DavidJPotter

I got this at the Horry County, SC - Code Website: "If your building or addition is a commercial type the following types of information must be submitted for review, regardless of size. (all plans must be drawn to scale) (allow twenty days for review) Completed building permit application Four copies of Site plans drawn to scale with existing and proposed structures, property lines with dimensions, streets, easements, and setbacks. Completed NOI (Notice of Intent) form, if required for Stormwater review. Form available on the Stormwater Webpage under Permitting Information or by calling (843) 915-5160. Two complete sets of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans along with two(2) civil/site plans, showing the fire hydrant location. The following information must also be submitted for commercial buildings prior to issuance of the building permit: Verification of sewer service from DHEC or appropriate Sewer Company Plan review approval from the Murrells Inlet/Garden City Fire Department if the building is located within their fire service area (tel. 843.651.5143) Copy of contractor's license and a notarized letter allowing someone to act as his/her agent if someone other than license holder is picking up. Notarized letter of authorization from property owner of record authorizing contractor to obtain building permit. If your building or addition is a residential one or two family dwelling type and less than or equal to four hundred (400) square feet the following type of information must be submitted for review. (all plans must be drawn to scale) Completed building permit application Two site plans drawn to scale (zoning compliance) If your building or addition is a residential one or two family dwelling type and is greater than four hundred (400) square feet the following quantities and types of information must be submitted for review. (all plans must be drawn to scale) (allow five to seven days for review) Completed building permit application Two site plans drawn to scale: Plans: 2 copies of plans drawn to scale with wind, Wind Design Summary Sheets and seismic design per 2015 IRC (with original SC engineer or architect seal). The following information must also be submitted for residential one and two family buildings prior to issuance of the building permit: Verification of sewer service from DHEC or appropriate Sewer Company Contractor document (contractor license information and if someone other than contractor is obtaining permit must have notarized letter of authorization to secure permit for contractor Regardless of building type, if the building is located within a 100 year floodplain as identified by the National Flood Insurance Program, additional information will be required. Contact the Horry County Floodplain Manager for additional information." Looks like you have some homework to do. I do not know anything about some of the above requirements (Stormwater regulations, wind summary sheets) and I am not a licensed Mechanical Engineer. It looks like you have some hoops to jump through. You can do the initial Electric Plan though you may also need to obtain the help of a State Licensed Electrician to meet their requirements. This may seem daunting but it is what your local government requires. DJP

You draw a small room (space enclosed by walls), then place a doorway that you make into an "arch" by way of the doorways "Arch" tab in the Door Specification dialog for the doorway. to finish off you would add the pedestals using custom slabs that you apply a white material. To get the thickness shown in your photo you might use a custom thickened wall to get just the look you need and want. DJP

This depends upon where you are located, the requirements of your local permit authority in terms of submitted plans. Most such places have a website where such requirements are posted. A job that might require 4-5 pages can be done rather quickly after the model (.plan file) has been inspected. But if you live in California, Washington State or Oregon, the same project might require 30 pages of printed-scaled material. Where do you live, please? DJP

You can custom size any material in Pro, including cinderblock. You can control the structural thickness of floor platfroms and roof planes via Default Settings. You can control the ceiling height of your walls using the "Ceiling Height" setting found in Default Settings - Rooms and Floors - Current Floor". Knowing that I do not see any possible problems completing a design like you describe. What exact problems have you been having? DJP

AutoCAD can import .dxf files, that is true (I work with Structural Engineers who commonly use AutoCAD). I do not know of any Architects anywhere willing to take another's design and finish them into plans (they like to charge a percentage of the cost of a project after THEY design it, not you). I suppose you might be able to find an Architectural college student or an Architect that is semi-retired but not otherwise. I have designed and drafted over four hundred custom homes, restaurants and shopping centers with people like you, I share my plans with a consulting State Licensed Structural engineer and have Never needed an Architect for any of those projects. In the end, it is up to you. DJP

Nice talking to you. DJP

DJP

Can you please post a photo of a similar outcome to what you wish to do? Most arch situations are created using a wall with a doorway created in it and then "Arched" by way of the doorway's "Arch" tab. Using the doorway's dialog box you can make it appear to have many difference Architectural appearances. Like any preprogrammed object it also has limitations past which it cannot go, thus the request for a photo of something similar. DJP

I carefully inspected your posted plan file. The only thing I noticed is that you have the lines of the siding set quite a bit wider for vector view camera setting but you did not also change the settings for the texture for the standard render camera. You must change those characteristics in the "Define Wall Dialog" for both vector view and standard render view camera types because those two camera types display 3D faces differently for different visual outcomes. DJP

