solver

Why are you stuck on XP? Have you considered Windows 10? It's supposed to run on lower spec hardware better than 7 or 8.

View > Toolbars or reinstall.

I'd be considering a single floor design as well. This one is 374 sq ft, and provides reasonably sized kitchen and bath.

Back to 256 sq ft, but not 16x16. Minimal kitchen, but full bath down. Roof ridge could run either was as shown in the last image.

This type of question is often easily and quickly answered with a Google search. Try "kitchen bartop overhang".

Here is the larger version, same lower floor, simpler roof. Needs full bath downstairs.

I did a bunch of roofs for this one, including what you suggested. I was going for the small house that had been added on to several times look. At some point, it must make sense to do a full 2nd floor, or not? This plan seems like you could live there full time, where the 16x16 plans seem like space for a weekend or week.

That makes sense. Roofs and walls are tied together in several ways.

Posting the xxx.plan file will help us help you. Make sure it's not open in Home Designer when you post.

This one is larger. Started out as a way of putting the stair outside the main area and evolved back to a square. Plenty of room upstairs for a full bath.

Inverted Wedge is the shape you want. I knew about that, and even placed one in plan, but failed to see how it resized. Taking a second look, now I do. You vary the shape by dragging a side, not the corner. I always learn something from doing it the hard way, anyway.

Discovered this awhile ago, and kept forgetting to share. Sometimes you will have gaps, especially where you have manually dragged a wall up or down. Setting one or more walls as Attic Walls seems to heal gaps. This works for interior and exterior walls. Setting the triangle shaped wall to Attic Wall, results in the second image.

Like the spiral stair. Space saving. If you have the floorspace, like a 2 car garage, consider using tape to layout a plan or two. Ideally a bit of furniture and cardboard for cabinets will give you an idea of space. Older homes often started with an outhouse, then added on a bathroom. Having a downstairs bath outside the 16x16 space would free up some floor area, and give the exterior a bit more character. 2x4 construction with exterior foam will give you a few extra inches inside, and a well enough insulated wall.

So much work for something so simple Someone please tell us how easy this is. I'm sure there MUST be an easier way. I have attached the plan file so you can have a look for yourself. I did not do things in this order, so if something does not work, try again. 1) Extend the stair wall out so that it will cover the gap. Place a break at the corner where you extended the wall from. 2) Change the new wall (create a new wall type) to be solid paper. One layer, paper, 4.5" thick. Set it to Attic Wall. Realign with the stair wall. 3) In an elevation view, select the wall and drag it up forming a triangle. 4) Draw a Ceiling Plane at the same angle as the stair, covering the bottom of the exposed stair. You will need to lower it. Drag it over to cover the bottom of the triangle. 5) In a camera view, paint the new wall drywall so it blends in. Play with everything to get it looking correct. Setting to Attic Wall for some reason makes the program heal the walls -- try it with and without that setting. Making the new wall solid paper (other materials may work) lets the ceiling plane extend to its edge. If the new wall is drywall, the ceiling plane stops 1/2" shy, creating a visual problem. Stair Cover Up.plan

Structural ridge. Glulam, PSL, LSL, solid, built up. How the roof is tied into the porch roofs may also impact this issue.

Open Help and search "joist direction". This should get you going on that issue. As for the wall. You could turn off the display of Attic Walls, and if you uncheck Invisible on the ones you changed, they won't show either, Of course, this turns of all Attic Walls, so the Attic level will be blank. This will not turn them off in 3D views.

Good ideas and plan Jo Ann. Here is my twist on your idea.

Welcome Pat. It would help me (us) if you were a bit more specific about a few things. you will see that there is a shed (skillion) roof on the east and another on west side. I manually drew the roofs and auto walls were generated above the existing wall: they then show up on the floor 2 plan. East and West are not shown on your plan, so you might use right/left/top/bottom as viewing on screen. What existing wall were the auto walls generated above? Using a program that lets you write/circle things etc on an image often conveys more information than a written description. Paint on a PC is one program, but far from the best.

One of my early frustrations with the software was having to tap the spacebar to exit from whatever mode I was in. So much can be done with the mouse only. I upgraded to a mouse with programmable buttons and set one to send a spacebar keystroke. Problem solved.

Have you considered how you will condition the space? Folding sinks are available as are toilet tank sinks. There are also plenty of small sinks that could fit in a corner, for example. Might need to look at RV suppliers for some things as they have generally scaled down versions. Was going to suggest lowered ceiling with open joist. I think your primary focus should be air sealing between floors (exterior walls and roof too), and unsure about insulation being needed there. Winders don't work well on a narrow stair, unless the landing area is expanded. My stairs show a 9" tread, 8" rise and are 2' wide. Winders as shown in my 2nd image above are best. Consider moving the landing and/or upper flight of stairs outside the 16x16 space. Thinking about the design process. I often design from the inside out, especially when there are few constraints on the exterior -- need to conform to setbacks, height restrictions etc. While trying to design within the 16' square is a good exercise, a goal of staying within the 256 sq ft might result in a better layout.

1 more.

All the information is in the help system. Suggest you start there. Search for "stairs". There is also the Knowledge Base where you will find information on many topics.

Moving stairs and kitchen. Allows access to most of under stair space. Water heater under landing, drawers etc under lower flight.

Did everyone see post #44? This isn't a real house.

Park Model homes have some good, compact floor plans. You might get some ideas looking at the ones with lofts. They all have small stairs leading up, but the loft is not high enough to stand in -- unless you are 3' tall.