All Activity

Its even easier with timber-frame actually, but its difficult to get air-tight and insulate properly though, so very few modern houses have them.

Hey Mike, If you go to Preferences > Appearance there is a Button Size control under the "Toolbars" section where you can increase the size of the toolbar buttons.

There are no separate layers in Home Designer products like there are in Chief Architect. Either you show the labels or not.

You could also try grouping your door and window callouts on separate layers, making it easier to handle visibility. This might help manage any overlaps or clarity issues. Glad the problem was solved!

Very disappointed that there is no way to set resolution on cameras, but very thankful for your quick fix.

Change the way that angles are displayed by clicking On NUMBER style in lower left corner of just about ever EDIT Screen that you open up. Change to Surveying units AKA quadrant bearing - See that it loks like what is on your plot plan. So click on something and then click edit. Then what I do is draw each line by themselves and then move them to connect. Tried it as one unit and you have to pay attention wo that is staying fixed, start end etc etc. became a PIA found it easier to draw each line then move to connect then using the Point to Point move. So end point of one line click it and move it to the other line where it connects. Then when all done or before you need to draw in the NORTH POINTER Under CAD drop down menu Look it up in HELP If you do not add N pointer it makes NOrth vertical UP on screen. Add pointer you can rotate line so that your house is square to screen and easier to draw. they did not make it easy for sure.

How can I enlarge the command icons around the screen perimeter? Mike

Trying to create my perimeter on a five-acre lot. How can I add the length of each side and adjust the proper north/south orientations? Mike

I think under roofinf tab there is command to put in a little arrow thingy that will force joist direction. Joist direction kind dictates roof rafter (truss directon)

Have there been any tool changes to prevent or change the orientation of the these trusses? I'm using the latest 2026 version of the software. I saw another user expiencing the same issue, and I'm not sure how to modify it manually. Appreciate any help or guidance.

Thank you!

That is how a slab house is made. 4" thick slab w/concrete footings under load bearing walls. All exterior walls and where the engineer decides they are needed. Then the plumber will make some to run H&C water lines and drain DWV pipes under or within slab beams Occasionally the electrician will dig to run conduit for floor outlets in HD when you make a slab foundation it will create the exterior edge footings based on the dimensions you set in foundation default page. NOw HD is not the best at making these foundations specially if you have brick veneer as it will make brickledges and the beams and ledge can get messed up at intersections of interior and exterior as well as lowering porches and patios. so it takes practice and sometimes you have to manually edit what it comes up with. Always have an engineer design the slab foundation unless you want it to crack in the future and cause all kinds of shifting issues. Note all above void if you do a post tension concrete slab

In our area of expansive soil it is ommon to create a slab with thick deep perimeter footing as well as what they call "grade beams" (thick concrete ribs entrenched beneath the slab), as well as 12" concrete piers drilled to 15 feet. I'm confused whether Home Designer can be configured to create those grade beams and piers uniformly beneath a slab. Ai seems to think that the "grade beam on piers" setting is just to create a crawl space with a wood framed floor.

Download a selection of smokers, griddles, and barbeque cookers for your outdoor kitchen needs.

Our next contest is Residential! Share one of your designs for a chance to win Chief Gear. Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design. You have the chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in this contest. Discover how to enter and more through our blog: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/blog/design-contest/ The entry deadline is July 16.

Yes, and I use those. But, sometimes things don't get dimensioned with temporary dimension. I turned temporary dimensions off, then back on, and it looks like temporary dimensions are working much better. Thanks for mentioning "temporary dimensions." That gave me the option to turn them off then back on.

Do you have "temporary dimensions" turned on?

Is there a keyboard shortcut to do manual dimensions? It doesn't matter what type of dimension get selected, tape measure or point to point. I just want something I can manually dimension while drawing without having to keep moving the mouse up to the top to click the Dimension Tools icon.

That makes sense. So I need to open that file before "sending to layout" I thought I could create a master file that would pop up when I click "send to layout" Thanks for the clarification

I just save it on my desktop like the master plan file. Then when you go to open layout, use that one, then change as needed and save as the new project name.

Is there a place to save the master file so it automatically comes up or do I need to manually pull up this file everytime?

you did make a 2nd floor right? w/o roof? Drew the walls in and created a room? Edit the room defaults etc. Added the stairs?

I am thinking he is using Home Designer since this forum is on Home Designer Software website. And the name of this forum is

Create a new layout sheet, put what you want on it, then save the layout as a master. Then with each new project, you save that layout to the project name, and your original stays ready for the next one. Then edit the job name, date, etc. Just like creating a master .plan file to generate new drawings from. You can also create them in different paper sizes so they are ready to go

Is there a way to create a default Layout page so everytime I open it, I can already have my logo, designer name, date, and general notes on the pages already? I currently am manually creating a new page everytime. There has to be a workaround for this.