I am new to the Chief Architect software and this community, but have already found it to be a great resource. I purchased the software to design a barndominium - essentially a commercially produced, pre-engineered steel building, likely about 60' x 40', of which I will build and finish a living area within a portion of the steel structure.
I installed the software, read through the tutorials and began to set the default settings. Of course I did not find anything specifically to steel buildings. The interior framing and finish will be no different than a traditionally built home and the software will work great for that. It is primarily the exterior walls, doors and window openings, etc that will be different and I couldn't seem to find default settings specific to that type of building. That led me to this forum, assuming someone else surely had this problem before I did, but after searching the forum, I found very few posts on the topic (if they are out there and someone can point me in the right direction, please do so!). I am hoping some of the Pros on here can offer some sage advice on how to best proceed.
In a nutshell, the steel building will be erected on a slab foundation. The living area will then be framed within the steel building. Based on experience and some research, I believe it is best not to attach what would normally be the exterior framed walls of the house to the steel building itself, only the slab. The exterior walls will be framed inside the steel wall girts, which will leave approximately 6" between the outside of the 2"x4" framing and the steel skin of the building. This void will be filled with additional insulation (in addition to the insulation between the exterior wall studs). So, there is no OSB, Tyvek house wrap or exterior siding / stone / brick, etc. In designing the build, I would like to be able to account for this space for obvious reasons.
Thank you in advance!
