CrossFireDesign

Well that was a good one, but with your suggestions I was finally able to stumble through it. I've observed two things, 1) Lacking an understanding of the order of the "intelligent" software operation and input expectations can really work against you, 2) Joining of roof planes is critical to making the overbuild shoes work and can be a bit difficult to sort out. I had to join the cricket on both sides to the underlying main house roof plane and the only way I found to accomplish that was to pull the length of the underlying roof plane back, and completely under, to the same side of the cricket then join to that side of the cricket, Next stretch the main roof plane back to normal and then reverse the whole process for the opposite side. If you don't join both sides of Cricket to Underlying roof Plane, what you get is the overbuild shoe on only one side. Of course it took me 10 tries to finally hit on the right combination. Never-the-less I'd still be fumbling with it without your help. Thank you.

Hi There Making a 2 story addition to the back of an existing single story house. The slope on the existing house is 4/12 and incidentally the slope on the 2nd floor roof addition is 4/12. As Expected after making the addition a cricket was automatically generated between the existing house roof - and the South wall of the 2nd story addition. Unfortunately due to the base width of the cricket and the Preset 4/12 Pitch/slope the cricket ridge was created at a higher elevation than the intersecting main roof ridge. We need the cricket to be lower, with a 3" or 3 1/2" Pitch instead of 4". And we need Roof OverFraming to avoid a causing a framing merge with the original roof. When the roof built automatically, and even though I Did specify "Roof overframing" the result was a cricket with a slope of 4/12. and No Overframing. The old roof framing was automatically modified as if the cricket was built with No overframing. Just the opposite of what was needed.The result was a cricket with a slope of 4/12, and No Overframing, In an attempt to correct this I used "roof plane" mode and selected both sides of the Cricket and in "Roof Plane Specification" > "General" changed "Pitch" to 3" and In "Structure" confirmed "Roof Overframing" was still selected, added the selection to "Build Roof Framing". After pressing OK - the cricket ridge lowered but still No "Overframing" shoes and the old roof retains the modifications imposed by the original cricket. Except as noted in the video below I've found no info on a reliable way to control the cricket. I've tried adjusting slope and adding Roof Overframing as discussed and shown in Video; "Home Designer Pro - Advanced Roof Design" (56:00) (Less the Truss change) and the Ridge Top Height adjustment which starts at about 55:00 Min. I've also tried replacing the Main House Roof, using "roof planes" manually to restore it to cricket free framing . But nothing seems to work. Any time the Roof builds it reverts to the Original Cricket. Even with "Automatically Build Roof Framing" on or off. Lastly I tried deleting the generated Cricket, manually replaced the errant Roof Planes, and Then tried using a "Gable/Roof Line" with "0" overhangs to recreate the cricket, this was a little easier to control slope, but it leaves some unwanted artifacts on the adjoining wall and still no "Roof Overframing". Any suggestions about what I missing would be greatly appreciated. 1699Elmcrest_Proposed_Addition_1.zip

With the time I spent on this I could have framed most of the stairway roof. In my next book I'll include a chapter titled; How I spent hours avoiding the use of a 3 second click. Your suggestion worked perfectly. Thank you

Hi I've got a strange roof symmetry problem that persists, and no matter what I do I can't seem to correct it. The roof shown in the attached file "Hip roof line.jpg" shows an overhanging dormer "like" extension of the roof that builds to cover a bump out for a U-shaped stair well below. For some reason when I try to change the main hip wall to a gable (like the opposite end) the roof over the bump out and part of the gable rebuilds into a strange asymmetric mess, as shown in the "Bad Gable Roof.jpeg", It affects the main ridge line also. Apparently because the facet I've outlined in blue is actually a continuous part of the original hip over that end wall it won't mirror like the left (red) side when I switch the wall type to gable. I've tried manually mirroring the Red side facet to the blue side, and building facets from roof planes and joining them together, similar to the Video Remodeling & Manual Roof Design But it seems no mater what I do the minute I switch the Hip wall to gable it fails again. Oddly enough a few months ago when I was just trying out the software I was able to accomplish this very task with almost no extra input, the only significant difference was the first try was a 6/12 slope and this one is a 4/12 slope, nevertheless I can't repeat it either way. Any suggestions will be appreciated. The Zipped "plan" file is attached also. Elmcrest_Proposed_Addition_1.zip

Thank you both for the kind and helpful suggestions. You led me to right to the solution. As I am modeling an existing house for a rebuild, and additions, I needed to show the existing overhang brace as a 2x6 rather than Cylinder, I also tried used a cube and re-shaped it to a 2x6 but found that when I tried to stack 2 of them together to create a fan shape, which I failed to mention in my first post, they would not merge. Even so working with the cylinder and cube finally helped me overcome my prior inability to use the Soffit which had been baffling me. I was finally able to use the soffit function to place the brace and turn it into the fan shape that was needed. You both have my gratitude.

