Need different floor heights for adjacent structures / addition.

[Builder921]

X16 on Win10 Pro, 3x monitor work station, 32Gbs

 

I've wasted hours trying to set the 2 floors at the correct heights.  Floor on right needs to be sunk to have the joist tops flush with the sill plates on the 8" CMU's.  Will be adding a beam hallway to join the 2 structures and there is a difference in t.o.w. based on the floor heights.  (Both 8' walls).  Included are the settings for floors.  Cannot show accurately how the house / hallway roof will tie in on top of / above the fascia line of the garage conversion without the difference in floor heights.   

 

Background and Rant:  Have been using CAD since I upgraded from Win3.11 to Win95 and installed "Data Cad".  Came on 30+ diskettes and ran in DOS.  Builder w/ 30yrs experience w/ everything from site survey to nailing on the ridge cap.  Have performed every trade required to build a house.  Left a position couple years ago as a truss designer / engineer running MiTek Structure, both 20/20 and SE.  Have spent at least 16 hours watching Chief training vids and for the most part they are not very useful.  Many of the menus & tools shown are different or missing options shown in the vids.  A lot of the vids are so old they show X9 across the top.  So far Chief feels like something I'd pickup at Best Buy for $99.95.  Far to many interconnected settings that should NOT be.  Unnecessary complications and un-explained features / settings.  Could have drawn this entire project, including rafter over-framing, in Structure in about 20 minutes.  Yes, I would not get the pretty colored elevations but I'd have a complete, workable, structural drawing.  Very Frustrated at this point.  Read a post as to how Chief is set to build from the top down....Really?  Was this code written by a troop of Monkeys on Crack??? 

 

Any guidance on what I'm missing or doing wrong will be appreciated!  Also any suggestions on tools, sources, etc to learn this software would also be appreciated.  The Chief site has a lot of out dated or inaccurate video's.

 

[SHCanada2]

you probably need to post the plan

[Michael_Gia]

3 hours ago, Builder921 said:

Have spent at least 16 hours watching Chief training vids

I think you need more videos. 
 

Not enough info but keep in mind that Chief has a very particular order with regards to which floor you change floor elevations from.
You’ve probably already experienced having momentarily gotten your floor heights just right and then you nudge a sofa 1/2” and suddenly the bathroom floor on the 3rd floor has dropped to the basement. 
 

Welcome to Chief where everything is connected.  It’s more origami than architecture. 
 

You’ll get used to it, and the more you do you’ll realize there’s no better software of this type to go from concept to construction documents all while being able to sit with your clients and design asyou draw. 
 

You’ll sign contracts and make money and then you’ll love Chief again. 

[JiAngelo]

Either, Left Room Floor = 0' & Right Room Floor = -10.5"

OR, Left Room Floor = 10.5" & Right Room Floor = 0'

 

Whichever side is divided into more rooms, then I'd make that side 0'  Every room on the side that is +/- 10.5" has to be set the same +/- 10.5".  Chief sees this as one building, floor = 0'  everything benchmarks off of that.  You don't get to build a second structure independent of the first it must bear some relation.  This is not much different than a front porch, which I generally set to -8" where house floor = 0',  Instead of a slab you want hung joists.  The entry may be 9', but the porch is 9' 8" (assuming ceiling height didn't change (like when I drop the porch roof a foot to make sure it's roof clears the bedroom windows above.  Then the porch room height is 8' 8". off the lower floor.

 

Here's one I did a while back.  Instead of "hung" we created a pony wall with the top 6" thick and the bottom 12" thick so that the joists would bear on the lower wall.  OSB was flush with the top of upper wall.  .

 

I remember it took me a day to figure out how to get it right.  This was on poured walls so I used different colored concrete to let me know where the floor trusses were bearing, but same concept.

 

Chief's original company name was Advanced Relational Technology.  All the rooms in a plan file are related, even if detached.  I don't know who told you top down.  It's first floor, then up for the upstairs and down for the downstairs.  Based on the plan you draw and how you told Chief you want to build, it will finish the roof and basement for you.  It will even draw the framing.  If you left all those settings on default, then it probably won't draw what you want.

 

Since your building experience is the same as mine, then surely you've built at least two houses in the same subdivision.  Every plot plan in that subdivision has FFE, FGE, TOW and TOF reference points that are measured off the same baseline above sea level.  Every house may have 9' basements, 2x10 joists, 9' first floors, etc... but their FFE, FGE, TOW and TOF's all vary - unless you live in Kansas.  It's all relational and Chief looks at the overall plan in much the same way.   I agree there are many unnecessary complications - to me.  But they do mean something to others.  And many times after I've figured something out, re-reading the instructions shows I just didn't understand what they were trying to say.  Active views still drive me nuts on occasion.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[GeneDavis]

 

[PitMan71]

18 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

I think you need more videos. 
 

Not enough info but keep in mind that Chief has a very particular order with regards to which floor you change floor elevations from.
You’ve probably already experienced having momentarily gotten your floor heights just right and then you nudge a sofa 1/2” and suddenly the bathroom floor on the 3rd floor has dropped to the basement. 
 

Welcome to Chief where everything is connected.  It’s more origami than architecture. 
 

You’ll get used to it, and the more you do you’ll realize there’s no better software of this type to go from concept to construction documents all while being able to sit with your clients and design asyou draw. 
 

You’ll sign contracts and make money and then you’ll love Chief again. 

Well said.