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fake them into an open full height cabinet by using cabinet PARTITIONS.

Thanks. My plans say 1" air gap but I guess that means at least 1" because that's the only part of the wall that isn't pre-specified by the material being used. I'll be using 3 5/8" deep brick but of course it all still works out if I adjust the air gap so the total becomes 5 1/2 inches.

Is there a way to put a Dryaway rack in the laundry rack using Home Designer Pro?

when they make the forms they use a 2x6 and lay flat to create the brick ledge which is 5.5" wide.. Much cheaper then ripping them to make it thin But wall layers should be brick = 3.5" Air Gap= Min 1.5" Sheathing = ~1/2" (15/32" plywood or 7/16" OSB) ----- Brick Ledge Edge ------ Stud = 3.5" Sheet Rock = 1/2" So stuff on brick ledge side = 3.5+1.5+.5 = 5.5" Just adjust your air gap to create wall thickness to match so your plans match. Around here, some builders putting up 1/2" foam board to sheathing and taping joints so air gap goes back to 1" - $$$ but helps with Thermal break and insulation

I am using Home Designer Pro 2021. I designed my home in the software and then had a professional draw up my plans. Now I want to take the small changes they made and update my plans I built as they made rooms slightly larger or smaller. My problem is that I cannot get their dimensions to match my dimensions. I make all the interior rooms match but then the exterior dimesions don't match. I call them and asked what depth they use for a brick wall thickness. My focus is a 2x4 stud wall with brick. They said their brick ledge is 5 1/2" and the total wall thickness is 9 1/2". They didn't seem too eager to help me understand any more detail than that. I've looked up typical brick depths and see 3 1/2" and 3 5/8 brick depths are normal. Even with a 3 5/8" brick depth, my total wall thickness in the software is only 9 1/16" inch (3 5/8" brick, 1" air gap, 7/16" OSB, 3 1/2" stud, and 1/2" drywall). Question 1 - Why does the software say this wall thickness is 9 1/16" but if you add those figures together, it comes out to 9 1/8" (see attachment). Question 2 - How is a brick ledge considered 5 1/2" (including 7/16" OSB, 1" air gap, and brick)? Assuming 3 5/8" brick, isn't that only 5 5/16"? Where is the other 3/16" coming from? Question 3 - When you look at exterior dimensions of a professional drawing (attached). Are those exterior dimensions actually from the outside of the brick or the outside of slab? Maybe they should be the same but didn't know if some bricklayers use an overhang or something that might be the dimension difference?

yeah subscriptions sux I am just gonna use the 2025 HDPRO I have and live with it for my hobby fun and home upgrades. Plenty of threads on no one liking the new business model.

Hi Folks, Thanks for taking the time. I just looked at the software - to purchase the upgrade - as there were a couple of other things I needed "Pro" for - like custom deck posts. IIRC it was about $500.00 for the "Pro" version. HOLY SMOKES - now a subscription @ $500.00 a year - what a CASH GRAB. That leaves me and probably many more "hobbyists" out. This is the reason I still use "Paint Shop Pro" instead of "Photoshop" - - - no subs - - - I don't do subs that perpetually drain your bank account. Years down the road - when this is all done - and I just want to look at my old model - I couldn't even open the model without buying another sub - no thanks. I'll just build the new ceiling in Blender and import it - or - perhaps it's time to move this entire model into Blender - which has a far better ray traced render engine. Thanks again - I do appreciate the response. I guess I'm out... Regards, Scott

yup basic does not have custom ceiling planes Pro does.

Hi Folks, Crap - there are no ceiling planes in the basic suite - at least from what I can gather. My only alternative might be to hobble something together in Blender and import it - I've done that before for other custom objects, but it is truly a PITA getting things to line up. Regards, Scott

Hi Folks, I haven't messed with this software in a while - as I only got into this to design my own retirement home. I did use the basic room settings. I'm pretty sure I haven't used ceiling planes before - let me do some research and see if I can figure them out. Do they work in the basic Home Designer Suite? Thank you kindly. Regards, Scott

How did you make the vaulted ceiling? Ceiling plane or UNchecked Flat Ceiling? Try ceiling plane as you can force it to do what you want.

