Omniver

The step I didn't think of (nor likely would have) was tricking the software to build a correct roof by setting the ceiling height to an incorrect value, allowing the roof to build, turning off auto-roof, and then putting the ceiling height back to normal. Following that step I was able to reproduce. I would have thought that the kneewall would be the more appropriate way. Note: the family room is indeed high, about 13' relative to floor at the high point with a 7 1/2" step down. So yes, it's over 12' high at 12'. I have to use a 10' step ladder to to change the light bulbs. Thanks again.

@LawB10 - Interesting. Can you help me understand the approach you took? (I'm truly trying to spend time learning the nuances of the software) I can see you extended the 2nd floor exterior wall over the garage, replacing what I had done with the interior knee-wall; and split that same extended exterior wall. Using HD Interiors and doing the same on my model then rebuilding the roof results in a full second floor rather than the full gabled roof in your edited plan. I note that if I rebuild the roof on your edited plan the same full second floor results occur; so what was it that you did after turning off rebuild roofs that was able to get the full gable roof? Also, I see you changed several of my 1st floor interior-6 walls to interior-4; was there a specific reason for that? I did the same to no visible effect. Note: they actually are thick walls in that area. In the end, now that I have Pro, I'll likely do it via editing the roof planes directly, but nonetheless I'd like to understand how you accomplished it without Pro. Really appreciate all the ideas; this is a great forum.

Thanks Solver, I'll look more at that feature. Would you say that drawing my own ceiling would be the best way to accomplish the goal? Are there other common approaches?

Hi, Sorry for the lack of a picture as I'm traveling right now. I'm looking for the best way to model a first floor room where the ceiling follows the roof pitch on one side of the room then flattens to a level ceiling for the rest. The room is quite high as the 'short side' wall is typical first-floor height and the 'tall side' reaches nearly to the height of my second story ceilings. I first thought of a very tall 'knee wall' - but that didn't work out so well as the 'short side' is an outside wall and it is the endpoint for the roof, so no real roof intersection point at the wall. I though next that I 'divide' the room and specify one side as cathedral (no ceiling) and the other side with the level ceiling height - I believe that might work, but I want to ensure it is still recognized as a single room for area calculations, materials, etc. Is this the best approach or am I missing some other technique? Thanks for the assistance. HD Professional 2017

Thanks LawB10 - I've ended up upgrading to Professional. I still have several areas on the roof to adjust - some interesting layered gables over the left side of the house which I'm fairly certain the 'auto roof' will not accommodate; so getting to the point where "Once the roof is set" already seems beyond the ability of HD Interiors. David, thanks for the video - was able to reproduce the approach you took without issue in HD Professional.

@LawB10 - if I save David's work, make further edits which cause the roof to rebuild, is there a way I could merge back his edits from the saved plan?

Hi Jo Ann, Thanks for looking at the file. I'll recheck the floor elevations/floor/ceiling heights, but are pretty sure they are correct - there are drops in the floor height for both the family room and garage area. 2nd floor office is same 2nd floor ceiling/floor as the rest of the house; the ceiling in the family room is cathedral and matches the roof pitch. Can you please help me understand why 2nd floor interior walls shouldn't be drawn until the roof is modeled? I'm trying to understand better the effects - I was under the impression that the roof modeling were based on the outside walls and the ceiling heights. Also, which are the mentioned incorrect wall types? Note: some of the walls were auto-generated as part of the roof building process (the interior ones which show externally) - if those are the ones you're referring to, those are artifacts of the roof modeling which so far is problematic and were not added by me. I've not manually edited them as I hope they will change once the right directives/edits get the roof to model correctly.

David, Thank you for the edits, your time and the commentary. I'm disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it in HD Interiors; unfortunately there are several other roof modifications I need to make and per your comment, it appears if I attempt to do any of them your X8 edits will be overwritten and I will be back to square one. Can HD Architectural help? I was considering the upgrade to be able to do more on the exterior. -J

I'm having difficulty getting a gable roof to model correctly over a garage bonus room. The garage juts out below the bonus room and there is a small hip roof that joins the protruding section back against the gable roof (see pictures). The model is very close, but one corner of the garage the software appears to prioritize the hip roof going all the way to the house center rather than to the nearby wall. I know there is likely an easy fix - but after several hours of reading the manuals and trial and error (mostly error), I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction here. I've attached the current plan as well. Any help appreciated. Home Designer Interiors 2017 Build 18.1.0.41OSX Roof Fix.plan