Rookie65

Kevin, On a product related comment, if it's not too late, I would suggest NOT using a double door with sidelights already mulled to it. It makes it nearly impossible to shim the unit plumb and square when trying to shim if off the sidelights. Ideally you want to be able to shim the door square and level so hardware lines up correctly, etc. A stud pocket between the door and sidelights will allow that and will make it easier to adjust over time if the door moves, etc. Most manufacturer's instructions recommend installation of screws in one or two of the hinges into the frame, which can't be done w/a sidelight. Plus it allows the unit to support less weight since the header would be unsupported for only the width of the door (maybe 6' in this case) than over the entire 8' opening. Just a thought, yet after 37 years in building material & construction related fields, I'd hate to see you have an issue down the road that can't be fixed easily.

The framing will disappear if you modify the framing in any way and turn off "auto rebuild" in the "deck" section when you select that room. I was given a nice tip from the customer service people that if you have an intricate set up with posts, beams and footings needing to be in a specific spot, and need to edit the deck for any reason. Go to the "display" options and turn off "deck framing". Then, use "Copy" and copy all of the items you need to remain. Then go back and rebuild your deck and then eliminate the items that you don't want to show. Then go to "Paste>hold position" and those items will be put back right where they were. Turn on the deck framing display again and see it all.

You're very welcome. Good luck!

Another thing I do when doing an interior renovation project is draw an exterior block, then do the interior wall work inside that block. It helps keep doors as interior style and not exterior so you don't have to keep changing the styles, etc. Plus it will eliminate a foundation under the interior walls.

Exactly. Just "save as" and rename the new plan so you don't mess up your master. What I will do is close the new plan after I create it, so when you open the program back up, it will now be an option to select the new plan and then your changes become plan specific.

A new plan would always use the default program settings. I have set up a master that I start all of my designs from. That way the plan starts with the defaults I want them to be and they can be then adjusted for the particular job I am working on. Then before I start changing things, I "save as" with what I want to title the job so the master doesn't get affected.

Go to Edit>Default Settings>Floors and Rooms. Then do the same for Foundation. Make sure that auto rebuild foundation and walls are checked and then you can make adjustments you need.

As Solver asked in an earlier reply, which program title are you using?

Hi Mike, I don't adjust any line weights at all. It prints out just fine.

Depending on which Home Designer program you have, you can use the "split wall" tool to define the sections of walls you want to break into each finish type. Then open that wall and change the interior material to either paint or tile.

When I have larger projects that will need to go on 24 x 36 paper, I will draw it and send to PDF on 11x17 paper with the title block scale reading 1/4"=1'-0". Then when I send the PDF to be printed I just ask them to double the size, not fit to page. It will come out as 22 x 34 on 24x36 paper, and that should work for all parties.If it has to be on power point, then I am pretty sure your idea will work too.

Hi Keith, Good to see you on here again. In going over this quickly, my suggestion is to start on the default floor of 1, which would be the ground floor in this instance. The lower floor will generate as a foundation on floor 0. In essence, both floors will generate at the same time. Change the default wall types for both floors to what they need to be. For the grade, it is usually set for distance below the floor. So if your ground floor is elevation "0", set the grade below floor to the difference between the floor and grade. That will set the flat plane at the same height below the "ground floor" even all the way around. The lower floor can be "revealed" by setting your elevation heights as negative numbers from the existing grade you created. You can draw an elevation line where it stays flat and set it to "0" so it stays flat. Then the next elevation line will drop to the distance it needs to be. I hope this helps as a start, yet you can always save the terrain until the end before placing exterior stairs, etc.

You could also do it manually with an arrow and text.

Most people stick with 16" oc, here in New England anyway. It also provides more support for drywall & exterior sheathing.

I just use a soffit at the desired size and thickness and place it outside of an "opening" for the door. Pick the material you want it to be. There are barn doors in the bonus catalogs, yet aren't available for the Pro version.

On the 1st issue, I have had the issue in 2019 where the materials get a little haywire on roofs. Might just need to open that wall and check the materials for the exterior. Then change it to your B&B exterior as the rest of the house. With the other issues, if you are using auto roofs, it may be where you are getting the results you don't want.. One option is to break the exterior end wall in line with the wall that is running the correct direction. Open that wall and change the roof to a gable. If that fails, eliminate the "roof over this room" setting on the rooms that are perpendicular. Rebuild the roofs as desired. Then turn off the auto build, manually build the porch and intersecting roofs. Then drag the ridges to where they meet the roof it needs to intersect. For the porch, just draw it manually at the pitch you want and with the material desired.

Try clicking that one roof plane, then go to "options" and the boxed eave can be adjusted there. It will apply to both ends of that particular roof.

Or it may be "build framing?"

I don't know what Suite has for options, yet I go to "posts" in the framing section, with or without a footing. Then select "round", paint it "color-red brown" and it's done.

I always do automatic exterior dimensions and manual interior dimensions for that reason. Just run a string and then you can slide them up and down as needed. Plus you can grab dimensions individually along the string to relocate as needed. You can also set the interior dimensions to show only on rooms that have a user defined amount of square footage, though I have not had much success with that.

It may be picking up the default room heights from floor 1. Simplest way I have found around these things is to leave the room type as the floor is & just change the room name to display what you want it to be called. Saves a lot of hair pulling . . .

That's what happens if you make an overall change on materials. You'll fare better doing it after the fact. You can select the walls you want to change and then change the materials.

Create a new wall type without drywall on one side. I do it all the time, as I do a lot of basement conversion projects. One tip is to change the "fill" to a different pattern when you name it so you can keep them separate. Simplest is to copy the interior wall type it will be (4 or 6). Then go to the wall type and copy-then name it. Delete the layer of drywall you don't want. You will have to play around with the materials when you go to view it. Often the studs won't show, yet you will see "fir framing" as the material. Hope this helps?

Depending on which Home Designer program you have, you cold do it with 2 landings. Do one set of stairs and set the top height and select your riser height. Put the 1st landing at the bottom. Then set the next landing at a riser height lower. Then you can complete the stairs by looking at the measurements left.

This forum is for the Home Designer series. You may be better served searching/posting on the Chief Architect forum. https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/7-general-q-a/