Tammlen

If all I wanted was to create a pretty picture of a ceiling and a floor, you are correct. But I'm not interested in pretty pictures. What I need is to plan out framing construction for a specific storage load capability, along with electrical, ductwork, etc., that will be needed in the attic space. And I found out you can't do this in HD, unless this space is set up as a room on a second floor. But I did locate some instructional videos on trusses and lofts since posting this. And If anyone is interested.... I was able to create what I needed in basically a three step process... 1) First build just a one story structure, with the walls, floor, roof, etc., exactly as needed (that's important, since if you change things later on, the roof trusses don't auto-change to match.) 2) Use object editor and delete the auto-generated framing for the roof, ceiling, walls, floor (which also turns off auto-framing). Then use framing tool to draw the roof trusses (be sure to turn on roof truss display in 3D object list so you can see the trusses). Once you have trusses exactly how you want them, then rebuild the framing for the roof, ceiling, walls, floor (again, be sure to get the trusses exactly how you need them before step 3, because any changes later on will be a real pain to fix). 3) Then finally, when everything looks good, create a second floor. I found the height of the second floor doesn't matter. The roof plane will automatically snap to the top of the trusses. So even though your home is now a "two story" structure in HD, it will basically look the same as the one story rendering. But now you will be able to work with the attic space like any other room. Can modify the floor framing and place engineered floor joists or floor trusses as needed for a strong attic floor, and place other objects as needed, which will now show up in material lists. Anyway, that's how I did it. There might be a better way, but this worked for what I needed.

(new user of HD 2021) Hi, got another question. This old house we are renovating on our farm has a simple one story structure. It is basically a box, with a gable roof at a 6 to 12 pitch with howe-type roof trusses set 24" oc. This 80+ house has survived at least two moves from where it was originally built, and still holding together remarkably well (all 2x4 and 2x6, 24" o.c., construction). Inside we have removed all the old drywall and insulation. It's down to bare bones. We will be DIY renovating it, plus building on two additions. So far, I have managed to replicate it's basic one story structure and truss system in HD. But I want to have a third of the trussed roof space to be an attic for storage and to set an ERV. The other two thirds of the roof will be left open in a poor man's version of a vaulted ceiling with trusses. I can't just define this attic space with a ceiling from the floor below, as it will not be able to hold any real weight. And we don't want to change anything with the existing roof trusses or put any additional weight on them. The building inspector would have a fit and we don't want to have to hire a structural engineer. Best to just leave them alone and let them do their job, which is holding up the roof. So my idea is to build a strong self-supported attic floor, with its I-joists set in between the existing trusses and slightly below. The ceiling for the rooms below, and the flooring for the attic, would be attached to these I-joists, not the trusses. The old trusses would basically "float" inside the new floor with nothing touching them. I have been trying to build this floor by creating a second floor, whose height is basically "zero". But still struggling a bit with the elevations. What I am trying to do is create a "loft", except it will be walled off and have trusses sticking out, and only used for storage. Is there a better way than what I am doing? Or a video that might help me? Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

**Semi-solved my problem** Found a workaround where I can get the program to build studs in at least the thickest layer of my insulation. So now my hybrid insulation walls appear in the Framing 3D view. And I also have all the insulation layers calculating in the Materials list. If anyone is interested.... I did it by temporarily adjusting the material structure of the insulation layer to "Framing", instead of "Other". Then used the wall framing tools and unchecking "auto build" and "from layer". Then I checked Build the wall. This causes it to draw wall studs within the insulation, which now displays in 3D Framing view. Then I reset the insulation material structure back to "Other" and it lists in the Materials list along with my other main wall insulation layers Kind of squirrel-ly but whatever works. Don't know why they have where you can uncheck generating from wall type, allowing stud spec entry, noting stud width will be based on the main layer thickness, ....because that just doesn't seem to work. Not unless the main wall has a layer material with a structure specified as "Framing". And then on build, studs are only as wide as that layer, not the total thickness if you have multiple layers. Maybe this is a bug? But at least I was able to find a workaround and get close to what I was trying to do. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Thanks, I'll try those. We our operating as our own general contractor in this diy house renovation and it helps to have visuals when going over things with our building dept.

That looks good. How did you generate it?

Thanks for the help. But in a software that costs $600 to buy, I wasn't expecting having to accept an auto-generated one-size-fits-all insulation material between studs. Figured a $600 app would be able to easily handle what is commonly called a "flash and batt" or "hybrid" insulation method. Of course I can keep track of the different insulation materials in my own spreadsheet. But it's an extra step I wasn't expecting. And the 3D views will not be as representative of our actual project as I was hoping for. Guess I'll just submit this issue as an improvement suggestion to the Pro 2021 version. But I appreciate your input. Even though I'd gone thru the tutorials, wasn't sure if there was some framing setting I was not understanding. Thanks again.

Ok. Guess I'll just have "insulation-only" walls, to get the materials list. But having walls, whose framing won't display in the 3D framing overview, is disappointing, especially when I'm trying to show the building inspector what we are planning. I find it strange the framing part of this software doesn't accommodate a common practice of filling stud bays with insulation. But thanks anyway. Just have to work around the problem, maybe with two different models.

Thanks. New to this. I'll update my account info. Just upgraded to Chief Architect Home Designer Pro 2021. It is in an old 80+ house we are renovating. Currently, there is no insulation. Just the wall studs on 24 o.c. with wood shiplap attached to outside. We want to preserve the old exterior shiplap. Removing it will cause too much damage and not in budget. So will bring it to code by layering insulation between the studs.

This should be easy, but how in the heck do you specify one or more types of insulation that is WITHIN the framing studs? If I specify wall type "Siding-6", I get a wall with studs displaying in 3D framing overview, but no insulation showing, between exterior and interior siding, in doll house view (just empty space). And no insulation listing in the material list, just the materials for the exterior and interior layers. If I change the "fir stud" material to an insulation, like "mineral wool", now mineral wool shows in 3D doll house. And is in material list (under framing). But framing has disappeared in 3D framing overview. If I use "insulation with studs", which appears as fiberglass pink, it shows in 3DC doll house, but framing still not showing in 3D framing overview. And insulation lists as just "insulation with studs". If I specify two main layers, fir studs and mineral wool, I get two separate layers (an empty fir stud layer with a layer of mineral wool, side by side). And wall is double the width. And I can't change the layer number to specify that the framing and mineral wool are on the SAME layer in the wall. Is there something I am doing wrong? I just updated to Pro version, so I am hoping it is just a learning curve problem. Our insulation scheme for our house is to fill the stud bays with an air gap, then a radiant barrier, then a layer of Rigid Foam, then a layer of mineral wool. I can set up a wall type with these as the main layers. And they will list on the materials list, which is important for planning and estimating costs But then no framing appears in the 3D framing overview, which looks weird. And if it doesn't, then will it also be missing from any framing material lists? It seems I am trying to do something that is pretty common and should be easily handled by Pro version. Would appreciate any help with this problem. Thanks in advance!