solver

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.

I don't think you can do this with Pro. You need to be able to add items to a group and then save the group to the library.

For the missing gable wall -- delete the invisible wall on the second floor and it will rebuild correctly. That's the way ceiling height is set for this type of structure -- raising it after building the roof.

After building the foundation, I deleted the parts I did not want -- forgot to include that above. Then specified a slab in the garage. Changed the slab height to lower it. You could also specify no floor, and draw in a slab.

Like this? Turn on the slab, then build the foundation.

File > Save As

What is your "pier construction"? You might have a slab or grade beam on piers, or piers that protrude from the ground with beams on top.

Delete that roof plane. Add the walls -- railing, room divider etc that enclose the open area left of the small garage. You may adjust the ceiling height of this space which will control the roof. Now add a manual roof plane starting at the railing wall on the left. Drag it up so it connects with the wall on the large garage. Size as needed. If you double click on a roof plane you get its Roof Plane Specification dialog where you may change settings.

If you don't have a Custom Backsplash tool (found under the Cabinet tools) try a Soffit. It may be reshaped and covered with a material of your choice.

@DJP This image shows the upper wall sitting on the main roof plane. Is this what your were referring to?

@DJP Placed a garage door in the wall. Notice how the dashed outline representing the door in its up position is outside the building? Here is the outside wall after adding the garage door. That window in in the attic, so what is it doing there? There is no attic as all rooms have no ceiling. Windows also go in backwards on some walls, like the window on the far right that you corrected in your video (which is also in the attic). This is what the OP was asking about, and why I suggested redrawing.

Here is a quick video. Needs to be unzipped.

All work in Plan View. All references to direction are looking at the screen. As you drag the roof plane edge, notice the cursor will change as it passes over a wall. It will show an hourglass looking shape when you are at an edge. After the roof is built, select the left side and drag the top edge down to the outside of the front wall. You will know where to stop when you see that hourglass cursor. Drag it past the wall then back to it if you need to. This just lets the program build this small roof section for you. Then select the left edge of the right roof plane, and drag (extend) it to the left creating the shed roof. As you are dragging left, move your cursor down to the left edge of that small roof plane you just created. When you see a triangle, or the hourglass, you know the roof edges are aligned. You may drag walls in any direction by grabbing the diamond shaped move handle when a wall is selected. Maybe extend the wall is a better way of saying it. If you don't have that diamond handle, turn it on in Preferences. Doing the walls this way just ensures the back wall is continuous. This would be far easier via video Post back with questions.

I'm going to suggest you start over. There are multiple issues that don't seem straight forward to fix -- I tried. I assume you have Pro to do the manual roofs. Here is how I built a clean model. I would use the default wall to do this, then change your walls to reflect the siding and brick of your choice. Draw the 30x40 rectangle. Set the 2 end walls to gable, and build a roof. Change the fascia height on both roof planes to match your plan. Pull the left roof plane down and snap it to the face of the siding on the front wall. Pull the right roof plane across to form the shed roof. Now draw the smaller space and covered area. Drag the top wall left and continue counter clockwise to form the smaller garage, then enclose the open space. Change settings as needed and place a manual roof plane, snapping it to the face of the siding and forming the left shed roof. Drag top and bottom edges so they align with the existing roof. Change heights as needed. Break the common wall where the wall intersects left of the front entry door. Change it to a 6" interior wall. Add the interior wall to define the small room in the back. Take a 3D overview to see that everything looks OK. Check inside using a Full Camera in all the rooms. You should not see any odd breaks in walls etc. Everything must look clean before continuing. Now change the exterior walls to reflect your siding, and start adding windows and doors, fixtures, electrical etc. Post back with questions.

Image 2 shows the problem. Can this unfilled space be eliminated via a setting? Is this a bug?

Here is an article that tells how.

You might want to start a new thread with a more descriptive title. You will often get better responses this way, and it makes it easier for future searchers to find information.

That's not a dormer, it's just a gable, and is created like any other gable. Just assign the wall below it as a gable wall. Here is a similar roof on a plan I was testing some ideas on recently. You might also be interested in this thread.

@Hammer7 You might try contacting tech support. They are quick to respond to this type of issue.

Have you tried selecting the egress well wall and dragging it down? Also suggest providing your software title -- Suite, Pro etc, as they often have different capabilities. Or just do it the easy way as Jo Ann suggest.

And because a Custom Backsplash may have depth, you can use it to do some interesting things. David -- Have you used Material Regions in X6? This seems like much the same thing.

Thanks Elovia and David. David -- I tried using a pony wall. Did not seem to work on an attic wall. Also tried building a very short second floor, then raising the ceiling to the ridge, which sort of worked. Thought of using a Custom Backsplash sometime in the night. Tried it this morning and it works.

The attached image shows 2 colors, and maybe 2 materials on the gable walls. I have tried the Wall Covering dialog which sort of works. Using a pony wall does not work. How would you do this?

Place the dormer (Auto Floating Dormer). Explode the dormer -- select the dormer, right click, explode dormer. Select the roof hole and delete it.