Construction Of Home Inside Pole Barn. Do We Start With Walls Or Bare Framing?

[DaViper]

I am already running into questions on how I get started with this.  I know starting the right way will help accelerate the build out. 

 

The construction is a pretty basic pole barn style with scissor trusses, 12ft pole centers, and metal sheeting.  I started by constructing a simple mono slab and attempted to just add ext walls to that.  The first issue I ran into was defining the space so I could adjust the wall heights for ext walls.  When selecting the space, there are only general settings for "slab". not a room definition with ceiling height. 

 

Also, due to the different framing, I am unsure if I should construct the building with framing tools and try to add wall coverings or build with the wall tools an edit the framing members?

 

 

Basic framing is 12ft oc posts with horizontal girts and purlins.  The roof trusses are also very custom so I am hoping I can create these and add them to my library. 

 

When creating the posts, I would like to define their subgrade lengths and extension above the slab. The slab will BE the floor for all spaces and I am sure I can somehow define the slab as a floor? 

[johnny]

Chief thinks in terms of rooms - for better or worse. If you dont think in those same terms, and approach your project file differently, you will run into issue after issue.

What I understand you to be saying is that you have a post and beam structure and am unsure if you should place that structure first or the "in-framing" first. Since you can't make rooms with post and beams I would say start with the in-framing, but I would draw lines that represent the "grid" of your posts and beam members. After you are done with that place the structural members into the file - and I would isolate the layers for each type.

I'm not a Chief pro, but that is how I would go about it.

[DaViper]

I am really fine building an enclosure with wall tools, then framing it as needed but I am finding that overly complicated and figured there was probably an easier way. 

 

What I did was generate my concrete pad, then started installing walls on that pad but having issues with that.  The walls do not want to sit flush with the outside of the pad so am trying to figure out how to select those areas so I can scoot the walls.  Simple stuff but this is what wastes my time.  

 

This is what got me thinking if I am doing this all wrong.  I can add poles right down through the walls but I have to completely reconstruct the framing with girts/purlins.  

 

What I am trying to avoid is get going on a design that looks right and all but by the time I get to the framing, I cannot modify it enough without starting over.  

[Joe_Carrick]

1.  Walls

2.  Foundation

3.  Roof

4.  Framing

 

That's the basics.

[DaViper]

Well, the way I am working it right now is creating the main post array by creating a polygon just for a reference.  After posts are complete, come back and add walls along the posts. 

 

The framing is "flush" in which the girts/purlins sit on edge and in between the posts and trusses, not on top of them.

 

Questions. 

 

1.  How in the world do I add the horizontal framing members?  Some say you can do this in 3D but I have not found a way. 

 

2.  I need to create a saddle cutout at the top of the posts for the trusses to sit in.  How would I do that or should I mod the post defaults before generating them? 

 

3.  The gable walls will not have roof trusses, but rather continuous posts all the way to the roof line and a 2x12 roof beam added along the top.  The design calls for notching the side of each post so the 2x12 will sit flush with the exterior side surface along the top.  The posts are then angle cut to match the roof angle. 

[HamlinBC]

1) Manually draw them with polyline solids...or framing members.

2) Probably make your posts out of a polyline solid, and then convert it to a plain solid and subtract the portion for the saddle cut.

3) Same as option 2...

 

I usually don't go into so much detail with polebarns...mostly I have a template setup with walls set at the correct thicknesses and just call it good.

[DaViper]

Here is where I am.  I have built the space by generating a new wall definition with my specs.  I built the walls, then specified the room with a mono slab.  I then create all my poles using the pole functions and translated them around. 

 

I then used the general framing functions for the lower girt and then translated them in the Z at the proper spacing. 

 

 

Problems......  I was attempting to get the base level of my girts in a separate layer as all my replicates so if I need to change spacing, I can do that.  So....  Is there either a way to edit the replication specs or a way to get my replicas to show up in another layer?  So far I have found no way to either go back and edit my spacings or get the replicas in another layer so if I need to change something, I get to delete about 100 pieces of lumber and start over. 

[DaViper]

Having worked with a lot of different top tier CAD softwares, I think what I am missing most here is an operation tree or some way to review and alter previous steps.  Unless I just never found the "tree", this seems a big issue with you use functions such as "duplicate" to make a BUNCH of objects. 

[DRAWZILLA]

Chief only has the undo, no review unless you do it one at a time

[DaViper]

Not to be biased against Chief but I think the lack of edit options after generation makes me wonder what other softwares might function a little better?  I have not used Revit but work a lot in CAM softwares and Catia where there is not one element that is not editable.  Catia is top notch for 3D modeling but I would lose countless hours defining each detail in which Chief will auto generate those elements. 

[HamlinBC]

Problems......  I was attempting to get the base level of my girts in a separate layer as all my replicates so if I need to change spacing, I can do that.  So....  Is there either a way to edit the replication specs or a way to get my replicas to show up in another layer?  So far I have found no way to either go back and edit my spacings or get the replicas in another layer so if I need to change something, I get to delete about 100 pieces of lumber and start over. 

 

Don't delete the existing purlins...

 

Just pull open a 3D view and Shift+Select a bunch of purlins.  Then use the open command (see 1.png) to open the group.  Go to "Line Style" and change them all to your layer of choice (see 2.png).

 

It's fairly straight forward, you just have to get your mind out of CAM mode and into Chief mode...

 

I also added a rough plan file that has some framing for a pole barn on it...so you can compare.

Polebarn.plan