All Activity

marianne00, Did you figure out how to fix this? ygmn and rookie65, those are good recommendations, I'm new at the HD2026 also, and learned about this situation too, ChatGPT helps me out a lot, but not enough for the whole picture. Thanks Joe

MadCadder and y-g-m-n thanks so much for the feedback. this roof has got so many goofy things I built into it (yeah, its my fault), I was considering deleting the either the roof and all polylines, and starting over to manually draw the roof planes, or even deleting the whole 2nd floor, reset the roof and wall defaults, and then have HD rebuild the 2nd floor and auto build the roof or just manually draw the whole roof again, The problem I've found with manually editing/drawing the roof planes is they seem to not be able to align and then leave holes. What do you guys think or recommend? thanks again for your thoughts Joe

Manual edit the roof planes.

The only thing too steep about those pitches is the cost The blue arrows....left hand one, just frame a lesser pitched valley in to shed the water to the lowest roof. The right one looks like it will get a short length of gutter & downspout. The rear thing...eww...raise your wall height instead.

is 14:12 & 15:12 & 16:12 too steep for these gables and turret roof? How about that small valleys on each side of the center gable. At the blue arrows, am I asking for leaks in my roof? I need a little lift in the rear of the house to fit the windows at the top of the stairs, so I changed the slope (from the rest of the rear roof) and then raised the small gable. it creates this small piece of wall under the raised part. Please comment, I'd love to hear from some of you good folks, JoeFarmer Home Designer 2027, have ~250 hrs logged working on our own house plans

Moosekrause, Did you ever figure this out? I have similar issues. the yellow 2x4 is a lookout that was there when I had only a gable,(Blue lines) but after I made it a hip, the outlook stayed there.

Howdy DrGerry, I was able to print my elevations to pdf with dimensions and also sent them to Office Depot to make hard copies. you have to "send to Layout" first, then print the Layout pages. Check with Chat GPT, that thing is super helpful. or This may not help, but there is a chief architect forum at https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/. theres a lot of good folks there who may be able to help you. I'm new to all this too, only got about 200 hrs drawing my own house. Those guys have like 13,000 hrs. they are users of the CA Premier, theres lots of folks that will help for free and theres also a section of folks for hire. best o luck to ya Joe

When you define the wall type you have to pay attention to the structural layers vs the finish layers. If you look in the wall type definition dialog you'll see a layer table that has headings of "Exterior Layers" "Main Layers" "Interior Layers" the main layers are the structural layers and the foundation typically aligns to the exterior side of that layer. This article outlines this in more detail: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00382/defining-a-wall-type-in-home-designer.html

I created a foundation wall that is 8" Concrete, 2.5" Insualation, 3.5" framing, .5" drywall. When I created the foundation and clicked the "align with wall above," the wall aligned differently with the interior garage walls compared to the exterior brick walls. The difference is significant. The foundation wall is inset 4.5"more into the basement iunder the garage walls. That is a significant amount when trying to plan the basement layout - particularly tight spaces like closets and bathrooms. Is this a glitch? Should I manually correct the garage walls to match exterior walls? I just need to know how much space I'm going to lose in the basement, so I can design that space appropriately. I'm less concerned about the technicalities. I am a new user. This is for a personal project, so I am lacking building construction knowledge for sure. What loss of space should I account for due to concrete basement foundation walls, insulation, and stud walls/drywall? 4", 6", 8"??? I just need a sanity check to see if the program is doing what it's supposed to do?

You're right it does create an elevation spline. Elevation data needs to have contrasting information. if there is only one piece of elevation data it will always be flat. You'll need 2 pieces. If the majority of the lot is flat and you're jest adding a couple of mounds I would create a flat region that bends around the mounds at a lower elevation than that specified in the mounds.

I tried that, and it behaves like just creating a closed elevation spline. It doesn't seem to have any affect at all regardless of the elevation I set; the area appears flat in 3D views.

You could take a kidney shaped garden bed and convert it to an elevation region using the Convert Polyline tool (its on the Edit Toolbar when you have a qualifying object selected).

I've got a flat lot with a landscape perimeter defined, and I'm trying to create landscaping mounds. These need to be irregular-shaped and smoothly transition from the base terrain and raise to specified elevation. Prior to HD-2027, there was a Terrain Modified menu selection that would let you define raised or lowered areas, but I don't see that anymore. Is there a new way of doing this?

Seeing the subject explained from several angles made the article feel more thoughtful and gave me more to consider afterward. fnf

@RecoveringArchA lot can be accomplished with Home Designer terrain but it can be a bit tricky at times. Do you have some pictures of what you're trying to do? I could give some insight as to if it is possible to do in Home Designer or some tips to get it done.

You could look in the Bonus Catalogs>Specialty/Other/Misc>Commercial No. 01 Restaurant supply. There is a refrigerated display unit under display cases that may work as a good substitute to hold the place. Change the size & materials as needed It would also be helpful for you to update your signature with the program version and year that you are using.

try the free software called sketchup or try looking online for what you want at 3d warhouse or other site. 3D Warehouse

Hello everyone. New user here, and of course I have a dumb question. I have an existing lake cottage on a small but incredibly complex lot (3 buildings, 9 retaining walls, and multiple level decks). I want to tear down one of the three structures (the primary cottage) and build a new house, but I don't want to take out many trees, and I want to take advantage of at least some of the existing retaining walls. For this reason I thought it would be best to start by building the existing site in Home Designer, but after three long days of trial and error (Mostly error), I'm ready to give up. The terrain tools was one of the reasons that I selected this software, but I'm finding it incredibly difficult to build existing conditions, especially with a complex set of retaining walls. Am I asking too much of the software? Should I focus on the building first? This seems counterintuitive to me, as so many design decisions need to be based on the existing conditions. Advice would be appreciated. I'm a recovering Architect who quit practicing years ago to work in Project Management, but I've always been good with software, so I thought I'd pick this up fairly quickly. Glad that I only purchased one month, as I'm about ready to punt at this point.

Maybe you could post your plan ?

I do not have a 3d program to create it with. I am a quick study, so once I find the software, a free one if I cn find it LOL, then I can do it. THanks; Jay

I've got HD Suite which will not allow me to print elevations with dimensions. My builder also says he can't use the the PDF's and DWG files it exports to get architectural "stamps". Looking for someone to convert my plans accordingly ????

I am in the mood to consider a 2nd purchase of HD Pro 2025...is this possible or are the legacy versions not for sale?

need to create it in 3d and import and place in plan. then click on it and hit ADD to LIBRARY button.

Good day I'm working on a personal project, and I am currently stuck and looking for help... Any help would be appreciated I'm working on a layout where the rooflines are a little difficult (see inspo)- I'm trying to do the shed roof style on the front porch of the house (between the gable and the shed-style roof that covers the bump-out portion of the house... that I got the shed room to work on). Every time I try things, it makes awkward roof adjustments Is there a way to change the truss direction on the garage section? Ultimately, they are going to be attic trusses - once I can get them rotated Last is I'm trying to get the roof peak to all be at the same height, but the portion of the house with the porch gable and the shed roof ends up making gaps at the intersection of the taller roof and the two other types of roofs (I changed the ridge top height) Once again, any help would be appreciated

Hello, Everyone. I want to put a 3D item into my User Library but have NO idea on how to create the item I want. I use Home Designer PRO 2025. I have presented an image of the ice maker I want to put in a Microwave type base cabinet. The item measures: 23.11 in H x 15.28 in W x 14.57 in D. Any help would be more than appreciated, and thank you all in advance. Jay