solver

Like this?

Did not get it to work. Only shows framing in one wall, either the inside or outside, depending on which is the Main Layer. I was thinking about I-joist for walls, and open web trusses for walls. Both a way of creating a deep wall space for insulation. Horizontal strapping -- On a cold climate wall, a plastic vapor barrier is often placed just below the sheetrock. Sometimes, 2x material is applied horizontally to the wall on top of the vapor barrier creating a wiring chase so the vapor barrier is not punctured, and helping to eliminate a bit of thermal bridging. On the outside you could do something similar, for installing vertical siding, or creating a rain screen detail.

If you are getting the libraries into your download folder, just double click them and they will install.

You could take a Cross Section, then use the Tape Measure tool to measure. Open a roof plane. First dimension shown is the ridge height.

Thanks for the effort. After setting Main Layer correctly I too get one 2x4 wall showing in Framing views. Plan and 3D views are the most important right now. I was pleased to see doors and windows work. Be good to be able to model some of the walls used when building well insulated houses. Vertical trusses and I-Joist, walls with interior and exterior horizontal strapping etc.

Have defined a wall that is 2, 2x4 walls separated by several inches. See the image. Framing does not show for this wall. Any ideas why not?

Draw the four walls for the room. Set ceiling height to match short wall height. Turn off Ceiling in this room. Set opposite wall to High Shed Gable. Set other two walls as full gable. Generate a roof. Change roof pitch to get opposite wall twice as high as short wall. Use Full Overview view to see the walls. Turn off the display of ceiling and roof planes to see inside.

Delete the stairwell from the floor above and the tool comes back.

A search should bring up the info you need. A soffit or slab work to create a custom counter top.

Lots of good info here: http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/category/3/0/10/Home-Designer/ Here is a direct link to an article that should get you started. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00358/52/Home-Designer/Roofs/Automatically-Building-a-One-and-a-Half-Story-Roof.html

I moved the brick columns and connected the walls, then moved the columns back. They can go on top of the wall. Added an invisible wall across the opposite side to create a room. See the second image for changes to the room specification.

There is a follow stairs option when you have make a wall a railing. No clue how to get the stair rail on top.

I still suspect lighting. See images -- in one, wall is shadowed, other it's lit.

There seem to be wall railings and stair railings. The setting you show is for wall railings -- you draw a wall, then check Railing in the wall DBX or for an upper floor railing drawn by the auto stairwell tool. Stair railings are not effected. Thanks

Thanks David -- I thought that might be the answer. Mick -- could not find a solid rail option.

In the image, want to extend the wall right of the blue outline so it fills the space where the balusters are. I have tried selecting the wall and using the break line tool from the edit tool bar, but no break is placed. Ideas?

I figured your panels would not be in a regular pattern -- grid aligned with windows for example. You could use a standard pattern, but would need a texture to go with it. The image is a brick pattern enlarged.

Flying saucers.

The front wall color issue is related to the sun. When I changed the sun angle so the front is shaded, the color looks OK. Also the texture on the floor and siding is showing for me. Also changed the dark wall in the bedroom to match the others after taking the image. And I just noticed the upload limit is now 25MB.

There is a huge amount of information available via video on youtube, and the home designer site (and Chief Architect site). Spend a few hours watching and reading over the users guide.

When in a 3D view, find the button (see image) and click. It's often on the far right side of the window. It fills the screen with the structure.

Make a copy of the correct plan. Add a second floor. Copy the wrong plan in as your new second floor. Align walls. Delete lower floor.

Submitted this issue to support. Will report back when I hear from them.

I looked at the plan. See no problems. You should not need to raise the living room ceiling. I'm dealing with a similar issue https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/344-high-shedgable-roof-woes/ I believe this is showing a bug, or limitation of the software. Maybe someone with more experience will have a solution.

Thanks Jo_Ann I'm trying to keep the roof in a single plane on the back side. Here is a view of the entire structure. Second image shows the roof prior to switching to a shed. I lowered the ceiling height to match the rest of the structure, broke the front wall, added High Shed/Full Gable to the front wall and rebuilt the roof. I could fix manually, but trying to figure out how to get the program to do it.