAL, but it doesn't wrap the wall finish THICKNESS. Just cut a section to see for yourself.

I seems to me that the interior wall finish should be intelligent enough to turn the corner at a window (or door) and "wrap into" the rough opening until it encounters the frame. This would solve my drywall return problem.

Interesting: if you add interior casing, zero out everything, then it will build "interior trim" from the sill to the frame. But you get z-fighting.

Same here. Newer version. A similar problem is how to show drywall returns. I don't see any way to automatically extend the sill to the jamb.

Oh, I get it. You can't discretely set the height - it's just CA eliminating the lower muntins.

Good point - I missed that. Probably a S6x12.5. There isn't any W-shape that fits within his designed width and depth.

How do you specify the vertical location of the horizontal muntin?

Adam, To explain further, when Chief cuts a section it auto-generates lines that can you can snap to (including dimensions). These lines are placed on the Cross Section Lines layer, and they are re-generated every time the section changes. To see the lines clearly, you can change the layer's default color to red (or something equally bright and bold). Unfortunately, Chief doesn't show these lines for elevations, so there is nothing to snap to. Brian's method is a decent work-around. Keep in mind that when you're in section view you can dimension to either objects (walls, floors, etc), or to the cross section lines. If you dimension to objects, the dimensions remain "intelligent" and will follow any changes you make to those objects (wall height, etc). But if you dimension to the cross section lines, Chief will use Point-to-Point Dimensions, and those dimensions will not "follow" changes to the building model.

Can you get structural shapes in A53? I thought A53 was just tubes and pipes. I typically spec A572 for shapes, plates and bars. By running the calcs for A36, the OP should be safe if he chooses a higher strength steel.

Maybe check your Display>Color Off settings in PREFERENCES>APPEARANCE. Is it set to Black and White, or Grayscale?

You can do it with three doors: one doorway to create the cased opening, and two side-by-side hinged doors. The trick is to cut and "paste in place" the doors. Shower.plan

Everything shows fine for me. I noticed a graphic file wasn't attached: Stafford Contour Map.jpg. Since you mentioned you were working in the plot plan, maybe it's an image problem?

Post the plan.

For 3D you can't beat Xfrog - if you have the budget. For 2D, you can't beat Photoshop and all the brushes that are available from third party vendors - if you have the budget. If you don't have the budget, The Gimp can replace Photoshop.

I agree this looks like post work in something like Adobe Creative Suite - a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator.

It looks like you've chosen a W6x12. Span is 18 feet. I estimate your tributaries are approximately 2 feet and 4 feet. Assuming L/240 deflection limit, grade A36 steel, a drywall ceiling and limited attic storage for a live/dead load of 20/5 psf, the steel you've chosen is adequate - midspan deflection is about 7/16 of an inch. End reactions are approx 1.5kip. You haven't mentioned a wind exposure category, but the chosen 4x6 post should be adequate for both the gravity and lateral loads. Of course, all of this is provisional and assumes there are no unknowns; to paraphrase Mr. Rumsfeld, there are things we know, things we don't know, things we know we don't know, and things we don't know we don't know yet. It's impossible to evaluate the connection without fully knowing the loads and the governing code. Frankly, the connection at the plate/sill/foundation is equally important (continuous load path) - this connection isn't just about gravity - it's also about resisting the lateral and uplift loads. I'd prefer to see a more direct connection from the beam to the column, eg steel plates welded to the beam flanges. If you go with your design, I'd suggest solid wood blocking to fill the entire web space to replace the two inside nuts on the threaded rod. As Larry mentioned, the 2x6s on either side of the post should be full-height kings studs, and lose the through-bolt at the studs/post and simply nail-laminate the kings to the post per the NDS. Get rid of the heavy steel angles and use a pair of Simpson H6s on each king to tie them to the wall top plates, and splice the top plates with some tension ties. Again, the bottom connection is equally important, otherwise everything you do at the top is for nothing.