Vaulted exterior gable

[Alaskan_Son]

Curious how the rest of you guys would model an exterior vaulted gable end like this one...

 

I have attached a quick example plan if you want to give it a play.  I don't know of any really easy or intuitive ways of getting that gable end wall to automatically fill in.  Its a surprisingly annoying and difficult detail to model.

Example Plan.plan

[KilianDrafting]

Would a duplicate Roof Plane with minimum structure thickness work?

GableExamplePlan.plan?

[MarkMc]

I fiddled a bit then took elevation, detail from view, got the silhouette and pasted in place, converted to solid, put on attic wall layer. Used scissor truss

[tundra_dweller]

Yeah these are a pain. I usually do like Mark and make a solid, maybe add some molding lines.

 

[tundra_dweller]

20 minutes ago, KilianDrafting said:

Would a duplicate Roof Plane with minimum structure thickness work?

Well that's an interesting method that I never would have considered. Looks like the key is to draw your gable wall at the attic level and select "Roof Cuts Wall at Bottom" for that wall.

[Alaskan_Son]

For the record, here's what I actually did:

Ceiling plane with zero thickness structural layer pulled past the attic wall's main layer, and attic wall set to Roof Cuts Wall at Bottom...

Example Plan 2.plan

 

This works, but its hard to dial in the wall placement in some situations since the ceiling planes want to snap to main layers.  Can be a little frustrating depending on the plan. 

[Alaskan_Son]

58 minutes ago, KilianDrafting said:

Would a duplicate Roof Plane with minimum structure thickness work?

 

As I mentioned in my last post, this is very similar to what I ultimately did except that I used a ceiling plane.

 

58 minutes ago, MarkMc said:

I fiddled a bit then took elevation, detail from view, got the silhouette and pasted in place, converted to solid, put on attic wall.

 

Yeah, that is always my backup approach.  Its nice to be able to use a wall if possible though.

 

[Doug_N]

 

The cathedral gable is supported by bracing in the overhanging roof and ceiling either side of the gable.  Not really your situation.  You could do cables across the bottom of the gable to resist the lateral force.  The beam in this gable is just for show really.

[Alaskan_Son]

7 minutes ago, Doug_N said:

 

The cathedral gable is supported by bracing in the overhanging roof and ceiling either side of the gable.  Not really your situation.  You could do cables across the bottom of the gable to resist the lateral force.  The beam in this gable is just for show really.

 

Sorry, maybe I should have been more clear.  I wasn't looking for design alternatives.  Just looking for the most automated and intuitive way to fill in that gable end with the vaulted underside.

[Doug_N]

Just now, Alaskan_Son said:

 

Sorry, maybe I should have been more clear.  I wasn't looking for design alternatives.  Just looking for the most automated and intuitive way to fill in that double pitch gable area. 

When I reread your post that is pretty clear. (face palms)  It can be done, but yes, I agree that is one of the tricker things to do in CA. Sometime I wish the program would stop trying to be smarter than the designer.  

[Chrisb222]

I used to struggle with this to get the model to look how I want, the method I use now is fast, easy and foolproof (which is a good thing in my case).

 

I use roof planes dragged past the attic wall to cut it, and place them on an invisible layer. Then I clone the ceiling planes, make them 5"thick and adjust to where I would want a false "beam" that follows the vault. These are the notes I made a few years back to remind me how I do it 

 

DECK WITH CATH CEILING: (12/18/2021)

Delete posts and beams, set manually

Create cath ceiling planes over deck

Create roof planes to match, drag out to attic wall and set attic wall, Roof panel to "Roof cuts wall at bottom"

Delete ceiling surface, gutter, and all trim from roof planes

Place roof planes on invisible layer

Clone ceiling planes and set to 5" thickness, drag to attic wall and adjust

Create beams and posts from P-solids

See CATHEDRAL DECK plan, this folder, for example

 

[robdyck]

1. Custom ceiling plane (0" framing depth / does NOT use room ceiling finish). I keep the edge of ceiling 1/2" in from cladding surface. Ceiling must extend beyond wall framing layer.
2. Gable end wall> Roof Cuts Wall at Bottom

[Alaskan_Son]

53 minutes ago, robdyck said:

1. Custom ceiling plane (0" framing depth / does NOT use room ceiling finish). I keep the edge of ceiling 1/2" in from cladding surface. Ceiling must extend beyond wall framing layer.
2. Gable end wall> Roof Cuts Wall at Bottom

Exactly the method I posted above except I didn't hold back 1/2" in my example.  I went tight to the corner. 

 

A few other notes regarding this general method for anyone wanting to use it:

1. If you want to get a super sharp transition between your wall and soffit materials, snap the ceiling plane to the outside of your gable wall and break that wall in half.
2. If you want to see the exposed edge of your soffit, drag the ceiling planes back from the surface a very small amount (I always use 0.01").
3. You can use Room Ceiling Finish but depending on your gable position as it relates to the floor below, doing so may not allow the ceiling finish to extend far enough.  The one big potential benefit to using Room Ceiling finish is that if you are having notable issues with the ceiling snapping to an unwanted position, that setting will allow you to pull the ceiling plane well outside the room--completely avoiding the snap problems.
4. If you want the surface material to continue down below the surface of your soffit, then your best bet is to add a Solid and drag it down the appropriate amount.  This can be achieved super fast though if you already have the wall in place.  Just open an elevation view, make sure you're up on the attic level, click on your attic the wall with the Wall Material Region tool, select the Material Region, and use the Convert Polyline tool and convert to a Solid.  You can then reshape as desired and snap the solid to your wall surface in plan view if its not already there.