Hi I'm modeling an existing house and have been attempting to create a common angled brace (shown in red on attached image "brace.jpg") The 58deg. brace supports a roof overhang on both sides of a Entry pad. Bracing is common for; my application, Barns, Pergolas, Knee bracing for decks etc. So I thought adding a brace would be simple. I may be wrong however, everything I've found suggests not. There's nothing similar in framing and I've checked Decks, Soffits, backsplashes. One Home Designer video suggests using a soffit for an exposed beams, which I had trouble grasping and could not replicate, and a couple others suggest using a backsplash. The Soffit version produces a long parallelogram, but what I need is an long irregular trapazoid, or perhaps just a simple 2x 6 that I can rotate into position? Unfortunately and contrary to what was demonstrated in the attached video, once I created the brace and attempted to move it off the Prerequisite temporary wall, or remove the wall, it would just disappear, see red oval in attached "brace.jpg" where the foot of the brace disappears. How it that the simplest things seem so hard to accomplish? The closest I've been able to accomplish was using the backsplash as explained in this very helpful Forum video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P5DqaS7_FQ and this one; https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/6286-create-angled-slabbeam/?_fromLogin=CA3 Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you

Thank you, Thank you, To your kind voice of experience. In the Materials section of "Floor > Edit > Floor Structure Definition > Material layers", and, even though you were kind enough to literally point it out the other day, I clearly did not grasp how that dialog panel worked. I simply did not realize, or even notice, that the "Structure> framing> type" would switch dynamically to become associated with the layer being clicked on above. When I saw "Lumber" noted below I simply assumed it applied only to the "Framing 1" layer and further assumed I already had it set correctly. Now I'm finally getting a better grasp of the relative nature of the software. By the way the 4-in-12 Slope was intentional, This file was prepared simply to try to understand the working applications of the defaults. The slope is one I got right the first try. My next task to more clearly understand the dominance of "Defaults" vs "Room" vs "Framing" settings, and your video did a good job of helping me get started there too. I really appreciate your patient explanation.

Hello, In the Sample file (Zip attached) I've tried every means possible to change from 12inch I-JOIST to 9Inch LUMBER joist and From OSB Surface to Plywood Surface. I've used "Floor/ceiling /Framing tools> Joist" , "Default Framing> Framing defaults> Foundation" Subfloor for Floor 1" (results in same dialog as Joist above). The dialogs report 9" Lumber and 3/4 Plywood but the "Perspective Framing Overview" always shows I-JOIST and what looks like OSB. And Yes indeed I've checked "Automatically build Framing and Ceiling Framing" on the "Build Framing" and Build Framing Defaults" Dialogs too. Nothing seems to fix it. I've even gone though the whole tedious process and written down every single step-by-step one at a time used to see If i missed anything and then made changes again one at a time. Result is always the same. Lumber shows on everywhere but the Floor Joist. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. MyDefaultSet 9-InFloorJoist4-inPitchAll-Lumber.zip

Hi there, Similar to those requests above I need 9" LUMBER floor joists to model an older home. I've read and tried all of the above suggestions to get lumber on the first floor joists and the resulting plan never varies from I-joist. I've checked and Uncheck both of the framing boxes shown in my Image. Changed the default floor, changed the default framing, Built the foundation, deleted foundation and started over. Everything I can find says LUMBER , but framing overview always show I-joist Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you, you've got me on the right track, I was able to chamfer the vertical corners on a 12x12x24 concrete pillar created from a slab and repeat it. The process is quite iterative and seems to work best if you; 1) Deselect , 2) Select pad near desired corner until X appears at midpoint of line, 3) Select chamfer button, (3a)Select and set chamfer distance for first corner only - if all are same ) 4) Hover slowly over the intersecting line of the same corner until the chamfer appears. 5) Click to create chamfer, Repeat exactly in a clockwise order, changing the set distance only when needed. Careful iteration seems to be the key. I noticed the program is always trying to adjust dimensions which gets in the way, I'll try turning off dimensioning next time too. I had tried to locate a HD video yesterday and must have mistyped my search, found it today. Link https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/5310/fillet-and-chamfer-tools.html?playlist=97 I've learned there is supposed to be an "All corners" option button, but I can't find the button, Yet. Unfortunately it will not work on the top rim of the pad. Works only the vertical corners of the "pad". I do mostly design build, but when I hire a Sub contractor such details are very critical so I may use my other cad programs for some of the detail drawing pages. I tried imports from both Rhino 3d and Autocad, I'll need to experiment some to get the mesh right to form a proper solid in HD, but it shows some promise? I doubt this will be my last question but next time I'll do my best to provide a good illustration of the desired outcome. Result attached. I'm grateful for your help. Pillar-Concrete-12x12x24.pdf