Hi Folks, Well AI can do a corrected render based on my previous image (with very explicit instructions) - however - I still should be able to correct the ceiling line on the model. Here is what I am attempting to do. Thanks. Regards, Scott

Hi Folks, I have two intersecting gables - one is the great room with a vaulted ceiling, and the other is the kitchen and dining room with flat ceilings. How do I get the vaulted portion to continue all the way to the wall with the carpets hung on them - uninterrupted? The ceiling line from the right of the image - to the bottom of the truss - should continue to all the way the wall - eliminating the sheet rocked triangle. Home Designer 2021 Thanks. Regards, Scott

I have been able to mimic the exterior veneer of a log home in Home Designer 2026; however, I would also like to be able to accurately mimic the logs for purposes of easily calculating material costs. The logs that I will be using are square so they 12" tall and 8" wide. Length I am less sure about but for purposes of my question, assume length is 8'. Is there a way that I can modify a material to achieve this aim? The logs will be the entirety of the wall (exterior and interior). In essence it would be no different that building the house out of landscaping timbers stacked on top of each other. that will ultimately be the support for the roof. I hope this makes sense. I have searched the knowledge base without success.

I sent both a DM and email requesting access to this offer, but have not yet received further instructions beyond the initial acknowledgment. Update: Crickets. I'm wondering if Rene's close relationship with the developers at Chief Architect and my criticism of their Home Designer line are the reason. I hope not.

Late to the party I just discovered that HD Pro has moved to subscription only and with a heavy price increase. We used to pay around $120 for the annual upgrade of the HD Pro perpetual license. Now the annual subscription fee is $450. In other words, CA can lose 75% of the HD Pro customers and still have the same income from HD Pro. CA is doing this to increase their income. There is no benefits in it for the customers, on the opposite the customers lose their perpetual license in the process. This can only mean that CA's strategy is not to be interested in the hobbyist segment and we have to look elsewhere.

called BOARD & BATTEN. JAmes Hardie has some simulated and I remember seeing it in the default siding library.

Does Home Designer offer a glass garage door?

Yes. look at your siding materials

I have a customer requesting vertical siding instead of the traditional horizontal siding. Can this be done? If not does the Pro or Architect version do this?

from my look you do not have walls for the roof to rest on so program freaks out as it wants the roofs to sit on wall. Make walls and set them to be railings For Side walls - Open them in the edit dialogue: ON rail Page: set the railing to OPEN Set posts to POST to BEAM Define start and end post as you wish either half, full or auto - I suggest FULL for your plan as out in the open Their is a tab for manually defining beam dims later ON NEWEL/BALUSTERS page Set dims for posts Width (think wall width) Max spacing 10ft or whatever you want (set it so just bit more then what you have now) for type either Square or choose one in from your library For front and end walls do the same except change post spacing to bit more then width of pavilion. So after walls then it will make a room - Choose Patio or similar. Define room in more detail. Set foundation monolithic slab 4" thick then have it BUILD FOUNDATION. Now you have foundation and walls. GO to default settings for framing and set first floor ceiling framing to what you are using for JOISTS and spacing. Set roof pitch define rafters dims and spacing. Auto create roof. Adjust if needed but for this simple roof should be fine. Build Framing and modify framing to suit. You issue is you do not have a room

I've uploaded my plan from my previous post. Sorry, I should have already done that. Byler8.plan

Using Home Designer Pro 2023, I'm rendering a pavillion on a slab. Within the roof defaults, I changed fascia and soffit/eve to "opening (no material)" and the roof surface and ridge cap to brown corrugated metal. I set it on posts with footers and manually drew roof planes. Rafters initially didn't render. When I opened them, despite having changed them in the defaults to Fir framing 1, under materials they displayed as "opening (no material). I fixed that with the eyedropper. Then I realized my rafters didn't render the proper depth (9 1/4") nor did my ridge beam. In "End2" jpg, the rafters don't display the depth of the rafters on the right. Oddly enough, if I peel the roof surface back and move any rafter in the slightest, it instantly changes to the proper depth. Within "End2a" vector view, there seems to be an underlayment that's causing the problem. It also stops the rafters from sitting on the roof beams in the birdsmouth cut as shown in "End2b" jpg. Any help would be appreciated.

maybe not available anymore from GE....

best advice I received a long time ago when I was given new software. PLAY WITH IT .... eventually you will figure it out and use the help button...