All Activity

I have a loose idea for a renovation. I've modelled my as-built house. It is full of artifacts of my amateur user status (small gaps in walls, random bits of railing around my staircase) but that's sort of in the noise that I don't need to fix at the moment. What I'd like to do is hide a handful of interior walls and doors, and put in new walls and doors. I was expecting to be able to assign some walls and doors to a layer (like "as-built remove") and add a layer with "renovation add" and sort of be able to switch between them. Does that functionality exist? Do I need to create a full copy of my layout? I was hoping to avoid that so that as I learn, and fix the random mistakes, I wouldn't have to track those changes across 2 different layouts. I come from SolidWorks product design, where I would switch between configurations of similar designs. I may be looking for a feature that isn't there. I don't want to derail this narrow topic too much, but if someone would like to clean this project up a bit, I am interested to know your rates. I'm looking for dozens of dollars not thousands. For thousands, I'll just keep it looking amateur. High on the list: roof planes are all manual, and funky. Can't get 2nd floor to snap to reference 1st floor. Random holes in walls, probably because I don't know how to build the walls/roof correctly? Using Win 11, Home Designer 2026. Link to a copy of my project file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V_bf9ia4x7ozGTN-zPN5Oy2Trqqe5nKJ/view?usp=sharing

Draw the deck, go to the structure tab, and set floor height to a -6

Is there a simple way to raise or lower a deck? I need to drop the deck down approximately 7" below the door frame.

>Something has to give as that 7.25" versus 5.5" rafter difference has to be somewhere.. It's in the birdsmouth cut - it's deeper in the 2X8 vs the 2X6 and then the rafter tail is trimmed down to 2X6 size.

or make them all 2x6 and then add ceiling plan in vaulted room to bring ceiling lower than underside of rafters. This does not make sense - is this vaulted room outside Hip wall inline and same ceiling top plate height? Something has to be lower or higher, Not sure how you can have the same top plate height, ridge height, roof pitch, overhang, soffit face height, etc With different roof Rafter lumber sizes. Something has to give as that 7.25" versus 5.5" rafter difference has to be somewhere... PS most rafters are made from 2x10 in my area and supported in attic to keep free span to spec.

The only option to purchase now is Home Designer 2026. The other versions are now gone, and everything is rolled into Home Designer 2026

No — purchasing Home Designer Pro 2025 doesn't include a free upgrade to Home Designer 2026 when it releases. People on the Chief Architect forums have confirmed that the 2026 version doesn’t include a free upgrade from the 2025 license unless you buy very close to the release date and use the refund window — but that’s not a formal free upgrade in the product itself.

Find a new selection of cast iron cookware for your kitchen, storage, and cooking scenes. Download online from the 3D Library, or use the Library Browser search features to download it directly.

Open your stair specification drop box. Under the "section heights" area, check "top tread" only and set it to "lock top". Then you can adjust the materials, etc. as needed. You should update your signature with the program version and type so everyone knows what you're working with

Rafter depth changes at the walls of the foyer. That's the only area where the vaulted ceiling is. I thought of a solution... 1) Create the roof with 2X8s rafters over the entire side of the roof. 2) Go back and manually edit rafters that aren't in the foyer to be 2X6s. 3) Shorten 2X8 rafter so they won't stick through the facia. 4) Create 2X6 rafter tail in Sketchup and attach to the end of shortened 2X8s.

so the rafter depth changes in the middle of a room or at the walls? maybe post actual pictures of what you have.

might not be able to in the HD series. Unless try making a landing at the top the sane size as your top step and then the stairs can come off of it... might look right. HD just not setup to build the extra top tread when the top level will suffice... I hate to say it but might be easier in long run to change the way you build them and save some $ on the cost of that last tread

What's the better alternative then as an option? Is there one? How else does the software stay alive today. I commented here earlier - subscription gives security in use of the latest version for all - imo. It's all about cost to consumers it would seem - if you like using the software - use it.(buy it..) Its great software - but for me, I'm happy to work with HDPro2024. Home Designer has grown up it seems. Think about the features it has that one doesn't use. Think about the support, the library items available free, and/or for minimal purchase cost. It's a commercial decision buying software - it's a business/budgetary decision. Can you work without it? Happy modeling.

Manual roofs. I'm coming to the conclusion that I can't get exactly what I want, so I'll have to decide what's most important and let the rest go.

Are you doing manual or auto roofs? The reason you're seeing the tail is that likely you have roof framing showing in that view. You could also adjust the size of your eave trim. You can't edit just the rafter tails

Just for clarity, here is the example plan I used to illustrate the problem in the original post.

Keith, yes, I could do that, but that isn't correct. The roof on the one side of the house is made up of 3 sections, all on the same plane. Two of the sections are 2X6s, One is 2X8s. (See the original sample roof I drew). You can see three sections of roof. (There is a line in the shingles where the roof sections are drawn). Drawing the roof all with 2X8s also runs into the rafter tail issue I show above. I've attached the actual plan. Only the Foyer has 2X8s. The rest of the roof on that side is 2X6s.

As I mentioned, build the roof at all 2x8. Then once built, change just the side that needs to be 2x6. Keep the ridge height the same for both roofs

Also, changing to 2X8s results in the following. I was hoping I could change a section of the roof (just the rafter tails area back to 2X6s), but that runs into the issue where I can't join roof sections again.

Keith, no, that isn't what I'm trying to do. Changing the entire roof plane to 2X8s would work, but that doesn't model the existing house. Only the section of the roof where the vaulted ceiling is has 2X8s. The rest of the roof is 2X6s.

If I try extending the 2X6s to 2X8s they show through the vaulted ceiling. Any way to fix that?

Is this what you're looking to do?

Just to clarify only the section with the skylight is 2X8s. The rest of the roof is 2X6s.

I'm not sure what you are telling me... I've uploaded another picture. It shows the original problem a little better. I can't join the three sections of roof that make up the roof. Home Designer won't let me. I can try changing each individual rafter (in the 3d rafter view) that are in the vaulted ceiling to 2X8's - that might work. I did have an issue when I change the entire roof to 2X8s where the rafter tails jut out from the facia. (In the actual house, the rafter tails are cut down to 2X6 size which I don't think I can do in Home Designer.) I also tried to just create a ceiling plane the right thickness to make up the extra room for the 2X8, but the holes in the ceiling plane and roof don't align.

Once the roofs are attached, open the roof plane that needs to change, and change the "structure" tab to the correct size rafters. If that doesn't work, and you are using auto roofs, change the framing to all 2x8, then turn auto build off, and manually change the framing of the roofs to 2x6 where needed. That will keep the ridge at the right height. You can also copy the ridge height of the matched roofs, then change the height of the 2x6 roofs to match that ridge.