Yes, I see it is helpful to sketch out my goal shape for the Pillar. I've attached an image showing my "goal" pillar Shape. This was about a 30 second task in Rhino 3D and a 1 minute task in Autocad, so It baffles me as to why HD can be so difficult on seemingly simple things, I constantly feel I'm having to learn how to cheat on details in a program that otherwise seems so capable. Rest assure I do not post anything with outreading and reviewing every reference I can find. And as for Chamfer and Fillet they are discussed the same on the users manual as they are in the searchable help. I did, however, miss the Edit tool bar "pallet" as it was turned off, thank you for mentioning that, unfortunatly it sill lacked "Chamfer" and "Fillet radius edit" and is otherwise the same as the pull down menu I discussed before. See attached menu/toolbar screen shot. By using Search in the Toolbar customization I did find a single related button titled; "Set Chamfer Distance" I added this to the edit pallet and so far It seems dead, I get an instruction to "Set Chamfer distance, but, that I can find, there is no apparent dialog box or any other response by selecting a line or Object. As for the other selections on the edit toolbar; once I select one I cannot get rid of it even after using the so called Sticky toggle button at the bottom of the screen. I had to shut down the program to get rid of them.

HI and Thank you for the response. My original post included both a screen shot image of the pillar, and the Sample file" Pillar.plan" file I used. I am able to see both in the online Forum. I've included the image again in this post just in case you did not get It I've also included a screen shot of my HD 2024 pull down Edit menu; It shows a "fillet" Selection, But there is no "Fillet radius edit" selection, or any chamfer selection at all. As discussed above l also checked in the Customize Toolbars menu and found no reference to chamfer or "fillet radius edit". HD does not had a command line so I'm unable to try typing a command like can usually be done in a CAD program. Should I be contacting Tech support on the missing menu selections? I will also look at your shapes suggestion. Thank you

Hi There For Architectural needs I want to chamfer the side corners, and, the top rim of some Concrete Pillars; According to "Home Designer Pro 2024 Help"; "The Chamfer Lines edit tool is used much the way the Fillet Lines edit tool is. See to use Fillet Lines, above." I've also checked a number of videos but find nothing very specific to "chamfer". What I found was "Fillet" at the "Edit"> Edit Behaviors"> "Fillet", but I cannot locate "Chamfer" which I assumed would be in the same relative menu location. I also check in the Customize Toolbars menu and found no reference to chamfer. Additionally to set the fillet "radius" the HELP refers to: "Click the Fillet Lines edit button, then click the Fillet Radius edit button." But I'm unable to locate that function? What I was able to do with Fillet is demonstrated in the attached "Pillar.plan file" where I created a small concrete pad then adjusted it's height. Please note that I was able to adjust the side corner radius by dragging, but was unable to control for a specific and repeatable radius as indicated by HELP noted above. I was also unable to create a fillet around the TOP rim of the pillar. My Questions; 1) Why am I able to fillet the side corners of the pillar but not the top rim? 2. Where is the fillet "radius" command located? 3) Where is the Chamfer command located ? 4) Where is the Chamfer width command located? Thank you Pillar.plan

My test based on Rookie65 suggestions; 1) On house wall above the stem wall in question; selected for "Wall specification"> "General" and changed "Thickness" from 6-15/16" to 4.5" .. Stem wall gap remains. 2) Restored "Thickness" to 6-15/16" 3) Selected Storage room sidewalls that intersect with House wall changed "Thickness" from 6-15/16" to 4.5" .. Stem wall gap remains. 4) Returned all Wall specifications back to "Siding-6" Solution used as Suggested by Rookie65 5) Changed Room Specification>General> Room Type to; "Patio" 6) Changed Room Specification> Structure> Floor to; "floor under this room" Result - No more Stem wall gap! 7) Changed Room Specification> Absolute elevations> Floor > to "0" then; "-10" then; "-14" then; "-20" then back to "-14" Result = floor moves up and down at will and no stem wall gap occurs. I must have read a hundred pages and viewed a half dozen videos and don't recall seeing anything about this. Now I can move on to the next unknown (for me) Great Job Rookie65 ! Thank you Kindly. The results are repeatable and this is just what I need.

I'm experimenting for a while for experience before I attempt to draw the real thing, So I never really gave any thought to "wall types, but Yes my model is all 2x6. "Siding-6", I'm a little unclear about your suggestion "Or create a wall just under the size of the exterior wall"? are you suggesting adding something like a surrogate wall somewhere or somehow reducing the three walls used to form the storage room? I have some flooring showing up so as soon as we get that unloaded I'll try more of your suggestions. One again your help is sincerely appreciated.

Yes, however, the existing slab and stick walls are 14 inches below the top of the adjoining stem wall while your version shows it flush. The stem wall gap does not occur until I push it lower. Not sure If I tried tried "patio" (it was getting late) but I tried every other floor version I could find and the gap problem persisted whenever I lowered the slab and walls down below the top of the adjoining stem wall. I really appreciate your input, And I will try again including "patio" just in case I missed something .

Because the much larger slab becomes the floor. My understanding and brief experience is that open below prevents the program from building a floor that would conflict with the existing slab. It was also recommended by 'Solver" for a similar application and it worked, however in that situation I saw no change to and adjacent stem wall.

The house and slab was built in 1960's, with the storage room added later and built on to the side of the house and the walls were simply anchored to the existing slab, and modeling that is not a problem. The problem in the model is that when the stud walls are lowered to meet the slab it creates a inappropriate gap in the adjoining stem wall beneath the a now unsupported section of main house floor framing, even though I've done nothing to directly affect that wall. So far nothing I can find prevents this. Please see red highlight in attached image. Thank you

Hi Y-G-M-N and Thank you kindly for the short slab suggestion, if I find no other solution I will employ that. On the other hand If this is a program deficiency It should be addressed by the maker of Home Designer, I'll Look to see if there is a way to give feedback for that? Otherwise I see two persistent problems with the error; One is the obvious gap which would be worse with basements, the other is the unwanted use of framing lumber which even if obscured by a small slab might still add cost inappropriately to the estimating side of the program.

Modeling an older existing house that has an added on storage room sitting on a adjoining patio slab. (this drawing required for demolition permit for the storage room and eventual addition to same side of house.) I've drawn the three walls needed for the add on (similar to a bump out), Then applied an extended slope roof with a 2/12 pitch, also specified "room open below", and unchecked " build foundation below." Everything works great except unexpectedly the program creates a undesired gap in the stem wall of the adjoining main house, then fills the gap with a wall plate, short studs and a short beam beneath the now otherwise unsupported section of main house floor frame. I've drawn and redrawn this seemingly simple structure repeatedly trying slightly different methods and defaults, but get a similar result every time. It seems to always cut the stem wall down in-line with the lower level of the add on storage room and I can not find any reference to this behavior in Users Manual or videos. Is there a way to prevent this stem wall gap? Thank you. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Once again I'm in your debt, My lack of experience is on display now. I thought I had tried everything but somehow missed the "build foundation below" question. Now that you've be so good as to point this out I do recall seeing it in one of the many helpful videos, but completely forgot about it. I did use the "Open below" selection but also assumed, very literally, that would include the foundation. I'll try to keep my eyes open a bit more. I'll also give the manual roof tools a try so I understand the range of the program a bit better. Thank you.

HI There and thanks for the prior advice on this subject. Is there any way to accomplish an extended slope overhang without a full foundation? As noted in may last post I thought I had this the other day, however I found later that a full foundation had been created under the invisible room divider walls used for this extended slope roof line. This new foundation was just hidden under my concrete stoop. I discover this when I adjusted the width of the overhang slightly as it exists on the real (existing) house. I've tried turning the stem wall and footings to invisible but that required turning of the auto rebuild of the foundation, and because I widened the overhang I found a gap in the main foundation were it opens into the bump out foundation area. Closing that requires an auto rebuild again which then re-displays the parts of foundation under the overhang. This seems to be a circular problem. Is there any way to accomplish an extended slope overhang without a foundation? Does this program not allow for demonstrating older and perhaps unorthodox construction? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I've read everything I can find on this but I'm still stumped. I like the potential results in this program, but getting past it's automated functions seems almost as time consuming as using conventional CAD.

Got It! Thanks kindly for the suggestion. As you suspected I was stuck on the bump out.

Yes and I've tried it as a bump out which I do not need. Is that the only way to accomplish an extended slope? From Help "Check Extend Slope Downward to extend the roof plane downward over a bump-out, instead of creating additional roof planes. The two connecting walls that create the bump-out must be Full Gable walls. In the following image, the bearing wall of the bump-out has Extend Slope Downward checked. The two short side walls are Full Gable Walls. "

I'm modeling an existing house for remodel. At the rear of the house it has a simple concrete porch with steps which I've modeled using layered concrete slabs. And, I need to create a partial extended roof slope overhang (unsupported) over just the porch. Using a Practice drawing and following the Online H.D. Example called: "Specifying Different Roof Overhangs on Different Walls", and using the designated "build> wall>Room divider" on the outside of the house I was able to add a roof overhang over the porch. However, it always displays as a intersecting hip roof instead of a partial extended slope. My Question IS; How do I convert the Hip to a partial "Extended Slope Downward"? Or is there a different way to add a partial extended slope overhang? Please see attached image. Thank you.