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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.

It does appear to be a default item for any foundation. I guess if I'd changed it to 3 1/2" I wouldn't have had to change so many walls. I only have a few 2X6 walls for drainage pipes. Didn't want to completely remove it as I do need sill plates and wasn't sure how much work it would be to add them all back.

I know you have a monolithic slab. I'm just wondering if it's a default item for any foundation if it's not removed? Without seeing your plan, it's just guesswork.

Thanks. I have no floor joist or rim joist because I have monolithic slab. At least it seems I have the same definition as you and the software. Its silly that they define this in the foundation vs. letting the software default it to the wall thickness with the option to change it only when you want a sill plate that is different than the wall thickness. The only scenario I can imagine where someone would want option would be if you had an extremely thick interior wall material and wanted to bring the sill plate out past the wall for base board backing.

See what your foundation default has. It may be using the default 5-1/2" sill plate from there.Maybe change that to 3-1/2", or change it to no sill plate and see if it goes away. Sill plate is usually the term for the sill on top of a foundation between the concrete and the floor joists/rim joist. The bottom of a wall is often refereed to as a "shoe", at least here..

Just to make sure I am not confusing normal terms with what the software calls a sill plate, I define a sill plate (a.k.a bottom plate) as the wood bottom piece of a wall. In the case of a monolithic slab on grade, the sill plate it treated and is bolted to the slab. There is also usually a sill seal between the bottom plate and the concrete. Typically the bottom plate is the same dimension as the wall being built so 3 1/2" for a 2x4 wall and 5 1/2 for a 2X6 wall. I just checked my 2x4 walls and all show a 5 1/2 sill plate. Shouldn't this be 3 1/2". If I'm correct on all this, maybe I'm expecting too much from the software meaning it should know what size sill plate to put based on the wall thickness? I'm really hoping I'm confused on this because its a pain to go change every single wall that is 2X4.

Thank you Carrie!

Try turning off auto roof and then Manual edit roof planes? The right-side hip roofs need the same pitch and to be planar if you want them to line up like bottom picture. is the right-side pitch the same as house? if not it wont work due to geometry. Also the outside edge of exterior walls need to be colinear so the rafters would be attaching to the same point and then with same pitch would be coplanar I would have to play with it to figure out.

New here and I like to think I'm self-sufficient... so please forgive the question as I have not been able to find an answer. I am attempting to connect the garage to the house. The house has an attic gable-end (1.5 story) that should connect to the garage (1-story). I am able to layout the garage and the house exactly as desired separately with desired roof pitches, etc.. As soon as I connect the roofs the house gable-end roof pitch drops to match the garage ridgeline (lowering the pitch). I have tried to correct this numerous ways and am at a loss for how to connect the two pieces. Using Home designer Pro 2021

IS anyone listening though? Wonder how qty sold year over year has been.

2024 Pro has everything I need. And IMO 2018 has better default light settings/look in 3D views/persepctives. Focus on the drafting and CAD tools use should be paramount. Attention is needed. Jeff.

Yes. The way 2026 butchered what 2025 had and worked was disheartening. Plus it didn't sound like 2027 replaced what was suggested to add back.

Yep there was nothing that i considered a nice feature upgrade other than maybe being able to chose what surface a dimension snaps to on the fly. This is not really Home Designer 2027 but rather 2026.001. It’s not something I would have paid for to upgrade. But I guess that’s what we get when they charge a rental fee every year.

I didn't see anything that looked like an "I've got to have this!" Plus, my HD 2026 won't even stay open on my machine. I deleted the program and my subscription expires on 8/13. I am just fine using my HD Pro 2025.

Hmm...well, if I get married and then we divorce, she gets half. So...at least I get to own half of what we created together. But if I marry a new version of HD...I get nothing if we break up. I won't even be able to 'visit' the 'kids' we raised together. CA/HD gets sole custody of all that we created together and I can't even see them on the weekends. I'd have to pay a monthly fee to see my own 'children'. The only good thing to come from that sort of relationship is that I won't have to pay to support all those 'kids' after we break up. But. Then again, I get no visitation rights either so... No.

Looking at the new features, I’m kind of disappointed. What do you all think?

Chief Architect has released its newest version, Home Designer 2027! If you are an active subscriber, check your digital locker to download and install this new release for free. Legacy Home Designer customers get an upgrade discount on the first year of an annual subscription. Learn about the new features in Home Designer 2027. Considering an upgrade to Chief Architect Premier? Learn more about the newly released Chief Architect Premier X18.

Creating a 2nd floor with zero height was an excellent idea, but unfortunately did not work. This is because the software will only build a gambrel off of a first floor. When you try it that way, it builds an ordinary one slope roof. I did figure a way though, although it's far from perfect: create the first floor 18 inches wider than it should be, on each side. Build the gambrel room just the way you want it. Turn off auto-build roof so that it stays as-is. Then shrink down the first floor to the proper dimensions. I'm still toying with it, and hoping there's a better way, so if anyone else has ideas, please pass them along and I'll try them out. Thanks!

Hi. Sorry for the delayed response. I didn't get notification of your reply. Anyway, I don't know how it was built, only that the 2nd floor was added about 20 years after the original home was built. I'm going to try your idea of adding a zero height 2nd floor that is two feet wider than the first. That might work. The help files didn't have any information about this situation. Just a normal gambrel. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks!

Hi @Browneye The Cantilever underside only applies if your room overhangs the lower floor. You don't need to really worry about it unless you have that scenario. Though looking closer at it, we don't model actual geometry for that underside surface so it isn't included in the Material List. Carrie

Hi @KTBuilder Home Designer does not have the ability to tell a layout box to look at a different plan. You will need to delete the view from the layout page and send the view again from the new plan.