roofs Gambrel roof not generating + auto-roof building above Floor 2 instead of Floor 1 in story-and-a-half sections

IsaacMosdal · 2026-08-15T00:21:38Z

Hi all,

I'm working in Chief Architect Premier X17 on a structure that takes a pre built 16x24' gambrel roof barn, a 17' 10" diameter grain bin and a roughly 16x24' new build connecting the two (not built yet or decide and the reason I am trying to learn this software to help my grandpa).

It is a 1.5-story main mass above ground (Floor 1 full / Floor 2 as a partial floor space encroached by roof structure). I'm running into two roof modeling problems and I'm hoping someone with more experience can point me in the right direction. I describe floors as floors above ground here, I'm discounting foundation/basement from the count. If you open the model the foundation walls are correct to what is currently in the ground.

Problem 1: Roof over the 1.5-story sections not sitting on Floor 1

On the roof menu I have "Ignore Top (3rd) Floor" checked in Build Roof, but it means that over the "3 floor" grain bin there is no roof at all, and the 2 floor

But in the wings that only have Floor 1 and Floor 2, the auto-roof still builds above the Floor 2 ceiling instead of coming down to sit on the Floor 1 walls with Floor 2 as the attic. My understanding is that "Ignore Top Floor" is tied to the plan's actual highest floor number (3) rather than being relative to each section, so in the 2-floor wings there's no Floor 3 to ignore and it just defaults to building off Floor 2.

I've tried setting Full Gable Wall (Wall Specification > Roof panel) on the gable-end walls on both Floor 1 and Floor 2 in those wings, per the "building a 1.5 story roof" method, but when I turn on "Ignore Top (3rd) Floor" it makes the roof over the grain bin disappear. Screenshots are attached.

Problem 2: Gambrel roof not appearing

On the section with windows, I've set the roof type to gambrel by setting upper and lower pitch on the walls and setting end walls to gable instead of hip. But instead of the two-pitch gambrel profile I'm getting a single-pitch roof on one side and two pitches on the other with a point that they merge that makes no sense to me.

Plan and pitch settings:

Lower slope pitch: 24/12
Upper slope pitch: 4/12
Break/transition: 40" in from edge

Not sure if this is related to Problem 1 (i.e., the roof anchoring to the wrong floor is also throwing off the gambrel break point) or a separate setting I'm missing. Has anyone dealt with getting a gambrel to build correctly on a mixed-floor-height footprint like this?

Plan file attached. Chief Architect Premier X17, Windows 11

I'm basically a total newbie to this so if my post here is unclear or as useful as it could be I'm also grateful for any and all advice on how to get better help.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Attached are a CA 2nd floor plan,