Kbird1

there is a bit more explanation on page 387 of the Reference manual under the heading Partial Railings that might help , the solid wall rail should "take the slant" automatically when positioned right. The Ref. Manual is a PDF file , so save it to you HD Software Data folder so you don't need to download it each time you use it , it is linked under the Help Menu see Help>View Reference Manual Mick

you would use the "Doorway" under Doors and apply an arch to it once placed in the Wall ... IF your HD Title has Arches in the Door and Window DBX once opened as David mentioned other wise you could find a Arch on 3D Warehouse perhaps and import it , once again may depend on Title you have.

your pic don't show the second floor but my guess is the stairwell has a broken wall connection around the stairwell , perhaps the railing? in 2015 you should get an indicator on the mouse cursor and a circle on the floor plan showing the bad wall which you need to manually close , then the Open below room should form and hence the stairwell. No Room mean no room definition which means no open to below designation for the stairwell.

cant you use the line break tool to make those polyline rectangles one rectangle instead of two ? then just delete the extra rectangle or do that 1st perhaps... M.

Elovia got it right , ,not familiar with Turbo Cad either but it may mean updating to HDA or Pro depending on what you can or can not import export.

I agree , it looks like you used the floor camera instead of the Full Camera view

1st impression is the front wall looks a little to much like a "face" to me , i'd be inclined to split it into 3 sections ,perhaps using a 10ft sheet centred and then going out either side , you may need to do it anyway as my tape measure shows that wall as 20'1" , so the extra reveal will give you more to play with too. Ali Windows can't be used here either , I actually use a lot of Jeldwen Windows out of Tacoma here, mostly Vinyl. However although not seen in the pics on that same "Studio" above we used Ali Wood Clad windows which are still acceptable though definitely more expensive. Most of the places I work on are more traditional styles so usually have wide trims around the windows so yes we double or triple up the rain screen to support them and siding as needed but usually leaving a gap between of 3/8 or more ( water can easily bridge a 1/4" gap) so water will still drain to the bottom.

Hi Eric , the DBX I show above is for the Default setting for all railings , when you draw a staircase or railing wall , however I should of pointed you to the (Railing) Wall DBX ,Railing Style Tab in 2015 , where you can change the wall to solid from Baluster if desired on an individual wall basis, once again not sure if it works in your particular case. Change to Solid here, (note wall selected on LH side) and go from This : to this:

no idea if it will work in your particular case I just know it's an option in the Defaults>walls>railings perhaps it cant be changed once drawn? some stuff isn't retro active when you change a setting , may need to be redrawn? M.

For the vertical rain barrier strips I use 1/2" treated ply cut into 1 3/4"-2" strips , locally most suppliers have them in stock so no ripping needed, there is recycled plastic strips for horizontal work , they are a bit like honey comb in that there are holes so any water will drain thru. For Shingles usually what looks like 3/8 thick Pot Scrubber material http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEoQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtcc1170.com%2Fimages%2FBCRainScreen.pdf&ei=6jQmVJLHC6jLigLr2YDgDQ&usg=AFQjCNG9SkjF8HxVm1RmnnQr-LKEGiIlXw http://www.jlconline.com/coastal-contractor/best-practice-wall-shingles.aspx I use 2 layers of 30 min Bldg Paper with half roll laps usually , never been a fan of tyvek/house wrap myself ( see PDF link above.) I used Roll Flashing behind each panel joint (like a Soaker) and bedded the panels onto a continuous bead of Big Stretching caulking , also sealing the joint between the sheets , but you could space the panels with a 1/2"-3/4" reveal too and expose the Alum. roll flashing ,which would give you a shallow reveal in the vertical plane , horizontally you need the 1/2" Z-Flashing seen on the Napier Street House on Houzz you linked too. My sheetmetal guy bends these for me and its pretty economical....but is a different look to the Reveals , though you could limit that work to the Front façade ( Curb Appeal ) and go cheaper elsewhere. If doing it yourself it maybe cheaper of course but all those reveals/panels add a lot of labour too as does exposed fasteners. I am surprise the Wall Panel imported at all , usually you just get a error about it being made for a "newer version" and it doesn't import but it will when you get Pro as X6 is the same "version" as 2015 titles.

the solid Rail option didn't work ? M.

