Basement Foundation / Exterior Wall Alignment

[0verdrive]

I'm new to Chief Architect, and am having some trouble understanding the best approach to take when aligning stairs between the basement and 1st floor.

 

I started the plan on the 1st floor with a garage and the exterior walls, then added a foundation.  I selected "Hang 1st floor platform inside the foundation walls" and gave a wall height that generated a basement.  I then created furring walls as explained in the tutorial.  However, when I put stairs in a corner of the basement and connect them to the 1st floor, the exterior walls don't line up.

 

I've seen tutorial on how to align walls between floors.  I can do that - I'd prefer to move the basement walls since the 1st floor is already laid out.  But I'm not sure whether that's appropriate in this case.  If the basement/foundation was generated to support the 1st floor as it's currently designed, won't moving walls in either the basement or 1st floor jeopardize that?  In other words, I can move the foundation so that the interior walls line up with the walls upstairs.  But will that negatively affect how the foundation supports the 1st floor?

 

I've attached pictures below.  The first are the settings I used to generate the basement.  Next is the stairs placement in the corner of the basement.  Third is how the stairs align with the walls on the first floor - note how there's a significant gap between the left and bottom walls.  Last is a camera view showing how the walls currently line up.

 

Thanks for your help!

~Dean

[0verdrive]

1 hour ago, solver said:

As for your question, if the basement wall is thicker the the 1st floor wall, won't there be an offset like you are seeing?

 

 

 

Thanks for the response(s)!

 

Yes - I'd expect the walls to be offset, given the difference in wall thickness.  My question was more what is the appropriate way to handle lining up the walls? 

 

Right now, the basement wall sticks further into the house than the 1st floor (which obviously causes the offset walls).  So the only solution I see is to shift the basement foundation out, or the 1st floor in to line up the stairwell walls.  But either of those would shift the 1st floor wall to be over the furring wall in the basement, rather than the foundation.  So my concern is that this would cause stability issues if one wall is resting on the furring wall in the basement, rather than the foundation.

 

I'm sure this is a pretty basic (and admittedly ignorant) question - I'm just learning, and don't want to base a plan on a fundamental design flaw.

 

Thanks,

~Dean

[Kbird1]

The 1st Floor must sit over the foundation ....you don't need to do anything in this situation , you simply end up with a ledge in the Stairwell where the walls change thickness , the only option would be to Fur the upper floor walls if the ledge really bothers someone but that means a tighter stairwell too. If the Stairwll wasn't int he Corner you would ony need to fur one upper wall and some people may prefer that look but in a Corner it maybe more problematic.....

 

M

[joey_martin]

That is a pretty common design situation where basements are used in conjunction with stairs on a basement wall. Many times that offset is finished and trimmed out to produce a plant shelf, or as stated above, you can have a double wall, or furred wall running up the staircase. Whichever method you use, may also depend on if the staircase is enclosed and is visible, the design intent of the client/designer, or your personal aesthetic as a designer.

[0verdrive]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone - that's exactly what I was looking for!