solver

I remember this plan. Made lots of small changes to the roofs and cleaned up many of the artifacts on the inside and outside. Also fixed the siding on the interior wall in the library. Many of the walls were not aligned between floors. Still more work to do, but this should get you started.

You mentioned wheelchair access before. Bathroom doors should open out. Someone falling in the bathroom could block the door denying quick entry by help.

Your interior doors are interior doors. If you are asking because you see the Exterior I have circled, that is the program showing one side of the door. This is a 3D view and may be rotated around to see the other side. To change the doors, select and use the Library button to choose one. To change all the doors in the plan at once, click on the door icon as if you wanted to place one. Hold the Shift key and marquee around the plan. Ctrl-E to open the Door Specification dialog. Click Library and choose a new style. When you are beginning a new plan, you may set up your defaults, and doors placed afterwards will match them.

>>> Eventually, after I get the original plan drawn, I want to make a 2nd story living area in the void space of the gable roof structure. If you intend to add a second floor, do it now -- it's the way the program works. Once you get your floor and ceiling heights correct, then work on the roof.

Looks like it's time for an upgrade Someone with Suite or Architectural will need to answer for those titles.

Do you see slabs and/or soffits? They may be used too.

You may Lock things like walls so they cannot be selected.

Typically called "z-fighting". Here is some info from a prior post. https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/469-cheif-wrap-layer-visable-through-siding-in-3d-perspective-full-overview/?hl=z-fighting#entry2526

Which title do you have -- Suite, Pro etc? See the image. Click on the doors, then the Delete button.

I used a full height on the right, shortened to base high. Needs some more work to make it look correct. The microwave on the left is in a base cabinet rotated to go in the corner.

http://video.homedesigner.chiefarchitect.com/ http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/search/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7jB5YPuzy5utIP1tF3w2mQ https://www.youtube.com/user/c16467/search?query=layout

CAD > Points > Place Point Place a point at the center of your light. Use the Point to Point Dimension tool to go from the point to a wall. You can then delete the temporary point if your wish.

My Mom had a place that was similar. The image roughly shows how her guest bedroom and bath were configured. Just an idea -- nothing wrong with your plan.

The main room is defined as Open Below. Change it to something else. Go to basement, select stairs, use Auto Stairwell tool to create the stairwell.

Thanks for reporting back Jason. So many come, ask a question or 2, then disappear. We never know if we helped. You will have a nice place there when complete.

I don't believe you can show the roof structure you describe in framing view. You should be able to define a roof structure just like defining a wall, but I don't believe you can. You can show something similar from inside.

View>Library Browser or Ctrl+L

Do you have Wall Covering? Or Pony Walls

Delete what you have. draw the two stair sections, then just click where the landing should be and one will be placed automatically.

I did not catch you were doing them with soffits. Framing view won't help.

Could you show a framing view?

Have you checked the library?

Could you reference the Reference Manual and the link to a video? I've done entire kitchens, and groups of furniture, but not windows.

I agree with Robyn. Chief has trial versions for all the products, and an easy upgrade path to the more expensive titles. I chose Pro over the other Home Designer options because it does what I need and the others did not. I also considered Chief Premier, but could not justify the cost difference.

I'm happy with 8.1. I use a program called Start8 that makes it more like 7.