All Activity

Well,I forgot everything I learned. Hopefully temporarily. I need to add sun shade sails to the plan now. I started a new thread: How to model Sun Shade Sails

First off, I’m using Home Designer suite 2019. I last used Home Designer in May of 2025. I was dealing with some complex roof issues then that I was able to overcome well enough to get accurate roofs for perspective views with the help of the forum. I only use the program for designing stuff for my own home so I have a pattern of learning to use it well enough to accomplish a project and then forgetting how to use it before the next project I need it for. I need to add some sun shade sails to cover the driveway in front of my garage and the boat parking in the side yard behind the driveway. I’ve helped hang some sun shade sails for other people before and they usually end up having to anchor them differently than they had planned. The sails like to be stretched straight out at 45 degree angles from their corners so there is a straight line of tension from the opposing corner so anchor placement needs to be planned along that line, not along sides. I’m going to need to install poles to do this and I want to model it in home designer so I can get the pole placement and ideal height of each pole planned out with some certainty before I start drilling holes and pouring concrete. If you don’t already know what a sun shade sail is, it’s a piece of fabric with buckles in the corners that you hang taught with straps or cables to provide shade and protection from rain. Installations go from interesting arrangements of different geometry sails on quality structures that add architectural interest to poorly hung squares that look tacky. I would like to end up more towards the 1st side of the scale than the latter. I had started planning this out last May and have a design with 7 poles already placed but no sails. I want to model the sails to verify/correct the pole placement and determine the ideal height of each pole. I have my survey in the design already so I can trace the driveway which I haven’t added to the design yet. The driveway surface will have to follow the terrain surface. I think I remember there being a tutorial for that. Hopefully working through that will bring back some of what I used to know how to do in the software. The sails will be at varying pitches, each sloping in 1 or 2 directions. Stretched fabric doesn’t stay square, the edges curve in. If someone experienced could share some pointers on the best way to model them it will probably save me a lot of trial and error as I work through this.

Hello, When I choose a camera view to see my content in 3D mode, I first see a black screen with 2 large arrows pointing to the 2 o'clock position of screen, one on top of another. It sometimes flashes to where I can see 3D mode for a brief second and then nothing onscreen, only white background. This also occurs at startup of Home Designer. The option area is black screen with the 2 arrows. I tried downloading the program again and re-installing, but no difference. Could this be a driver problem? Never did this before. I have Home Designer Pro 2021. Thanks for any info.

Do I see a half wall up against a normal wall? That will create issues. To "paint" the all behind just use the eyedropper to get color of the green wall hit return Then you get a spray can and set it to object mode. And spray the beige wall in one spot. and it will change color.

agree.

"All mean the same thing - plate at bottom of wall that is bolted to slab." Only on houses/buildings with monolithic slabs. Not on a building with a foundation and floor joists. On these structures the plate at bottom of wall is nailed/screwed on top of floor structure.

Home Designer Pro 2025, Build 26.3.0.10 Windows 64-bit If I left something out sorry just tell me and I will provide! see how the 1/2 wall has messed with the assigned color or the wall behind it? see how the 1/2 wall has exposed the wood on the adjacent wall? if I move the other end of the1/2 wall any closer to the corner it snaps and blends even thought I have all the snaps turned off? It is building the right feature that I have in my house and doing trim appropriately but I don't seem to have any control of the issues I mentioned above. Thanks for your help if you have any ideas

The NKBA has announced the start of its yearly Student Design competition. Winners are awarded a $5,000 scholarship and a KBIS Travel Package. Visit our NKBA Software page and download the X17/X18 (2026/2027) project reference file to jump-start your design. Chief Architect also offers access to a Free Student License, so you have all the tools you need to compete. Learn More

An updated Sharp Electronics catalog is available from the 3D Library and Library Browser update tools!

I don't know if Chief Architect gets a chance to look at Home Designer very often anymore. If you look at the Chief Architect forum comments, and with what some of the users there whine about, it's a miracle that they get any updates done. I really think some of those users are waiting for when the program will be able to make their breakfast!

