Paulie Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hi I am very new to Chief Architect and cannot figure out how to add concrete stairs from the garage to the basement. I am using HD Pro. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 use foundation walls to make a stairwell outside the basement door , eg 4'x 10' , then the stairs will build . Hold ALT key to build stairs down instead of up. if you have build your terrain already you may have to use a terrain hole to see the stairs (under the grass) and you'll need to change the stair risers and treads to concrete (plan material since foundation is in) M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJPotter Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Open the stair dialog after creating the stair object. Open the "Style" tab and change the "Tread Overhang" and "Tread Thickness" input box values to "zero" Uncheck the check box for "open Underneath" and "Open Risers" On the "Materials Tab" set various catagories to "Concrete" Done Here is a short You Tube video of me doing it: http://youtu.be/Cr0pXalRI2c DJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Thanks for the information but neither advise worked. I have a floor plan with an attached garage. I want a stairwell from the garage to the basement. At least I think I have a basement. Everytime I try to make the stairs they show up in the garage going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 post pics of your floor plan , we are guessing what you need to do otherwise.....you didn't mention garage was attached in the 1st post so..... you can start the stair in the basement and go UP no issue there , but you do need to create a stairwell too ,Auto stairwell may work for that, but are you sure you made a basement? you do have a level 0 right? and it is at least 8 ft high? Stairs ALWAYS draw in the UP direction by default. You can force them to Build Down by holding the ALT key as you 1st draw them though if needed. Click Stairs in Pro will also build down automatically eg from a deck to the terrain too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 I do not know how to copy my floor plan and paste into this forum. The basement is a nine foot basement. The garage is attached to the house but the house is a raised ranch (4'). So basically the garage is at ground level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 use File>Export>Picture (Jpg) to take "snapshots" of your plan view and 3d camera views too , then attach them to a post by going to the "more Reply Options" after you click post and there is a button on the bottom left to Choose/attach files. once the file is uploaded make sure to "add it to the post" on the right hand side. ( you will see a link added to the post only then which shows up once you submit the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Thanks for the help!!!!! I have attached both the basement and first floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 ok , next step ..... tell me what you are trying to do , where you are trying to place the stairs for the basement ?, I see ones upto kitchen from garage and ones down to basement off living room but no set in the basement up to the garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 took a guess and played around with it ..... have a look at the attached plan.... gotta say I am jealous a 57'x25' garage Edit File removed Bad floor heights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 you don't say what version you are on in the post or your profile but I'm using Pro10 so any version after that will open that plan above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 I apologize. I am using Pro 2015. I am trying to run the stairs along the sam wall as the stairs up to the kitchen. I was looking at starting the just a short distance from the man door in the garage to the back pation continuing down toward the other set of steps. It is a raised ranch (4') so the steps only need to go down 5' to the basement floor. I plan on 9' ceiling in the basement. I need the large garage due to restrictions in the subdivision on out buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_Ann Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 If this is what you are trying to do, just draw the basement walls like the 2d picture and then draw the stairs up to floor 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Hi . sorry was too rushed last night and didn't check my heights , looks like I typed 171" instead of 117" for my foundation so I pulled that file and added the stairs where you wanted them, the Plan is pretty rough , it's just so you can compare settings etc. Main floor is 0" Garage floor is -48" (this means garage walls will be 144-145" high so the top plate is the same height as the house walls) Basement floor is -109 1/2" If your garage slab is already built you may need to cut it back around the new basement stairwell foundation , I had to0 in both cases as the stairs didn't automatically cut the hole but were there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Yes this is what I have been trying to do. Let me play with it for a while and see if I can get it going. Thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 use the new plan in the post above . not the original which was messed up.... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktjolars11 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 OK. I AM NEW TO ALL THIS, I ONLY HAVE THE HOME DESIGNER SUITE.... 2015. I FOUND THESE POST HELPFUL- AS I WAS JUST WORKING ON MAKING STAIRS FROM BASEMENT TO GARAGE AS WELL. BUT MY BIGGER ISSUE IS... MY '1ST FLOOR' WHICH I HAVE ON SAME LEVEL 1 AS MY GARAGE, WOULD BE HIGHER THAN THE GARAGE. AS THE BASEMENT LEVEL 0 IS BELOW. I FIGURED OUT HOW TO RAISE THAT SIDE OF HOUSE HIGHER THAN THE GARAGE, BUT, WHEN I DO MY 'VIEWS' IT IS WAY NOT CORRECT WHEN TRYING TO MAKE MY FOUNDATION TO HAVE A LARGER HEIGHT? IF THAT MAKES SENSE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Pics would help otherwise I'm (and others) are just guessing ..... looks like your Capslock key is on too.... Level 1 and the garage will show on level one but may not be the same height , you have to set the Room Heights similar to Post #14 , you can't download the plan as you don't have Pro so I don't think you can open it since you have Suite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktjolars11 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I'm sorry about caps. And I feel like an idiot- I think I have all the measurements etc all wrong- after googling and trying all sorts of things... ugh! Trying to get a good view of what a house could look like as we are building in the near future. But attached are the pics.... This is frustrating... ha. Please don't laugh at the mess I have going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 bit hard to tell but it looks like your garage floor is at the same height as the basement ? is that right? should it be? or is that the issue The main floor of the house ( level 1) should be 0" in the Room's/Floor's DBX (dialog box) , so the Basement floor should be 8 ft ? 