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The line above looks like the roof overhang. You can rename any room to what you want by going to the dbx, at the room name, leave the upper name so it defaults, then on the second lane, change it to what you want it to be

If you set it in your defaults before you start adding windows, it'll happen with them all

I really hate to have to do that for every opening...on every plan...and every time an opening changes. There's got to be a default setting for openings text position...or is that only a CA thing?

Hello, I have a weird/crooked dashed line remaining after I deleted a garage and created a carport (see attachment). I can't get to the lines to click on them and delete them. Any suggestions for how to do that? Or if I should not do it because they are important (I don't think they are, but I still consider myself pretty new at this). I am using HomeDesigner 2026. Also... bonus question - there is no Room Type designation for "Carport" so I used Porch and wrote in some text above to state Carport. I've love to do this correctly, is it possible to add a Room Type designation? Thanks!

You can go into the DBX for the windows under labels & hit the "enter" key a time or two to move the label to sit below the window. It may work for the doors too. You can always click on the door or window and move the text with the small dot in the center of the call out too

Can someone point me to the setting to control the positioning of the auto text for door & window callouts? Currently (out of the box) my door & window size text is located directly atop the doors & windows. The default exterior door text sits outside the wall, as I'd like it but not the interior doors or the windows text.

you need different molding choice that has a top and has flat vertical surface on back wall side. Stock choices kinda crappy IMO. The content library has Windsor One Moldings which has some good choices for lintels

Looking for the right setting to fix this gap behind the lintel. Re-created in a fresh default 2024 Pro plan with all automatic rebuilds on, siding-6 exterior walls, one door, exterior lintel on, CM06 Crown Molding from Core Library.

Hello Ric, Thank you for reaching out. Home Designer Suite will calculate roofing materials. Assuming you have an existing roof with roofing material applied (you can see the roof in a 3D view), click on the "Tools" dropdown menu at the top of your screen. On this list go down to "Materials List" and then select "Calculate Materials for All floors" - see screenshot below. The roofing material quantity should display in the Roof category in the materials list. I hope this helps! Derek Chief Architect Software

what year software? Shingles are under main library ROOFING and then manufacturers if yo go download from their site (might have to pay unless you have 2026 subscription based.)

Not from my point of view at least. HDP although having great features is no match for CA. CA still has much improvement to be made also. Once you are used to using CA the limitations in HDP can be quite annoying or at least it is to me.

When they moved Chief to subscription you could pretty much set a timer to HD following suit. You don’t have to spend much time in the CA ecosystem to realize that Chief rules the roost and everything they do is with Chief users in mind. Not criticizing, I’m sure Chief customers are their bread and butter. The HD suite has always been a weird offering. Clearly they set the prices/functionality so that Chief users wouldn’t dump the product and downshift to HD. Likely with the added hope that HD users would become invested in the CA ecosystem and upgrade to Chief if they used it for business purposes. Other software companies do this. Quicken is a notable example. Quicken Deluxe is simply Quicken Premier with a bunch of features turned off. The difference is that in Quicken the turned-off functionality is straightforward. Don’t need investments? Get Deluxe. A lot of the features from Chief they throttle in HD seem arbitrary, weird, and highly irritating. I’m wondering if they’ve seen a number of SSA Chief users who didn’t need Chief’s full functionality dump SSA and purchase HD. Or they anticipated that happening as they raise SSA prices YTY to reach the Chief subscription price. Regardless, this removes HD as a realistic option for serious DIYers and small contractors who only model projects occasionally.

I am new to Chief Architect and I recently purchased the Home Designer Suite and I am having trouble with the materials list NOT listing the roof shingles. Does Home Designer Suite not do this or do I have to buy an upgrade for that feature to work?

It looks like a tricky setup! Sharing the Dropbox link is helpful, maybe a roofing contractor or architect could give specific guidance on adjusting the gables and porch roof without affecting the second floor.

After you create the hearth when designing your custom fireplace you can actually create custom built-ins using the soffit a half wall adjusted to the height you wanted but i recommend using at least a 16" thickness. You just add a door casing to your half wall and adjust it to the height you want to make your custom built-ins. Then you can add the custom mantle above it and it makes the fireplace complete. I was trying to create this but the help section didn't give me that option.

PS you should install tile on walls as custom backsplash not molding.

Ditto to above. molding is meant for those cross section shapes in library to be "Extruded" around room.

Instead of using a molding, I'd recommend using the custom backsplash tool or a wall covering in the individual wall’s specification to achieve your desired result. or

HD 2026, Mac OS. Trying to figure out why I'm getting molding where I don't want it. I'm looking at this wall construction here. I want molding (tile) on the walls coming out from the sides of the room, but then no longer once it cuts in towards the door. Right now the molding is appearing everywhere, and cutting off the windows behind the bench seating. I've looked into each wall, and where I want it, "no interior (or exterior) molding" is checked. Yet it seems like HD is just generating molding regardless. If I peer into the materials on those walls, no molding/tile appears. And yet, it's rendered there. Sanity check? Something I'm doing wrong? Crude markup on the drawing: green yes molding, red no molding.

@PhillipCA that did the trick! Much appreciated, didn't even know that material info pane existed.

Try this

I think one of the many drawbacks to HD 2026 is that the material editing properties have been taken away. If you go to the material, copy it to make a new one and rename it, see if you can edit the angle of it. Change it from 0 to 90, or the opposite. If it's greyed out, you can't. However, if you applied this as a soffit, and not a moulding, the pattern may be fine.

Home Designer 2026, Mac OS.

What version are you using?

Can't figure out anywhere to change the orientation or why it's appearing this way: