Kbird1

what version of Pro ? in newer versions you change the width/depth and height off the ground in the Bay's DBX in older versions like mine you have to do it all in Plan View ,click and Dragging the walls for width and depth and then in an elevation view drag the bottom of the wall up if it is not to go down to the foundation.

I think you may need to explode the Bay 1st? that is Dormers check the Ref. Manual M.

You apparently haven't read the KB articles I posted above the terrain perimeter should not be 0" , it will always be 18" approx. depending on the type of foundation built , but terrain should be set to 8" below the bottom of the siding/stucco to meet CODE ,HD defaults this to 6" (read KB) so you probably need 20" minimum in the Pad setting , everything else is set off that height , once the Pad height is set ie 20" ( no need for a - minus sign HD knows that) , your terrain regions ,walls etc are set off that, not the main floor height of 0" which has no relation to terrain heights. If your Terrain is set to 0" I am not surprised the grass is growing into/on the front door..... PS it is best to put an elevation line at the top and bottom ( ie either side) of the retaining wall or you will get the humps and bumps as described in the 3rd KB article. Terrain Modelling is one of the toughest parts of HD and Chief to understand , you will need to read the Reference Manual and online help too ,with the basics you are got to get (even more) frustrated. M.

I don't use Elev. points either usually , much more difficult to deal with. I don't see the terrain issue but it looks as thought the driveway is 6" above the terrain? ie floating in the doorway....... have you rebuilt the terrain since you started working on it ( or is it set to auto? and off?) http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00152/72/Home-Designer/Terrain/Updating-the-Plan-View-when-Terrain-Objects-are-Deleted.html Floor 1 0" is not the same as terrain 0" see these: http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00322/72/Home-Designer/Terrain/Setting-the-Height-of-Terrain.html http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00861/72/Home-Designer/Terrain/Understanding-How-the-Height-of-the-Floor-Relates-to-the-Height-of-the-Terrain.html I found this one very useful in figuring out the "why" of hills and valleys in my plans http://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00574/150/Chief-Architect/Terrain/How-Chief-Architect-Interprets-Terrain-Lines.html Mick.

Do A "Save As" backup plan if you haven't too, incase something goes really wrong .....

Please Post Pics of your issues otherwise we are only going to be guessing , there is a thread on how to post/add pics if you don't know how. You can close any plan by clicking the X in the top RH Corner of the Plan Window ( not program window) same as any normal Window's Program, however for testing and trying stuff you can just use the Undo/Redo tools on the Toolbar , you may want to, in Preferences change the number of Undo's to something like 20 or 30 from the default 9 or 10 though for messing around a lot. Mick.

There doesn't appear to be a foundation on the Shed which is why it looks as though it is floating , and you see the white hole in the ground where HD is expecting one. Rather than rebuild the foundations ( you'll lose all work in house basement) try designating the Shed in it's Room DBX a Porch ,which should give you a 4" concrete floor ,you will probably then need to adjust the Floor height in the Room DBX too eg -14.5" approx. , this is because typically a house with a stem wall foundation is about 18 1/2 " about the ground. You could check that in the Terrain Perimeter's DBX in the building pad box>pad elevation. Mick

I think Elovia is correct you would need HD Pro or Chief as you need manual framing tools I think , as neither Purlins or nogs are used in North America usually and that is where the software is designed. There are a couple of guys on the Chief Talk Forum , NickNZ in Whangarei and Bernie in Hamilton you could email or call perhaps ,his site is here. http://www.kiwicad.co.nz/ Glenn Woodward is very good in Chief and likes to help other Users and may have a work around for you , though he is in Sydney but the same building styles there http://www.glennwoodward.com.au/.

let us know what software you are using or add it to our signature please but basically in HD the ceiling is part of the Roof structure so you must build the Roof to the shape/slope you need and then turn off the flat ceiling by unchecking "ceiling over this room" in the room dbx so the ceiling will then follow the roof slope . for a one slope ceiling create a SHED roof over the room ,then turn of the flat ceiling. Building the Sloped Roof also builds the sloped wall automatically as the walls are controlled by the Roof, you don't need to try to slope the walls manually. If you don't want to see the roof shape in Views ,use Display Options to turn them off afterwards.

not much has changed in the Libraries since the 2012 versions , probably cos Chief has spent 2 yrs getting of Chief for Mac ( and HD titles) so hopefully now along with bug fixing there will be time for some Modern Libraries , (more in tune with design from the last decade ) if you have a jpeg of the Valspar colour you can import it as a custom material and apply it , check out the KB for a Tutorial if you don't know how. Mick

you could also Open your plan in the Free Trial version or Pro, add the Boxed Eave, and view but once again you can only "look" at it as the Trial can not Save or export files or Pics but I am sure you can take a couple of "pics" with the "Print Screen Button" it will have a watermark though. Mick.

If edited in the Same Version of Pro as Suite at the very last Step you would still be able to view the Plan/3D cameras but making changes is very limited. but no Reason you can't have two Versions of the Plan , one for exteriors and one for Interiors etc etc... M

Ohhhh Elvis is in the house no Invisible wall huh .....I guess its the ARCH>PRO difference then ....... or I screwed up somewhere M.

So you have an invisible wall on the Main floor too ?

yep I think JO. is right looks like a double privacy divider between the two desks Try the Orthographic view camera instead of the Perspective camera and see if things look better you have 2014 unlike Jo and I , so did you check theses out http://3dlibrary.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?r=site/detail/701">http://3dlibrary.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?r=site/detail/701 http://3dlibrary.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?r=site/detail/761">http://3dlibrary.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?r=site/detail/761

yep if drawn per the Tut. they both build on the top of the 1st floor plates , however ITRW , it is and can be built on top of the floor for the 2nd level, loads are transferred through the rim and floor joists etc to the wall below , really no different than if there was a knee wall or a full 2nd storey above. M. Edit : Wanted to clarify that with the Tutorial house because there is no second floor on the one side( so no flooring) on the low-side it would likely come off the Plates of the 1st floor with the Ceiling joists of Floor 1 tied into them to stop the walls "spreading" under Roof loads. Though that depends on the Slopes etc as the still maybe a short knee or similar there too. It could also be done with Trusses but would require Energy Heel Trusses to meet code today , to get the Truss to build as an Energy Heel you must going into the trusse's DBX and set that checkbox AND set the Raise/lower from ceiling height in the Build roof DBX to 10" ( 8"?) or greater

Played some more after checking the ceiling heights , which as you say kept changing , but it wasn't till I added and invisible wall on the Main Floor directly under the upper floor one and using "default floor" did I get your result above .....not sure if it's some difference in Pro and it's ability to change the floor structure height via the DBX or not ? or I missed an instruction somewhere above ? Thanks for the Tip Jo. Mick

Hi JoAnn , you might have to explain this technique a bit more please cos I don't get the results you have , using the "Court Room" , same am missing some step I assume.... Appears to be no difference between a Porch and a Court except a Court has Roof and Ceiling turned off by default , but I used Court as you said too and all that happens for me is that the 1st floor gains the extra 8-9 inches , tried two seperate buildings as well and got the same result. How are you separating the Rooms to get the Roof / Ceiling to drop , the 2nd floor room is the Court correct?

Nice JoAnn what exactly is a Court ? never used that designation , other than the 4" floor what does it gain you? I guess Porch or one of the other settings would work too then?

I knew in Suite you couldn't change it but thought perhaps in ARCH you could ...ie it was one of the upgrades from Suite.....I guess not.... For exterior Pics I guess you could set the Room heights lower so it showed correctly on the outside , ie make the floor default 106" instead of 108" to simulate a 2x10 joist rather than the enforced 12" joist. Interior wise I am not sure if you would notice the 2" difference to much in 3D Views or not? Mick.

hi CT you have posted to HomeTalk by accident go here https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/forum/7-general-q-a/ but I think in this library http://3dlibrary.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?r=site/detail/638

It would be a great idea to follow up on the Tutorials David has pointed to so you can customise different materials in the future but this should get you started on the Tile.... My guess ,you are using the Material definition tool to change the sizes right ? , so the error would be that you only changed the height and length on the General Tab (Pic1) ( effects materials list only?) You also need to change the size on the Texture Tab under Scale to the same size. (Pic 2) You May also want to change the Origin on Texture Tab ,so the full Tile starts at the edge and ceiling (Pic3) If you want it right in Vector View , on the Pattern Tab you also need to change the Pattern File to Custom, Browse to ChiefTile.pat ,OK, then choose the Tile size (closest) from the drop down list under Custom. *** note here that I have found ALOT of Patterns scaled incorrectly ie it shows 1.0 when it should be 0.1 you can play with the scale size though to get what you need eg use 0.075 not 0.1 or 0.15 (Pic 4) Mick.

If your Version of HD has the ability to change the Floor Structure thickness ( some don't ) it is indeed in the Room DBX but is also accessible via the Floor Defaults if you want the setting to be applied Globally ,ie the whole Floor not just the Room in question. these are From Pro 2015 Trial so should look similar to your DBX

I'll email were to send the 6 pack Somewhere in this thread I explained that issue it's not an issue actually........ What you are seeing is the floor created by the "Invisible wall" you put over the alcove nothing to do with the Roof......turn Auto Roofs Off and then delete the invisible wall and it will disappear too. You can even delete the long invisible wall upstairs as long as auto roof is OFF and you never rebuild the roof. ( lock the roof planes so it can never be changed.) JoAnn's way of doing prows is the only way for the Prows in Suite , however if you are going to do them you need to do them BEFORE you turn off Auto Roof or delete the invisible walls to fix the "alcove issue". DO A "SAVE AS" Plan before continuing so you can at least recover to where you are now if it all goes pear shaped.... Looking at your Plan I see a few layout issues including the stairs ,Master Bath ,Kitchen , but maybe you were just playing? Mick.

The KB article above will do it , I think I know what you are planning , so in the Window's DBX make sure to turn off the Casing ,and Sill ,lintel etc ,so basically you only have the 3/4" frame showing even that can be made thinner , you can also change the material to a wood like Cedar rather than having it painted white. ( note for Cedar look I actually use Rustic alder material in the Library ) M.