MauiMike

If it's a left sliding window, then the left side is the part that slides, that's why it's on the interior.

A "left sliding window" indeed means the left part is the part that slides, but that's AS VIEWED FROM THE OUTSIDE (http://www.windowhaven.com/faq/how-slide-direction-windows-and-doors-determined). As viewed from the inside, it's the right side that's supposed to slide and should be on the interior, but the program puts it on the outside. So what am I missing here??

In my existing home's sliding windows, and I would think in every sliding window, the side you slide is always on the inner rail. The non-sliding side is always the side that is closer to the outside of the house and has no rail.

So, why is that when I create a sliding window in Home Designer Suite, say as in the attached picture of a "Left sliding window" (meaning that, as viewed from the inside, the right side of the window slides to the left), you can clearly see in the attached picture that the right side of the window is on the outer rail rather than the inner rail??

Thanks!

You can create pretty much any shape using the Change Line/Arc and Break Line edit buttons.  This article has a good explanation.  It uses road markings but pretty much the same steps apply to any closed polyline based objects in this software.

https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00864/creating-road-markings.html

Very helpful link--many thanks!

yes, use the CAD tools to curve the sides the use a poly line driveway object.

 

DJP

Thanks for the tip--you directed me to look in the right place, and I was able to make the change I wanted (though it's hard to be very accurate to move around little lines in a nice and even curve). See attached picture.

I have a straight driveway leading to a circular driveway and would like to add a 'curving concrete area' so I can make the turn into and out of the driveway more easily (see up to red curve in picture). Is that possible? Thanks!

It depends on the fireplace. A gas fireplace (no wood fires) might be direct vent where you don't need a chimney.

 

You should do a bit of research on different fireplaces.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures for the other fireplace in the house--same situation. I don't see many people doing it (having a wall protrusion for the chimney flue in room behind room with fireplace, so that the room with the fireplace can avoid any protrusions). Does it seem OK to you? Thanks!

Look it up on the WWW or perhaps the manufacturer's website. Specifications of various fireplace objects are not held secret.

 

DJP

When my floor plan is as good as I can make it before giving it to an architect, I'm sure he'll then walk me through choosing chimneys and drafting a 100% accurate plan. But since I'm not an architect, and frankly I don't even know what all the parts of a chimney are called so my google searches in this area come up short, I thought someone who uses this discussion forum would have a general idea of how much space behind the wall of a typical fireplace one typically needs to allocate, so at least my plan will not be way-off.

Thanks.

For some reason Suite won't allow you to resize some doors and windows.

 

The Octagonal window comes in 2 sizes 24" and 36", as have you seen, it won't allow you to resize it.

 

The workaround is to use the pass thru tool and then add 2 wedges and 2 inverted wedges, resize to your liking.

I like your idea ... but I'm not finding in 3dwarehouse a wedge that would give me the 3 sides of the octagon. Can you direct me to such a shape? Thanks!

I have a fireplace in the master bedroom and a space for its chimney in the master bathroom. For now I allocated 1' 7" for that space (see picture)--is that OK/too little/too much?

Thanks!

From the library catalog click  Architectural>Windows

Thanks! But now that you pointed me to the right place, I'm having the following problem: I put in an octagonal window, which defaults to 36" x 36". But as soon as I change anything about its properties (dimensions, casing size, etc.), the window turns into a square! Any ideas? 

I was able to do a round window (see picture), but not an octagonal one.

Is there a way to have octagonal or round windows in Home Designer Suite 2015?

If not, can importing an octagonal window from 3dwarehouse somehow be made to work?

Thanks!

Suite doesn't let you create a toekick once you delete it. You have to reinstall the cabinet.

Thanks for the reply--it's one of those things that can frustrate a user, not knowing why some cabinets have toe kicks and some don't, and why I can't create one. And the reference manual doesn't mention it. That's why these user-to-user forums are so helpful.

By the way, I would not call the above "quick questions".

 

DJP

Thanks for taking the time to reply. It seems that many of my questions are about the limitations of the program (or at least my version of it), and I needed to double check that 'it wasn't just me.' For example, when I rotate the house, it bugs me that one side is white (the color of the house), and the other side is gray (because the 'sun' doesn't shine there), and I can't believe there is no setting to give me the color of my house on both sides at all times! Another example--there is no hand icon to allow me to pan the floor plan in 2D view. Another example--you say that I can control the quality setting for the 3D walkthrough, but the only way I see to get high quality is to have a high frame rate, and a high frame rate means my walkthrough ends in 10 seconds. It's a great program, and for $99 allows me to do amazing things, and I'm sure it will only get better with time, but after using it for two years while trying to plan my retirement house, I've collected some questions and I'm finally getting around to asking them, so again thanks for your replies.

MauiMike

Thank you so much Eric!!!

I did a quick experiment with the feature you suggested (Edit Area), and I think it will do that job and save me days! Thank you also for your other suggestions (hopefully my signature will appear below, and re. Transform/Replicate -- I guess that's only in the Pro version. I wish they charged $250 for it rather than $500).

I have a few other questions that I've accumulated over the last couple of years while using the program, and hopefully you or others will answer them as well when I post them in the coming days.

All the best,

Mike

I've been working on my floor plan for 2 years. It's a very wide rectangular ranch-style home with a 7 foot wide hallway going through much of the house in the middle. I recently realized for budget reasons that I need to reduce the hallway from 7' to 5', but because the house is already full of details (cabinets, AC outlets, lighting, furniture, accents, etc., etc., etc.), resizing the hallway 1' less from the front and 1' less from the back would 'mess up' the many items in all of the rooms, requiring days of fine-tuning. What would be a good way to accomplish the hallway resizing with the least hassle? I thought maybe to cut all the objects from each room and paste it in a different document, then resize the hallway when the house is empty, then paste back all the objects of each room, but there is no way to paste the objects (even as a group) exactly where they were. Any ideas?

Many thanks,

MauiMike