curveball question: Freestanding deck over a backyard shed.

[Born2Golf]

Hi Folks, I am exploring the possibility of building a deck over a 12x8 shed (which has a gable roof). Kids want a treehouse and I have no suitable trees, so I was literally thinking outside the box and came up with the idea of what would be a sort of widows-walk above the shed. 

 

In chief the shed is built just like the house. I have tried crafting the desired deck away from the shed, then dragging it over the shed, but chief immediately merges the two structures into some abomination, a little different each time, but usually lowering the elevated deck to the foundation level. The closest I've come is the shed stays whole and the deck appear where I want it, but there is a hole in the middle of the deck representing the footprint of the shed below it, even though the decks structural members are far above the shed and support posts are outside the sheds footprint.

 

Structurally, chief shows I would need 3 main support beams running in parallel the length of the deck, with one on each side and one down the middle. This matches my mental design, except I was thinking to attached the center joist directly to the shed to carry weight but also as a attachment point.

 

Anyway I don't want to get into the legalities or permits/codes here in the post. I'm just trying to show a rendering of what it could look like, then pursue what is needed for permitting.

 

Does anyone know how to render this the way I'm trying to to do it? The attachment shows the hole in the deck and the stilts are missing too.

[robdyck]

1 minute ago, solver said:

You could make the shed a symbol. 

Or the deck....or both.

[Alaskan_Son]

...or
1.  Cut the shed from the plan

2   Build the deck.

3.  Check Retain Automatically Generated Framing After Deck Room Is Deleted (or whatever it’s called).

4.  Turn Auto Deck Framing Off.

5.  Change deck walls to No Room Definition.  
6.  Paste Hold Position the shed back where it was.  

[Chopsaw]

If you build the deck on the 3rd floor it would appear the only manual adjustment necessary would be the posts and footings but that is often necessary under normal circumstances anyway.

 

[Born2Golf]

Thanks, I like the idea, but I'm having trouble pulling it off. From what I can see I can only convert to object in a 3d camera mode. In a 3d camera I can select the visible components and convert to a symbol, but I cannot get the unseen side of the shed, so the 3d symbol is missing 1/2 the structure. I've tried navigating the camera with keyboard but it seems those controls do something different when there is actually a selection in 3d mode?

[Chopsaw]

Alt Pan should help with the selection problem but give the 3rd floor method a try.  I think it provides the best solution for the situation and keeps you in a single live plan file.