UK Construction with Chief Architect or Home Designer Pro

[CJT1963]

To all,

 

I've been discussing recently with CA HQ about purchasing either CHIEF ARCHITECT or HOME DESIGNER PRO & then upgrading to CA. I've always liked the look of CA & their website & videos, but got put off a long time ago now that the thinking was both were not suitable for the UK construction market. I may have even discussed this before on similar forums, so as an update, are there any UK users on this forum that use CA or HDP for the UK market ?

 

Most of the videos I've seen clearly are for the US, i.e. timber frame wall construction, no cavity walls. However in the UK it's the norm for cavity wall construction, either 100mm th'k rendered blockwork or face brickwork on the outer leaf with various widths of cavities ranging from 100mm to 150mm wide. The insulation can be full fill within these cavities or partial fill. The inner leaf also varies, insulation (AIRCRETE) or dense block work 100mm to 150mm th'k or insulated timber frame 140mm th'k. We are also seeing wider insulated timber frame walls with just caldding, MARLEY ETERNIT being quite popular.

 

There are many more variants, however can someone confirm if CA or HDP can undertake these forms, a video showing this would be great to see. In the meantime, I enclose some snap shots from a video I've seen that didn't really say it was CA or HDP but later found out it may be a 'doctored' non-legal version, whatever this means.

 

Over & out,

CJT1963 

[CJT1963]

I respond over on the Home Designer forum, and find users in the UK are generally dissatisfied with Pro. Specifically issues with walls, windows and doors.

 

I'd suggest getting the trial of Pro, if cost is a concern, and building a simple, typical structure. 

 

See if it works for you, and if not, give Premier a try.

 

Thanks Solver,

 

As I assume you're an experienced user, can you tell me if the wall types I mention, or the one I enclosed as attachment graphic, can be simply achieved in the walls menu in CA & HDP.

 

Home Designer Pro looks o.k. to me as does CA, however this is subject to these wall types being achievable in either programme. I'm sure there would be more interest in the programme for the UK market if this could be made clear. I had hoped there would be some UK users on this forum who could comment, as they would be more informed by experience, early days though, in the meantime, I'll have to download them when I've time to test drive them for myself & report back.

 

Over & out,

CJT1963.     

[glennw]

CJT1963,

 

I know nothing about HDP, only CA.

 

Those wall types are EASILY achievable in CA.

In fact, those dbx's look like they are from at least 3 or 4 versions back - there have been many improvements since then.

 

Here in Oz, we use timber stud frame, cavity brick and brick veneer ALL the time - no problem.

You could probably specify just about any type of wall you could want or ever think of - defining a wall type is the last thing you will need to be concerned about.

 

the UK are generally dissatisfied with Pro. Specifically issues with walls, windows and doors.

 

 

I would be interested to know, more specifically, what the UK users are dissatisfied with.

[lbuttery]

HDP has many of the manual tools that Chief Premier has

 

I believe HDP can create wall definitions

 

but best to verify with CA Sales

 

Lew

[CJT1963]

CJT1963,

 

I know nothing about HDP, only CA.

 

Those wall types are EASILY achievable in CA.

In fact, those dbx's look like they are from at least 3 or 4 versions back - there have been many improvements since then.

 

Here in Oz, we use timber stud frame, cavity brick and brick veneer ALL the time - no problem.

You could probably specify just about any type of wall you could want or ever think of - defining a wall type is the last thing you will need to be concerned about.

 

 

I would be interested to know, more specifically, what the UK users are dissatisfied with.

Thanks Glennw,

 

This is good to hear, the dbx's I've since learned are originally from CA HDP when I spoke to CA HQ. All I can say is that it was from an AUS CAD distributor who called it another name & at the time, it wasn't that clear to me they were the same programme, as you a user, recognise the dbx's being the same to earlier versions.

 

I'm now even keener to try out the demo versions & hope you can customise wall types in these versions. I'd also like to know why UK users aren't that keen on CA or HDP & trust we can hear direct from them on this forum. As I noted previously, I was put off a long time ago by reading something negative on CA for UK use. However this, whatever it was, (too long ago to remember) may not have been a true reflection of its use.

 

Over & out,

CJT1963

[CJT1963]

Creating wall types is not a problem, but sometimes getting them to join as desired is. Chief has the Edit Wall Layer Intersection tool, Home Designer does not.

 

Inset doors. Seems the doors are sometimes inset into the center of a thick wall, problems are reported with getting this correct. I believe it relates to how walls are defined, and the options for where the door is placed. Get the wall working, and the main layer is not correct for the door.

 

Everyone likes Pro and the Home Designer products in general, and UK users have used creative methods to get the job done, just not as easily/cleanly as they wanted.

Thanks again Solver,

 

I've used DataCAD & SketchUP Pro for some years now, so I reckon being an experienced CAD user, I would also be able to find work-a-rounds to some of these issues, if I feel they're issues in the first place.

 

Over & out,

CJT1963