solver

All I did was uncheck use soffit surface for ceiling.

Can you explain better -- do you still see it and clicking does not do anything? Updating your video card driver often corrects this type of problem.

No

Undo the existing gable. Draw a room where you want the gable using a Room Divider. Set the new pitch on the 2 outside walls. Move the front wall back very close to the front wall of the existing structure. You may want to make that small room Open Below or change other settings to clean things up. As a builder, I'd prefer a small flat spot at the corner instead of a point.

That's 2 stairs. You won't be able to do the handrails as shown, but I believe everything else is doable. Draw a single stair to get the dimensions/sizing correct, copy in place (now have 2 stairs in same place), lock the top and change the number of steps to make the upper part. Select the lower stair, lock the bottom and set the number of steps and change the width. This should get you close.

Something like this?

Place the sink away from the cabinet to start. Now move it (drag, center tool etc) into place on the countertop. The sink is now a fixture you can select. Open it and change its height -- raise it 3/4".

And remember, you need to rebuild the foundation for changes to show.

Watch on YouTube: http://youtu.be/lNhLmnZ045g?hd=1

If the space is not a room, there is nothing to include in the overall size, and nothing to select. You probably have one or more walls marked as No Room Definition. Once you uncheck that, you should have a defined room. You do not have direct control of the ledge, but by changing the brick wall definition you can vary it indirectly.

That's the way the program works -- it connects orphan rooms with a Room Divider. You may, I believe, turn off the display of all Room Divider walls.

Look at the Shapes in the library. There are wedges that could be used. Slabs, soffits and the rectangular shapes for the square parts. Also experiment with a Custom Backsplash. Make it a single layer as thick as the chimney and shape it as required.

Do you have a drawing or picture of your idea?

Make that space a room and raise the ceiling, or create an Open Below room on the/an upper floor.

When you see this, it indicated you have more than one wall in the same space. If this is just for decoration, you might consider using a Custom Backsplash instead of changing the wall.

Cannot be done in Home Designer and even the Chief Architect products have limited editing abilities. Best to find a 3rd party symbol like may be found in the 3D Warehouse (google it if not familiar).

What do you mean "convert to CAD"?

You are responsible for these things -- the program does not do them automatically. All the tools are there, you just need to learn how to use them.

You can discover what's available yourself by searching the Home Designer website.

Yes. Read/watch videos etc about Layout.

You set the ceiling height, not the stud height. Start a new plan. Draw a slab, change its top to be at 0". Draw 4 walls forming a room using the outline of the slab -- walls will snap to it. Open the room -- you will select the slab first, so tab again and watch the status bar to see what is selected. Set it as Open Below. You should now have your basic structure. Change walls to pony walls etc.

Pony Walls. I believe you can do them with Architectural.

Lots of videos on the Home Designer site, and the Chief Architect YouTube channel. Resources for self help: The built in Help System (always a good place to start) Getting Started Knowledge Base YouTube

Set your garage defaults and build the foundation. Instead of pressing Enter to exit a dialog, press Tab, check the values, then Enter. The software will adjust things that you do not see.