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The Home Designer website (articles and videos) and Chief YouTube channel are good places to start. There is a tutorial linked via the Help menu within the program. Here is a link to one video from Chief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qX-cRcgbk One of my videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoOyfenpmy0 And most importantly -- Home Designer is not Revit Without understanding what you are doing, I cannot comment specifically. Simply placing another wall should not move any other objects, including other walls. A wall might get longer or shorter depending on the placement of the next wall, but the first wall won't move.

If you are having problems with walls moving, you don't have a good understanding of how the program works. This question comes up often, but only from new users. Why do you have a need to lock a wall? And please post questions in Q&A. Tips & Techniques is where you share your tips and techniques.

You need to communicate details of the addition -- what the roof needs to look like, what's there now, and any other helpful info you can provide.

Try to become familiar with the tools available, then imagine how they may be used to accomplish some task. Think about what the tools do, not what they are named. A Custom Countertop may have a molding attached, and may be shaped in many ways. Finding a molding profile that will work will probably be the hard part. A Custom Backsplash is the same, only used in a different plane. Materials will be a problem, like the ceiling border in your first picture. You will need to source, or create a Material, then figure out how to apply it to give the look you are after. If you are serious about this project, you really need Chief. It's available to rent and you could use it to do the things that are difficult in Home Designer, then (after an upgrade) continue working in Pro. You can create your own molding profiles, for example.

Always include that info when asking a question. People responding are often using Pro, or even one of the Chief Architect (not Home Designer) products and may not understand the limitations of Architectural.

No framing tools in Suite or Architectural.

@amyasociados Download and experiment with the trial to see what is possible.

You are asking about a post or column. A beam is horizontal. That's exactly what is happening. People typically use a soffit or the cube shape from the library to create a post when needed. A shelf would also work. Just think of a shape that represents a post -- it does not need to be a post in the software. Place a shelf on the floor, then make it thicker (taller) so it reaches the beam above. People responding are often using Pro, or even one of the Chief Architect (not Home Designer) products and may not understand the limitations of Architectural.

Tudor Arch

Always give your title (Pro, Suite) and year (2024, 2025). None of the Home Designer products let you specify brick ledge dimensions directly. Your image seems to show a wood floor structure over a basement or crawlspace. showing a cross section like this would help.

Always say the version along with the title -- Pro 2024 for example as the software changes over time and for some questions, answers are version dependent. It's a bit of work and maybe for a small project, not worth the effort. Materials have a Materials List panel where you can set them to not report to the materials list. Walls need to be modified to use these materials and Framing needs to be unchecked so it's not reported. I imagine that's all described in Help.

Dimension Defaults

Please update your signature to 2025. I was writing before you posted your follow up, but I'll add this. The program changed recently to maintain door types when room types change. Before, it would automatically switch door types (interior/exterior) when one room was changed from/to interior/exterior. The first image shows a setting that gives you control over both sides on an interior door.

You need to create the void -- a gap between the ceiling and roof planes.

Tip: Questions go in Q&A (questions and answers) Tips & Techniques is where you share your tips and techniques. Chief Architect has multiple products, with Suite having the fewest features. Many articles and videos show products other than Suite. Make sure you are searching/reading/viewing the Home Designer site (blue themed) and not the Chief site. If you do not see it, or find a reference in Help, it's not available.

Thanks for attaching the plan file. Screen captures are helpful too as they are sometimes all that's needed to solve a problem. When you build the new porch roof, will you cut back the existing overhang? Roofs cut walls, or said another way, walls want to extend up until they find a roof plane.

Did you check for walls marked No Room Definition? Help someone help you by attaching your plan file after closing Home Designer. Zip if needed. And always say what version (year) you are using -- Pro 2024, for example.

Useful how? You are probably not going to get anywhere near perfect. This is trivial in Chief Premier because it has boolean operations -- you simply subtract the ellipse from the landings.

I'd check if that stair will meet code before spending time modeling it. The program will fight your attempts to model it with the stair tool, and the program will win. Too many built in constraints and unwanted automated behaviours. You can do it with landings and it goes fairly quickly. Draw some CAD lines and the ellipse to start. Place a point in the center and draw the first tread (landing). Use Transform/Replicate to rotate the landing about the Current Point to get you started, then reshape each one as needed. The handrail probably will not work the way you want, but it rarely looks good when using winders. And yes, snaps are a problem

Raise the roof planes.

Start a new plan drawing a rectangular space, then divide it with a wall so you have 2 rooms similar to your garage. Set the ceiling heights of the 2 rooms to 12' and 14'. Build a 2nd floor like this. Now on the 2nd floor, open the room over the taller side and reduce the ceiling height.

@tim27613 Check out the last 2 tools on this list.

It's a long time known bug. Check the Library and Bonus Catalogs for round windows.

Look again at what you are telling the program to do. You have the Posts set to Cable, and the Panel set to Solid. Change the Posts back to whatever they should be, and the Panel to Cable.

Those are free standing and do not insert into a cabinet like for example, a wall oven. Create a cabinet as required, and place the cellar manually.