9ft? what ever you made it when you Built the foundation so it's Floor height © will be -96" ( or - whatever height you made it) as everything is measured down from zero into the basement (ground) , so like the OP of this post your garage floor maybe 2-3 or even 4 ft below zero , which you have to set in the Garage Room's DBX under the structure tab , checkbox C Floor height. until you have the floor heights right your stairs won't build properly the better you can explain your issue or show pics the better I can help , sorry if this isn't helping much at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e4group Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 i have pretty much same scenario, i have a garage on the same level as the first floor, i want stairs going to bsmt, but i cant get the floor to open same thing with interior stairs going to 2nd floor the 2nd floor isnt open. i too just got the software so im clueless suite 2015 main floor aka floor 1 9' ceiling floor 0 aka bsmt 10' ceiling for the garage stairs scenario i tried pressing alt but that didnt make the stairs go down... i tried making the stairs go up from bsmt that didnt work... meaning the floor isnt open...i tried building walls around the stairs in bsmt up to garage and clicking the no ceiling in room option, that didnt work... i guess ultimately is what im asking is how do you cut open the floor? i'll figure out the stairs part ,unless thats not possible, but i'll take all the advice i can get 2d floor 1 http://screencast.com/t/NffA7WBv5dc 3d floor 1 inside garage http://screencast.com/t/lF3fZrs4 2d floor o aka bsmt http://screencast.com/t/LjqBasecC7 3d floor0 http://screencast.com/t/B8iagTQPrxF again i have suite 2015 thanking everyone in advance for their help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 You can post your pics right here on the forum , instructions are earlier in the thread ---use the more reply options button instead of the post button below.. Does Suite have the Auto Stairwell icon on the edit toolbar when you select the stairs ? they are there just not cutting the floor hole if not add an invisible wall at the top end of the "stairwell room" near the garage interior door , then you will get a Room definition and you can the designate the Room "Open below" in the Room's DBX which should cut out the floor and reveal the stairs. 2nd floor stairwell should work/cut out as above too. Not sure if Suite uses the ALT key while clicking/dragging for drawing stairs down ?, I have Pro '10 so can't check that for you, might want to check the Reference Manual (PDF under the Help Menu). M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 There are 20+ KB Articles/Tutorials on the Website for those that need more help with stairs as well http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/category/71/0/10/Home-Designer/Stairs/ including 2 on how to create a stairwell/staircase ,which may explain it better than me http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00420/71/Home-Designer/Stairs/How-to-Create-a-Staircase.html http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00125/71/Home-Designer/Stairs/Creating-a-Stairwell-for-your-Staircase.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktjolars11 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Hi sorry it took a while to get back. I've been messing with this whenever I get a chance. Tried starting from scratch and following the instructions above.... I tried changing the heights. Seems like every other dimension changes. I should ONLY be changing the floor heights (under absolute elevations??)? I do not want the basement height same as the basement floor. I'm very similar to the example Paulie had. Is there a way you can screen shot measurement dialog box for the structure? Attached are a few photos of my new disaster... (yes I know the stairs look messed up- I do know how to change the siding/material - if that's a plus ha) I have Suite 2015 version. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Hopefully Suite can do this but I am not sure I am using HD Pro 10 , when you take pics cold you zoom in closer pls , details are kinda small in the forum pics, thx. yes the 3 heights I gave as examples earlier in the thread are absolute heights labelled © you will see other heights change as they are relative to the absolute heights So Suite can't open the plan I posted in post #14? you wont be able to edit it , but I thought you could view it ? if you have an ipad the free RoomPlanner App maybe able too , sorry I don't have an ipad to test with. here are the Plan views from the Plan I posted which have a bit more info on them I am not sure what you mean by the basement height being the same as the basement floor ? but if you have the floor height and ceiling height set the same that might explain why you seem to have no floor in the basement. the main house should autobuild the floor at 0" so don't change anything The basement will build to what ever height you set the stem walls to when you build the Foundation , it tells you in the DBX what height the basement will be when you set the stemwall height ( they aren't the same thing due to floor thickness) ,so adjust stem wall till you have a 8' or 9' basement as desired. eg it will be -109 1/2 for a 9' ceiling ...don't change it. The garage will initially be 0" as it is built on the same level as the main floor ...when you draw it....you now need to open the garage room DBX and set the height to minus whatever the step down is from the house floor to garage floor eg - 48" (4feet) you also need to designate the Room a Garage so the Garage door and Entry Door sit down n the slab not on top of the Stemwall. And assuming the garage is a Slab not a foundation like the basement you may need to set the slab foundation for this Room checkbox. you should check heights again as things might change depending on which options you just used. If the Ceiling/roof height is the same on the garage anf the house you will need to set the garage room ceiling height to the total distance of the Main floor plus whatever the step down to the garage is so the walls are the same height in the garage and house eg 96 + 48" so garage is 144" high. Then you need to add the extra foundation walls to create the stairwell as in pic one above . then place the stairs in the new stair well and change all the materials to Concrete in the stairs DBX on the material tab. That should get you started , i'll check back and see how it's going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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