How dark a set of lines is controlled in "Display Options" per named layer. Before you print you can evaluate the appearance of "Line Weight" by turning ON the feature "Show Line Weight" either by finding the icon for that tool and left-clicking on it to get a visual review of how it will print. I commonly do not use this tool until right before I intend to print or "save as PDF" to see if any changes are necessary. This command can also be found under the "View" main menu( " View - Line Weights"). This gives you a visual way to evaluate line weights and relative lightness and darkness so you can then take action if you so choose. DJP

Click here to see available wine rack symbols at Home Designer Website DJP

DJP

If it highlights the entire house you have numerous bad wall connections. Do you have object snaps off for some reason? No good wall connections aways equals no rooms defined. DJP

Read in your Reference Manual about "Terrain Planes" and "Terrain Features". With a terrain plane created you can place features on it to display driveways, sidewalks, flower beds, and mulch beds. Everything you need to know can be found in the Reference Manual found under the "Help" Menu when the program is open. DJP

Reinstall the app. DJP

It has always been true that older versions cannot open newer versions of .plan files. It is the way that it is designed to work for better or worse. DJP

I have on my PC Chief Architect Premier versions 7-20 and Home Designer Pro, Architectural, Suite and Essentials 2019. All run just fine. The older versions of Chief I run on a hard drive that runs Windows XP x32, the rest run on Windows 10 x64. You have not said what operating system you have, so I find it hard to understand what your problem is. DJP

DJP 621 King St. New Plan - Laundry2.zip

X9 Interiors is a Chief Architect Premier product, not Home Designer. Your forum should be Chief Talk not here. That said, I commonly make pull-outs using a drawer along with text indicating that the drawer is a pull-out. There are new libraries of pull-out drawer symbols but to date, I have not felt the need to use them. Anything that "happens" will only be due to you making it happen, not the software. I am not sure what you expected but this is what I can tell you. DJP

It may be that you can emulate this roof in Home Designer Architectural. Since I have a choice, I would prefer to tackle such a design with at least Home Designer Pro. It IS more money than Architectural and does require that one learn its more professional grade tools but at least you are no longer dependant upon a perfect series of pre-settings to achieve an intended product. There are users here who are veteran Architectural, Suite, Essentials and Interiors who could probably get your roofs done with what they have. If you intend to stay with Architectural you will need to STOP, as you say "playing around" hoping to, by trial and error obtain an acceptable result. Architectural and other such titles require precise pre-settings to obtain a result (not guessing and hoping). This requires intense study and practice which develops within you, competence and personal certainty. I am not saying that users of Pro or Chief Premier are lazy, I am saying that those applications provide more certain tools for direct manipulation of roof planes making the process of roof design potentially easier and more certain than pre-settings and then depending upon pre-programmed responses of a mechanical device (Architectural). Eric said to you: ?"The key is to experiment with simple plans to gain an understanding of how the program works." I would add after you have carefully studied all relative data in your Reference Guide about creating roofs and dormers. Your plan is a challenge for Architectural to create, requiring knowledge and competence, not luck or randomness. On inspecting your posted plan, the first thing I noticed is that your plan does not match the Architect's plan. That being the case it is no mystery why you are not getting your intended results. Roof building in Architectural, Suite, Interiors, and Essentials is predicated on the location of walls and then settings you create in those walls along with proper settings as to "Ceiling height" in applicable Room Specification Dialogs. These factors must be correct to obtain acceptable results. DJP

Welcome to the forum. There is no such software with the name "Home Architect Pro". Do you have Home Designer Pro 2018? or do you have Home Designer Architectural 2018? it is one or the other. I do not understand your question no matter what software you have, I mean you select the "Wall Tool" and then select what kind of wall type you intend to draw and then left-click-drag to create the selected wall type. If you mean something else, then please say more to explain. DJP

I assume you have Home Designer Pro. From your posted images it appears that you have not turned off the flat ceilings on the second floor of the intended vaulted area. The trusses are programmed to follow as a matter of priority flat ceilings first and ceiling planes secondarily. It appears this is the case based upon the two offered images, which leaves LOTS of room for error just on that scanty evidence. If you were to post a copy of your plan as a .zip archive file then others could give your plan a comprehensive look to determine the cause instead of mere guesses. DJP

I do not think so but to be sure you should call Chief Architect Inc Tech Support or Sales and ask the people would know if this is possible. DJP

I am sorry but no Home Designer Product has the ability to accept custom named layers nor do they have the ability to create custom, named object layers like Chief Premier does. This symbol might function in Premier but Not otherwise, sorry. DJP

In my twenty plus years of professional drafting and design, I have NEVER found a State Licensed Structural Engineer who used anything other than AutoCAD. I suppose there probably are some that use Chief Architect but I do not know of anyone. Another consideration is that your permit authority will probably ONLY accept Engineer Stamped drawings from an Engineer who is licensed in YOUR state, that is the way most permit authorities operate in my experience. Otherwise, I wish you good luck. DJP