Adrean Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Maybe not incredibly practical or useful, but after wanting to visualize the potential sheet layout for subfloor per platform, I threw together this little hack. 1. Create a CAD Polyline that represents the floor platform for each level (there are a number of ways to generate the polyline, I went old-school and used a CAD Rectangular Polyline, then added breaks to snap it to the corners of the platform). 2. Create a new Elevation view that faces the top of your screen, make it outside of the boundaries of your model, so you don't intersect the existing structure. 3. Copy/Paste the CAD Polylines into the elevation view. 4. Convert the polylines to a solid, then apply a material that is set up with the "Brick" pattern, scaled to your sheet size. Now you you have a little sheet layout. You could use this visualize how much waste you might have at the corners of your platform, or for a variety of other things. I saved my camera, and moved it and the Solids to a new layer "Subfloor Diagram" that only displays in a new Layer Set that I created for this use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey_martin Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Good idea. You can also take an overview, and turn off all layers except the floor surface and see the 4'x8' sheets. Do an overhead shot and you get a similar feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrean Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 True! Good tip! One thing I like about the elevation option is that I can add a polyline label and dimensions. The disadvantage is that it is more steps and isn't dynamic if your plan changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thanks Adrean. Here's a video with couple quick tips that might help speed up your process. It also includes another alternative method... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkwest Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Interesting, SoftPlan and SolidBuilder both had this feature of sheathing layout optimization available in the mid 90's with a one button click. Even gave you a cutlist for sheathing. I assumed no one ever used it on CA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 On 1/13/2017 at 2:27 PM, parkwest said: Interesting, SoftPlan and SolidBuilder both had this feature of sheathing layout optimization available in the mid 90's with a one button click. Even gave you a cutlist for sheathing. I assumed no one ever used it on CA... This isn't quite the same. It would be nice to have a true panel optimization feature in Chief though. In the meantime, there are a few standalone panel optimizing software packages out there. It would be nice to be able to pull the info directly from the model though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkwest Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 When I was still framing, the cutlists came in handy. We would set up a wall-less tent for shade and set up a sliding miter cut station and a panel saw. The forklift would feed material in one end and out the other came all the lumber cut to fit... we had an assembly table for doors and windows, along with corner and partition jacks. We would assemble the walls then with studs, plates, window and doors assemblies, etc, add the housewrap, drop in the windows, add soffit assembly, siding and trim, hook up the wall jacks, lift, and voila! we had a whole house framed in a couple of days. That is where the cutlists came in handy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 22 minutes ago, parkwest said: When I was still framing, the cutlists came in handy. We would set up a wall-less tent for shade and set up a sliding miter cut station and a panel saw. The forklift would feed material in one end and out the other came all the lumber cut to fit... we had an assembly table for doors and windows, along with corner and partition jacks. We would assemble the walls then with studs, plates, window and doors assemblies, etc, add the housewrap, drop in the windows, add soffit assembly, siding and trim, hook up the wall jacks, lift, and voila! we had a whole house framed in a couple of days. That is where the cutlists came in handy! I think that's where Solid Builder really shines. I haven't personally used it but I know what it's capable of and it's really pretty cool. I think it was specifically made for panelizing outfits like that. We used to work for a company that panelized all their walls like that at a big panel plant and then we went and put it all together onsite. Like anything though, if the 3D model wasn't accurate we would end up with some incorrectly framed walls. It wasn't unusual for us to have to rip off top plates and install our own. I guess I'm not sure, maybe it wasn't the 3D model that was wrong, maybe the guys on the ground weren't following the plans correctly. It was also pretty common that we had to go back and staple off all the sheathing and I know that wasn't because of poor modeling : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkwest Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Yeah, the key to it was getting the foundation poured right... after that everything else was a piece of cake... drywall hangers really loved us. They said they only need a couple measurements per room... everything just fit. I never could get the numbers to work for building walls off site... transportation costs... Do you know a guy by the name of Greg Clark up in your area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 11 minutes ago, parkwest said: Do you know a guy by the name of Greg Clark up in your area? No sir. I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 IT would be nice to be able to pull the info directly from the model though Michael: this is where BIM would come into play ... Lew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneDavis Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 An annoying fact about most all t&g sheathing panels is that they are not 4-foot modular in the short direction. I figure on getting 47-5/8 inches. The mills make the sheets 48" wide to the tip of the tongue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_Morrison Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 22 hours ago, GeneDavis said: An annoying fact about most all t&g sheathing panels is that they are not 4-foot modular in the short direction. I figure on getting 47-5/8 inches. The mills make the sheets 48" wide to the tip of the tongue. Why is this annoying? You need a gap for expansion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 23 hours ago, GeneDavis said: An annoying fact about most all t&g sheathing panels is that they are not 4-foot modular in the short direction. I figure on getting 47-5/8 inches. The mills make the sheets 48" wide to the tip of the tongue. That's interesting. I've personally installed hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of sheets of the stuff and I don't recall that ever being the case. I could have sworn it was all modular in dimension which is why I purposely oversized the width in my video to allow for the expansion gaps. You got me curious though so I just went down into my crawlspace and measured the stuff on my own personal house and its only maybe 1/16" shy of 48" and that's NOT including the tongue. Must vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but I'm pretty positive every brand we use around here is pretty close to a true 48". 20 minutes ago, Richard_Morrison said: Why is this annoying? You need a gap for expansion. Yes. We definitely need a gap for expansion but that's an install thing. I don't see why that would necessitate smaller sheets. If plywood is actually being sold 3/8" small and you leave a gap of anything less than a full 3/8" that could easily result in a bad situation anywhere the building was designed at 4ft increments...it could require tiny little rips of plywood at one end of the run, or worse, you might land just shy of the last rimboard. That certainly qualifies as annoying in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_NY61 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Subfloor plywood should be spaced with a 1/8" gap at all edges and ends for expansion. On many T&G plywood edges from well known manufacturers, sheets already come designed to self gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
home_design Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 could it be that you are buying metric plywood? 1200mm x 2400mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneDavis Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 It is annoying because when you sheet across a house width that is 4' modular (24', 28', etc.) you end up short and need to buy more material. To keep from having a small strip of make-up under a wall, I like to start off with a ripped half sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now