This is nomenclature thingy. Framers around here throw around the words Base Plate, Bottom plate Sill plate Anchor plate All made from Pressure treated wood with a thin foam like gasket to seal bottom to concrete to help prevent air flow. All mean the same thing - plate at bottom of wall that is bolted to slab. Tomato TomAHto Would be nice if software help kind had better explanation maybe a definition page? as we all use different terms if based on where you live

I would love to get some help but now my plan is 31526 KB (well over what is allowed to attach). I have another plan that is no where near as detailed that is 69,750 KB!!!! I would imagine the more detailed a plan (furniture, fixtures, etc) the more file size it would be but sometimes I see my plan file size go up when I haven't done anything. Are your file sizes this large? Any tips to reduce file size?

Plus a wider sill plate helps with allowable spans of the joists. Sometimes even a 2x8 sill on a 10" poured foundation wall can help with framing joist spans determination

I've always referred to the foundation plate as the sill plate and the bottom plate of a wall as the sole plate. This is the technical code definition although many people in the trades use them interchangeably. FYI...there is no code that specifically requires a 2x6 wide sill plate although other factors such as anchor bolt spacing, doubling rim joists offsetting joist bearings on sills that would naturally require a sill plate wider than a 2x4.

Your image shows just the framing material. If you want the decking to be Azek, you go the "materials" section, and set it there. Also in the structure tab

Yes. Put a room divider going diagonally at the corner. Then check the defaults to make sure your joists are going from the house out. The decking will be perpendicular to the joists.

Good afternoon - I want a deck with the decking going in 2 directions. The attachment shows a deck with arrows showing the direction I want the boards to run. They'll meet at a parting board (the 45 degree line). Is that possible? Thank you......John

Ok, now I understand. Thanks. My build is in South Louisiana near Miss.

3d Shapes work well. you can also use soffit, slab, etc. basically anything that you can change the floor plan shape to suit and then locate bottom with reference to floor and change the height and finally material which you then change to match you tile. I

I have seen this as we do slab homes here in Southern MS. If you look at actual walls it frames it will make bottom plate the same width as wall studs. As above person said the software uses SILL plate for the top of a foundation wall like they do up north and then put floor joists on top. So I have ignored it after always changing them as it means nothing for those who use Monolithic slab foundations. Even in the garage area where it will make short stem walls to be the same elevation as the house slab it is only as wide as stud.

You said on top of the foundation wall which does not exist in a monolithic slab. The way you worded it confused me. Yes, top of foundation wall but it’s at the bottom of a studded wall. The sill plate (also called the sole plate or bottom plate) is at the bottom of the wall. • Sill plate/sole plate — bottom of the wall, anchored to the foundation; wall studs sit on top of it • Top plate — at the top of the wall, where the ceiling joists or roof trusses rest One nuance: “sill plate” technically refers to the plate that sits directly on the foundation (often pressure-treated and bolted down with anchor bolts), while “sole plate” can refer to any bottom plate of a wall assembly, including interior walls not touching the foundation. In everyday framing talk, though, people often use the terms interchangeably for “the bottom horizontal 2x board of a wall.”

speaking as a builder the sill plate would be on the top of the foundation wall and would be at least a 2x6. i have never seen a 2x4 plate on top of a foundation wall. Most houses have foundations with floor joists so it is logical that the software defaults to 2x6

Seems like this should be easy, but I can't seem to figure it out tonight. How would I add a bench into my tile shower ? Essentially, I just need the cube, then i could add the surrounding tile as the texture. Thanks!

Good afternoon - I want to create a default plan with decking defaults set to Azek/Timbertech products. When I open up the deck room defaults and try to edit the decking material it doesn't include the manufacturer catalogs that are in the library browser. I attached a picture for reference. Thank you......John

Ok. Might need to add foundation breaks for the areas that need the 2x6, and set the default to 2x4, whichever is easier for you at this point.