Where Do Foundation Floors Get Their Defaults From?

[zowie123]

Hi all, I've never understood this.  

In Defaults Foundation you say slab 4"  then you got to defaults Floor and invariably you'll see Floor Finish (K) and Floor Structure(L) reflecting the main floor dimensions, 7/8 and 12 5/8, I can edit them to 4" and make this slab at top of footing look right, but If I check default it goes back to 7/8" and 12 5/8.  Is there no default for this foundation floor?  Should I not worry that 4" is not showing up in the 0 floor level floor structure (l) box and just edit it to 4 and be done with it?  Or is there a more correct way to define my 0 floor slab on footing?

 

Thank you, Barry

[HumbleChief]

Barry,

 

Set it up in the defaults dbx - the little wrench icon at the top of the page - go to foundation etc.

 

Also check the 'floor' section of the same defaults dbx and set up your 'structure' there to have a mono slab (or whatever). Pretty confusing for me as well and hopefully I got the advice correct for you.

 

I re-read your post and I think you have to set up the 4" concrete 'floor' in the floor dbx and the 4" slab in the foundation dbx then your defaults should match?

[zowie123]

Thanks Larry,

I'm all too familiar with the defaults dbx, but that's the issue. At the 0 level you set the slab at 4" in Foundation, then when you go into Floor defaults, K and L are usually something other than 4".  You can edit them to 4", but if you click the default they will generally default to what your first floor has--It seems that 4" should be the default because I made it that in the Foundation defaults, but maybe this adds more latitude.  I'm just wondering if I've been missing something all these years.   Is there actually is a default for a 4" slab floor at level 0 or do you have to edit K and L to get a 4" slab?  

Thanks again.  Barry

[DRAWZILLA]

I think you have to create a foundation to get the floor default for that. If not it's a virtual Fake foundation based on the floor defaults.

[HumbleChief]

The 'floor' for Floor 1 has to have the 4" slab set as its default in the the Default 'Floor' dbx. Access that Default dbx while in Floor '1' and set up the slab there. If you set up the floor for floor '0' as a slab it doesn't really effect the floor for floor '1' which is where you want your default slab floor to take precedence.

 

Confusing to even write but I've been confused with the logic (??) for a very long time as well. I just tried it though and it works pretty dependably.

 

Try this. No walls drawn and NO FOUNDATION level built yet, just a blank first floor or Floor '1'. In the defaults 'floor' dbx set the floor structure for this floor as a 4" concrete slab, and check the monolithic slab foundation box. Any floor you draw now should adopt this as its default setting. Maybe try that first.

 

In the defaults foundation dbx set the foundation (remember it's not built yet) as a monolithic slab with spec's of your choosing.

 

Now create a foundation level and see if it works the way you'd like.

[dshall]

........ If not it's a virtual Fake foundation based on the floor defaults.

Yep,  I get this,  not sure if everyone understands this.

[HumbleChief]

Not sure I've ever understood the structure dbx and/or the floor/foundation defauts but the above recipe seems to work.

 

Did I miss anything in the above description?

[zowie123]

Hey, you're right Larry!  It takes a village......It even works if you have an existing foundation--I'm using Scott's SAM method.  

 

Just go to floor 1 Structure DBX, check Monolithic Slab which automatically checks Floor Supplied by the foundation Room below--and looks screwy in the cross section of the DBX.  say OK.  Then go to floor 0 uncheck monolithic slab in the DBX and check Floor Structure (L) 4" as default. click OK.  Then go back up to floor 1 and it looks like it's supposed to.  It's a Christmas miracle I tell you, on this day another work around is born!   

 

Thanks you,

Barry