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Thank you all for the responses, I appreciate the help!

Hi, you can rent Chief Architect for the period you need to create your flared roof home design. Curved roofs are only available in CA. Scott shows us how to do it in this video. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1956/flared-roof.html

I don't think I have ever heard of a cabinet that has sides that are gables ??

Search the Knowledge Base articles for Mansard roof. But know, that Architectural is limited to (2) pitches on a roof wall.

Thank you!

Not possible in home designer without making multiple roof breaks and adjusting small area roof pitches. Would likely have to upgrade to chief architect

I would like to have the roof of my project in a Chateauesque style, with some of the softening curves akin to what is shown in this example (it is from the Chief Architect web site, so presumably it is possible to instruct the software to do this, I just don't know how and haven't found a thread here yet that addresses this particular style of roof). I'm using Home Designer Architectural 2025.

for each cabinet go to molding page and ADD in a base for each cabinet Remove toe as required. Not hard

Does anyone have a small GPX file that actually imports? I can build anything needed but several commercially generated GPX files with elevation (I opened them and checked) failed to import elevation even though I checked the box to do that. I'm thinking the program needs a specific format and tags - just need to know what they are.

In those cases, I keep the top rail just for the location, then make it very small. Then with either a shape or soffit, I will create the size I need and place it "around" the top tail that I shrunk

Is there a way to add decorators base instead of toekick to an island? I can get base on the front of a cabinet, but on the sides that have gables, there doesn't seem to be a way of adding anything. Would like something with a little more detail than the straight base which means I can't use soffit to recreate.

Thank you Keith & Roy!!! So sorry that I just saw your suggestions. Both suggestions make sense and are do-able. I wish we were notified when people respond.

I used a suggestion from another post to figure out a way to do this. I eliminated the bottom rail (0'd out dimensions in Rail Specifications) and created a new rail using "Shapes" Hello All! I would like the top rail of the deck handrail to be a different material/color than the bottom rail. I have not figured out a way to change them separately, if there is a way in Home Designer Pro 2025. They are linked together in my program. Any help/tricks will be greatly appreciated!!

When I saw that in the catalog I was impressed. It's actually what made me buy the software.

Creating Architectural Blocks To create an architectural block, group-select multiple architectural objects, then click the Make Architectural Block edit button. Architectural blocks can be created in any view. See Architectural vs CAD Objects . The following is a list of objects that can be included in ... Manual/Architectural Blocks/Creating_Architectural_Blocks.htm NB Architectural objects excl. lines and walls ... An architectural block is a collection of individual 3D objects that are grouped together so that they can be placed and moved as a single object. Select objects and the appropriate icon appears on screen for selection to make a block.(Made same mistake myself) see help...

There is quite a bit of missing or incorrect information about grouping objects or making architectural blocks on this and other sites. Firstly: the "make architectural block" icon or symbol (which no posts seem to mention) is a graphic of a 3D perspective of a "cube" which appears in the lower left tool bar (at least on my version - Home Designer Pro 2021).and does NOT appear under the EDIT tab on the main menu as some tips suggest. Secondly: it does NOT appear, and is apparently NOT functional, if you select CAD objects such as a square or a circle. Nor does is appear if you select windows, doors, or walls. Thirdly: simply copying & pasting multiple CAD objects, windows, doors, & walls does work using the regular copy and past procedure.

Hard to call it advertising when it's free. It's a disappointment for certain.Yet the clearances needed are found on other websites to help with laying out a room

I see... How sad. That seems to me like false advertising.

Extremely disappointed in this decision. I've used HD products for several years and the fact that I had a choice to upgrade was HUGE plus. A subscription, not at all. I'll just stick with what I have and when it is no longer useful, I will look for alternatives, as there is always something better coming along.

I agree with you. The current monthly cost of renting Home Designer Pro 2025 is $59/month. That equates to $708/year. Sure, it is less to purchase HD Pro, but at least you get to keep using it as a perpetual license. I’m sure Chief Architect will set the subscription price much higher than I think it’s worth, but I also think they don’t really care about the Home user and are focusing their attention and pricing strategy on Chief Architect Premium and professional architects, who can afford the cost by passing it along to their clients. Home DIY folks are probably not enough of an income stream to matter. I used Home Designer (and then Chief Architect Premium) to help me design our kitchen cabinets and visualize our fixture/hardware, flooring and color selections. I didn't need or want to pay someone an hourly rate to go through the many changes my wife and I went through during the design and build process. It was something that I was happy to do myself with this software and made our build much easier and less stressful. But I can’t imagine someone with the same use case as me paying what will likely be a huge subscription cost rather than a 1-time purchase and probably at least 1 upgrade to get through the design and build process. It was almost 3 years from initial plans from our draftsman to the final decisions on what we put in the house. I guess we we all see how limited and expensive the Home Designer line becomes. Too bad for the non-professional DIY’r.

Thank you!

I have always upgraded to the latest version of Pro every year since I first started with a dongle. The cost last year was $119 to upgrade from 2024 to 2025 for the perpetual license. Rental for the software was $59/mo which comes to $708 a year. If that's the way this is going to go then I will no longer upgrade and will most likely stop using the software if my 2025 version becomes unusable. Such a deal huh? I am very disappointed with the direction not only this software company but the majority of software companies are going. We won't know the price of rental until the 2026 version is released but you can be sure it will be far more than what the upgrade price has been.

@ishoultz and @Donco15 If you decide to purchase Home Designer 2026 it does not affect your Home Designer Pro 2025 license. A few notes: (1) Plan files have always been forward compatible. They have never been backwards compatible. This means if you save a plan in Home Designer 2026, it cannot be opened in Home Designer Pro 2025. This is not new, but I thought was worth mentioning. (2) If you are on the rent-to-own path for HD Pro, you can continue making the consecutive monthly payments towards ownership. There is also a rental buyout option where you can make a one-time payment to pay it off and save money in the process. This avoids any potential issues from a missed payment (credit card decline, etc.) and secures your 2025 perpetual license. Contact sales directly for more details. (3) Upon release, there will be a free trial of Home Designer 2026 so you can evaluate the new program.

do not think there is a way. Should only affect the material list when you calc for rooms, floor or house.. List gives # sheets so you could do a little math - take: #sheets * 8/12 = Q12ft you need

I would try the subscription but I want to keep my 2025. Also want ability to save files in 2025 format in case I do not think it is worth it I always have 2025 to fall back on. That is what sucks with subscription... you stop paying they turn it off and you cannot sue anymore so everything you have done is DEAD... Like a MAFIA thing --- you have to pay the juice to keep living.