Sliding Glass Doors

[Joe_Carrick]

Most of the Sliding Glass Doors that I use are not recessed into the wall.  They are Vinyl Frame and are installed like windows.

 

It seems that Chief's Sliding Glass Doors are inset to the interior face of the wall similarly to a swinging door.  IOW, in perspective views they are not flush with the exterior wall surface.  IMO, this is wrong - at least when vinyl or aluminum frame doors are being used.

 

Shouldn't there be an option to make this appear correct in 3D?

[DRAWZILLA]

I just use a window.

[Joe_Carrick]

Hi Perry,

 

That works, but it presents a few problems with labels and schedules, not to mention the hassle with changing the sash sizes, etc. 

 

It would really be nice if the "swing side" tool worked with "Sliding Glass Doors" instead of just reversing the slide direction.  It seems like CA intentionally programmed it to just reverse the slide direction instead of changing the "in/out" direction.

[raltd9245]

Joe,

 

I agree the whole door area should be gone over with a fine tooth comb. I just replied to a thread about door jambs which aren't very flexible. The hinge area should be revisited by the programmers. Like you said these little things add up to a serious addition of time when working on a project. Lets hope Dan and the programmers are listening. To have this all worked out would be a great time saver for us all. Let's hope!!!!

[Joe_Carrick]

It's apparent that with many of the "New Features" that CA implements:

 

1.  There's an incomplete specification of what it should do and/or not do.

2.  Once implemented it takes a long time (2-5 release cycles) to get it fixed.

 

As an example, the "Projection Windows" feature in X6 has the following shortcomings:

 

a.  "Frames" do not show inside the opening as they do with other Window Types.

b.  "Casings, Lintels, Sills and Aprons" default to a gray color and are not available for editing in the Materials Tab of the Window dbx.  They can be "painted" but that has to be done for each such Window.

c.  If the Symbol dbx indicates that "System Supplies Casings" they should only be defaulted for ":Interior Casings", etc.  Generally Projection Windows would not have Casings, Sills, Lintels or Aprons on the Exterior because the Projection Window is normally applied to the Exterior Wall Surface.  Currently it defaults to both Interior and Exterior.

 

During the X6 Beta I reported these things but so far they haven't been fixed.  Hopefully they will be fixed in the next patch - otherwise, the feature is less than it should be and its' use will require additional work-around(s).

[CJSpud]

I think we need to have the ability to specify the depth or thickness of a door or multiple door unit's frame thickness and be able to easily select/specify where we want to place it in a wall in the door unit spec dialog.  I am specifically talking about placing door units in thick walls such as ICF walls.  Chief by default automatically places doors units such that the doors themselves display on the inboard side of any wall.  I haven't seen too many door units that have a frame depth of 9-1/2" or more such as are the depths of most ICF's forms.  You would need to have a custom door frame built to do this.  Most contractors in my area install the door units to the outer side of the wall such that the brick mold or other trim can be attached directly to the outer perimeter of the door buck.  The innter portion of the ICF wall thickness inside of a door unit's frame (jamb) is either covered with GWB or some other material (e.g., wood to match wood trim).

 

When I place a multi door unit ( a mulled unit) in an ICF wall, Chief makes the mullions between each unit full depth and they look terrible in camera views.

 

 

I can get a door to display on the outer side of a wall by making the door an outswing door as shown on the single door on the left side of the image below.  But that isn't right either.  At this point it appears my best option is to make my door units to "swing both directions" which results in Chief placing the doors directly in the center of a wall (door units on the right side of the image below).  At least this way, the way they show in 3D camera views is decent.

 

 

I hope one day (soon), someone in Chief will take a hard look at how they can make doors and mulled door units to function better with regard to how they are placed or their position adjusted in all types of walls.

[Joe_Carrick]

Curt,

 

Have you tried using a "Custom Doorway" symbol and then placing the Door in that Doorway?  That might work better for you but you might have to have several such Doorway Symbols.

[CJSpud]

Joe:

 

Yes, I have considered it and may eventually go that direction with the winery project depending on what the customer ultimately wants to do in the existing large opening (16' wide x approx. 80" high).  I prefer to try and do things with what Chief already provides us but obviously there are times when other solutions are better.  I remember your past thread on storefronts.  I may have to go back and review that and refresh my memory as to what exactly you did.

[Curt_G]

I also would like chief to allow the option to have a sliding glass door open in either direction. It seems if your door has 3 or more panels it always opens in the middle which is not typical in Southwest FL. Along with this would be to have an option for a pocket sliding glass door which pockets only 1 direction. I am using X5 so not sure if any of these have been address in X6.

[glennw]

 

When I place a multi door unit ( a mulled unit) in an ICF wall, Chief makes the mullions between each unit full depth and they look terrible in camera views.

 

DoorFullDepthMullions.JPG

 

 

Curt,

 

Those mullions can be controlled by Mullion Depth setting on the Options panel of the dbx. 

[CJSpud]

Glenn:

 

Thanks ... I think I have tried to use that before and didn't think it worked.  I now see you have to do the settings in a specific order based upon how you mull multiple units together..The sills in the areas of the mullions look a little funky but when I tried it I didn't have a foundation so maybe they will look a little better with one.  I will do a little more experimenting with that to see if I can get it to behave any differently.  I really appreciate your pointing that out to me.  How long have we had the ability to do this?  Is it a new X6 feature?