Not sure what you mean by the "blank" Wall Panel , if it imported correctly you should see what I see (image) but it maybe a 2014 version issue so keep it handy for when you get Pro next month as it works in 2015 as can be seen. resized to 24x96 Panel and reveal colour change be changed as desired. You could forego the Reveal pieces to save money , it will get costly if you plan to do a lot with 2ft wide panels ,or is that just a "feature" for the front wall? .. will you really notice the reveal if it is the same colour as the wall ? I am familiar with tamlyn extrusions from the US Trade Mags I get but a lot of products like them aren't available here. Vertically joints can be butted over roll flashing (over rainscreen) and horizontal joints can be done with simple a "Z" flashing , it is fairly cheap to have these custom bent with a doubled safety edge though they will give a slightly different look obviously. some vertical panels going in , excuse my Helper's appearance...

another way to fix the hole in the terrain cause by the cantilever is to make a Terrain Hole the same size as the basement footprint and then in the Terrain Specification DBX turn off / uncheck the box "hide terrain intersecting the building" alter the terrain region elevation in front of the garage and it should hide the footing ( raise an inch or two,) but this region is lower than the region under the deck for some reason ? which is why you get the "ripple" at the edge of the house , make both regions the same elevation/height, unless then aren't really ? in which case move the edge of the one under the deck back 4-6 feet? so you get a smooth transition in the terrain between the two "flat" regions. you also have some "stray" regions in the plan , see the pic , outlined in red , you can delete , the elevation line you can shorten to the width of the Terrain so when you do an overview you are not 2 miles from the house.... there are also 3 elevation lines you can delete M.

you have a few issues with your Soffit Reveals (see image) but all in all it worked well , lots of playing around with soffits for this type of thing though unfortunately. Did you not Download Joe's premade hardi panel with reveals ? , it is 4'x4' but can be resized. coloured etc as can the Reveal eg to Alum. this is the panel Joe made.....probably made in X6 so may only work with 2015 titles ( does work with Pro 2015) Hardi_Wall Panel.zip BTW Hardi Panel is 5/16" thick and generally comes in 4'x8' or 5'x10' sheets but can obviously be cut into 2' wide strips if that is your "look" cost wise larger is better as less labour and the Reveal details/materials etc CR Laurence (CRL) are one of the big suppliers of the reveals in US and CDN ,there website should have more info if you need it...probably if going to permit... @JoAnn looks like an Architectural Sunshade to me , think it's on skyhooks ?

Once you get the roof how you want it turn auto rebuilt Roofs OFF then you shouldn't need to play with it again..... I would just use the Soffit Tool ( in cabinets) to make some thin panels (1/8") you can just place against your siding , that way you can move them around, change their size, colour etc as you try different ideas not sure in Suite but in Pro you could add the different Panels to the library too for reuse. I think Eric is right about the Sun affecting the Paint colour though I have to say I don't think I have seen such a dramatic colour difference before, though I am not used to how Pro 2015 handles colours/shadows. Make sure you have your Sun Angle setup correctly for Seattle in the Preferences>CAD>Sun Angle.

you might have to explain the issue more , pic 2 looks pretty much right except for the small hips on the sides ...you need to set the side walls of the porch to full gable, if not you'll get hips automatically over those walls as seen.... your posted plan doesn't have a roof over the porch at all ? but turning it back on and setting the sides to full gable looks right to me , unless I am missing something? M.

looks like you've been playing with the roof again....

exterior doors normally have a sill auto .but perhaps you suppressed it by checking the checkbox in the Door's DBX? 7zip won't help if the zipped file is still over 10mb. but you can make a copy of your plan if needed and then delete things like your Furniture and those TV's behind the couch or if needed even the bathroom and kitchen cabinets, still not enough ? delete the terrain/plants etc....

well you got me guessing

you have to BROWSE for your photo, then ATTACH it, then ADD it ................so 3 steps for each one usually... see pic below M.

another reason to go Pro perhaps , see this thread on Chief Talk Joe made a panel that should work..... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1009-how-do-i-make-a-texture-like-this/?hl=%2Bhardi+%2Bpanels#entry7756

Read up on how to position cameras to get views but the Perspective Overview or Dollhouse views should show you something unless you have a videocard driver issue, sometimes the Overviews place you a long way away from the building , so Eric's suggestions sometimes works ( not always for me . at least) otherwise scroll around with the arrow keys or mouse till you see something. M.

I am guessing Geert as I don't have HD Pro 2015 , still in Pro 10 , like David Scale would of been my next suggestion , unless it is a bug introduced in the last patches as I think they made changes to how the PDF Print function works , might be worth calling Tech Support... M.

I noticed the Pewter issue when I was playing with your last plan , I made the new side wall pewter but it was a different colour than the "Blue" main walls.... you do have Pewter by the front door ,so not sure what is different? put a sill on your front door by the way, it is necessary on exterior doors and will hide the material change in the doorway too ( see below). your wall definition has a pale green siding material but it is showing as a plain blue colour , no material eg stucco apparently so I am not sure how you got to that point? You should consider going to Pro sooner than later , the overhangs for eg are a single setting in the Wall's DBX and done..... and fixing /mulling the windows on the end is easier in Pro too ,(see below). It looks like your Terrain is a bit low too , I see the top of the footing below the Brick and the step up to your garage floor. Mick.

Well I like your design better already those trees certainly hide it from the street. $12k+ ? for a reno design ? I am way outta touch I guess or in the wrong business did you ask more than one place? Your plan was in feet and inches but your "Handle" djkiwi made me think it should be in metric that's why I was curious Pro , will make life easier if you are going to planning with this for sure , and you'll need it I think to do elevations and cross sections etc.