Split level oddity

[rfcomm2k]

In the attached file I started by drawing a rectangular building. I then put in 2 walls to divide building into approx. thirds. Then went to each room definition and set the absolute ceiling height to 192". For the far right room def I changed the floor height to 48" so that it starts at 48" above grade and has a 12' ceiling.

 

 I have tried to add a second floor but ONLY in the middle of the structure. The absolute ceiling height of the second floor should be 192".

 

In other words, the ridgeline for entire structure should be the same height.

 

Now, if I look at the room def for the garage and try to reset the ceiling height to 192", it collapses the garage down to where the roof rises straight off the footing, and turns into a hip roof, despite the fact I already set the end walls AND MIDDLE walls as full gable walls.

 

I cannot see what I did wrong. I checked the room definitions and do not see any problems.

[Kbird1]

none of the rooms in your plan have rooms heights of 192" absolute......when I reset them to that the ridgeline became one , so I am not sure what I did different.

 

M.

[rfcomm2k]

OK Mick. What I should have said is Absolute Elevation. If I change the ceiling (B in room def) to 192" the oddity occurs. Yes, the ridge visibly is seen all at the same height. But directly below it on the two outer rooms there is another set of roof planes.

 

Also, the left room (garage) is on a slab, so why does it have a stem wall showing?

 

I tried breaking the Floor 1 walls where they join the two inner walls, but still have the problem. So then, after I made the changes I manually deleted the roof planes that did not belong there. Now the building APPEARS as it should, but I am not sure what other problems I will encounter next.

[rfcomm2k]

OK, I think I have it solved as far as roof oddity goes, by deleting the offending roof planes.

 

Now, how does one go about adding stairs between the levels? On the first floor, the far right room is 4' above grade. To connect to it from the family room level I need stairs going up 4'. If the stairs are going to start at the dividing wall, not in the middle of the family room, I will need some kind of structure beneath it in the 4' of dead space beneath the far right room.

 

Should that be interior wall, exterior wall, foundation wall, or what?

 

Do I place the stairs first then build the wall, or build wall first then place stairs?

[Kbird1]

Don't bother with your stairs until you sort out your slab and floor heights as you will then need to redo stairs if you don't. I think you might be going about this the wrong way , as I assume 192"  is 2x 96" ceilings?  check out the KB article I linked below on split levels.

 

HD doesn't actually build Monoslabs , it builds a stemwall the same height as the slab thickness to give the impression of a Slab.

 

-Your foundation has 4" thick tile specified as the slab (garage and family is one room) , change it back to concrete , and use floor finishes on level 1 to do the tile .

 

-Should the garage not be 6" below the House main slab ? ( usual here)  it is currently 0" and the Family room area is -12 5/8 ? you also have 12" stemwalls spec'd in the garage in the foundation defaults.

 

-Don't spec rooms on the foundation level 0 unless there is a Room there , "Rooms" have default settings which can effect things , eg garage on main floor and garage in foundation.

 

for stairs on the same level in a Spilt level  or from decks to terrain etc you use the Click Stairs rather than the normal stair tool usually, like normal stairs , hold the ALT Key to draw down stairs

 

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00848/71/Home-Designer/Stairs/Using-the-Click-Stairs-Tool.html

 

 

The KB articles on Split Levels should help

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00932/147/Home-Designer/Rooms/Creating-a-Split-Level-Structure.html

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00269/71/Home-Designer/Stairs/Creating-a-Split-Level-Entry.html

[Jo_Ann]

When you have sorted out your floor heights...

This is how I did the stairs.