will159

Eric, I took another look at the plan you provided. Again, I can only open the file, I can't select anything. It looks like you modified the foundation to represent two independent structures. I'll try and extend the foundation wall on the addition side to run along the existing foundation wall of the original house. (I think I tried this already.) My problem was when I ran the two gable walls side by side (One for the west side of the addition, and one for the east side of the original house, my roof went nuts and I had a conflicts between my exterior and interior walls. I need siding where the two buildings do not meet, and no siding where the two walls meet.) My solution was to simply keep the two buildings 2 inches apart. If I allowed the non gable walls to touch, then a new "room" was created (2" wide and 20 feet long.) Again, because I'm only trying to model the existing structures and interior rooms, I don't mind jumping over this two inch gap when I go from the old house into the new addition. (However, winter is coming and it does get cold when the wind blows.) Eric, I've reattached the plan in case someone wants to open it using Home Designer 2015 (not Pro). I've found it helpful to take each room and color the walls, floors, and ceilings in bright colors. It makes it easier to spot problems. Once everything looks OK, I go back and change the settings to the right material. Thanks for your input. Will159 One & Half Dormer.plan

Thank you for you efforts and inputs. I noted in my last post that I had my attached plan was using Arch 2015. I should have noted it was Home Designer Architectural 2015, Build 16.4.1. 20x32. Eric, thank you for looking at my plan. Right now I'm just messing around with my existing house, and trying to learn the Home Design 2015 software. When I'm ready, I will start over using all the input I've received from the members of this forum. Eric, since you are using 2015 Pro, and I just have the poorman's Home Designer 2015, I could not open the revised plan you provided. (i.e. I could only see the floor plan. I could not get any 3D renderings.) I'll study your plan in more detail and see if I can get it to work. Thanks again for all your time and efforts. Since the house and new addition have already been built, I'm adding stuff to each room just to learn what is in the libraries. (One can only fight with the roof line so long before it's time to add a coffee table just for a distraction. (Eric, the kitchen in the plan is almost an exact replica of the actual kitchen, including the dirty dishes in the sink.) One issue with the bay windows I've found is the "room specification for the wall covering does not include the structure for the bay window. I had to open up the bay window and make its material the color of the kitchen walls. If I did not do this, I got "drywall strips over and under the bay windows. Thanks again for interest you have shown. Will159 (Home Designer 2015 ---- not PRO)

Thanks to everyone for their comments. GeertDC, your input was appreciated. While it is still a work in progress, I've attached what I've got done so far. Note, this house already exist. I'm making the model so I can build a new bathroom. My farther built the original cape 30' x 20' in 1948. I added the addition 24' x 32' in 2001 (I was putting up the roof rafters on 9/11). One big problem I've not been able to get solved is how to attach the two structures. My roofs go to pot unless I keep them separate with independent gable walls. How can I run two walls side by side so each roof line follows each wall? Does anyone have a good trick to make a "popcorn" ceiling? Thanks again for your support. Will159 (Attached: One & Half Dormer.plan (Arch 2015) One & Half Dormer.plan

You didn't thoroughly read the first link about how to build a 'story and a half' house. 'Attic' room redefined as 'open below' room needs to have the finished ceiling height set to '0' to stop the roof planes from rising. In the tutorial, the room ceiling was set to 24", but ceiling height is your choice. Jo_Ann, Thank you. That's the trick I was missing. I'll give it a try. I have a hunch the house will blow up when I make the ceiling in the "open below" room "0", but it's worth a try. Again, the real question is why "open below" is even considered a "room" with a ceiling at all. It's an area with no floor. One easy solution would to be to have the option of making the floor "invisible" just like walls! In any room definition one could simply ask that the "floor" be invisible, even in an attic room definition. Thanks again for responding and your suggestions. Will159

The "Attic" setting automatically sets the floor joists to 2" x 6" which will not structurally support living space, so that is a "no-no" programming wise (wrong setting). Any space programmed as :"attic" will not be counted as "Living Space" by the software. the open below space gets that specific name after which it will have that attribute of open below. A "Study" should be named "Study". Names if this software are not just "names", rather they are specific programming commands for a space enclosed by walls. Each space enclosed by walls can and does have a Room Specification Dialog with a Structure Tab which gives you control over that space's attributes as to ceiling and floor. Both of the articles Jo_Ann posted above are gold so be sure to study them to see how they appy to what you are doing. DJP Dave, Thanks for responding. I don't know if you can open the plan, or if you even should open it as you don't know me. There seems to be a misunderstanding of my problem. I'm not building a study on the "attic" structure. I only need the "attic" definition to make the house a 1 1/2 story cape. Once I had the correct structure, I built the study on the second floor and defined it as a "study", so it has the proper floor joist (in fact, since it overhangs the living room below, I used 2x10 floor joist an a beam under the overhang in the living room. Again, my problem is I to keep the correct roof and a 1 1/2 story cape I have to keep the area next to the outside walls defined as an "attic" (again I'm not building anything on this attic area, in fact my goal is to get rid of the attic floor (i.e. "open below"). This is my problem. If I make it an "attic" I get a 1 1/2 story and an attic floor. If I make this area an "open below" I get to see my living room on the first floor but I also get a two story structure. You see the conflict. Will159

Jo_Ann, Thank you for your suggestions. Problem is I'm trying to make a 1 1/2 story. Your second link would seem to require a full second story room, not an attic room. If I make the second story area into anything other than an "attic", I loose my 1 1/2 story structure and a full second story pops up. If I keep it as an "attic", I can't use the "open below". I would also like to keep the ability of regenerating the roof, without loosing all the work I've done to make things work. I also can not tell the program to ignore the second floor when it makes the roofs because on the other side of the house I have a dormer. This dormer requires that I build the dormer roof using the second floor. You see my problem. Again, thanks for your input. Will159

Hi. I'm now battling how to get an "open below" to work in an "attic" room. To get my 1 1/2 story house, I defined the second floor as an "attic". I've made a room "study" that sits in the attic area ending about 15' from the south exterior wall. To make the building a 1 1/2 story structure, this 15' area between the study and the exterior wall is defined as "attic". However, this area must be "open below" so I can see the first floor from the study. How can I an "open below" in a room defined as an "attic"? The 1st floor "Living" room has a cathedral ceiling and the 2nd floor "Study" has railings allowing one to look down into the living room. I've got to get rid of the attic floor! Again I'm using HD 2015, not PRO. One basic question I have is why not allow an "open below" in an attic? Since an "open below" does not have any walls, it really is NOT a room, it's just a hole in the floor. What would someone do if they wanted to have stairs leading up to the attic? Seems like what is needed is an "Open Below" tool that allow the user to draw an area in any room and then have the floor removed inside this area. I'm sure someone has already solved my problem and I'm just missing the obvious solution. Thanks in advance for any ideas. (I've attached a copy of the plan -don't know if It makes any sense or will even be useable.) Will159 HD2015 One & Half Story Ref .plan