Placing window across a wall break

[Lightspeed65]

I have a building with two different ceiling heights.  At the common wall between these two areas, I am trying to place a clerestory window between the ceiling of the higher wall, and the rooftop of the lower wall.  In that common wall are a couple of wall breaks needed to ensure the pony wall and upper wall portions are correct across the full length of the common wall.  However, due to these breaks in the common wall, I cannot place a clerestory window where I need to.  So it might be a two part question:

 

1) is there a way to place a window across a wall break?

2) should I create a "2nd floor" for the room having the taller ceiling height so that the wall breaks required can remain on the first floor, and the clean wall (no breaks) can be for the "2nd floor" and thus so the window can be placed in there wherever I want.  I would then not use a ceiling for the 1st floor so that the actual ceiling height for the entire room is the 2nd floor ceiling. 

 

The attached picture shows the problem area; I want the clerestory window to be continuous, not have a break in it as is shown.  Thanks for any guidance or suggestions, Dave.

 

Untitled_1.zip

Edited April 5, 2017 by Lightspeed65
adding backup plan and image

[solver]

It's easier for others if you will post an image, instead of a PDF of an image.

 

Also, marking up the image to identify the problem area is helpful.

 

And, for questions like this, posting the plan is the best way to get a good suggestion, because it's almost always it depends.

 

You can use Edit>Edit Area (All Floors) to cut out only the relevant part of the plan.

[Lightspeed65]

Eric, understood, and will do.  Can I reply just to you or do I need to reply to everyone?  Dave.

[Lightspeed65]

Ok, I added the image and the backup file in zip format.  I hope that works for an assessment of the problem.  Thanks Eric!

[DavidJPotter]

Home Designer and Chief Premier are both programmed to not allow a window to easily share the space of intersecting walls (invisible or visible) so the thing to do is to avoid this situation . You can always avoid this in the case of invisible walls by using a little common sense in order to get your job done. A clerestory room can be a room with no flat ceiling or a first floor room with no ceiling and a second floor room above it programmed to be "Open Below". You just need to do what is applicable for a specific situation to get around programming arbitraries.

15 hours ago, Lightspeed65 said:

In that common wall are a couple of wall breaks needed to ensure the pony wall and upper wall portions are correct across the full length of the common wall. 

I could not figure out in your plan file exactly where you are talking about but "Wall Breaks" are not needed as you say and they are just making your job unnecessarily hard in my opinion. I realize it is very obvious to you but I point out that not having seen your plan before It is hard to track exactly where and what you are speaking of.

 

In terms of semantics I would call your upper windows "Transom Windows" and not "Clerestory" because there is no vaulted ceiling, rather just a higher ceiling. 

 

DJP

[Lightspeed65]

Eric, thanks as always for your suggestions and coaching.  This is the first software I have ever used for designing a home, and its my own home, so  iIm learning the software at the same time as designing a home; which is probably a good way to learn!  I understand your suggestion to simply create a second floor "open to below" to solve the transom window portion of the question; I will try that.  As for the wall type question, I attached a plan that focuses on the problem I was trying to solve. 

 

This is very simple plan and I don't see the issue I am having in the project I am working on, but maybe its more clear what I was dealing with.  In the attached plan, there is a lower roof room, and a higher roof room.  The portion of the common wall that extends beyond the dimensions of the lower roof room is clearly an exterior wall, so no problem giving it the correct wall type assuming it is broken at the intersection of the small room wall.  The interior portion of that common wall has a lower part that is interior and an upper part that is exterior.  On the wall spec windown, under "roof", I checked the box "lower wall type if split by butting roof" and I got the desired effect in this small plan.  But in my current project, I have had trouble making that work.  Any insights are of course appreciated.  Dave.

Wall Type Question.plan

[Lightspeed65]

David, my apologies, I mistook your reply for one from Eric from yesterday.  Thanks for the response I have just replied with some additional info.  Best, Dave.

[solver]

This is a similar to the soffit problem. The program, internally, sees the walls as extending higher than is shown in a camera view.

 

[Jo_Ann]

I suspect it is the window on the left that you want to drag to the right?

I think that you added the wall break because you want that section of wall to be a different material (stone)?

 

Toolbar edit:

default settings / plan (edit) /  check the box  "ignore casing for opening resize"

 

Disconnect the intersecting walls (as Eric suggested)  and drag the window.

Reconnect the walls.

 

[Lightspeed65]

Great suggestions Eric and JoAnn, thank you very much.  I did resolve this by creating a 2nd floor and putting the windows in the 2nd floor walls, and having the floor open to below.  That definitely gets me the freedom I was looking for, but your comments served to educate me further as I know those issues will come up again.  I still have some issues with connecting walls to each other, and walls to celings, as shown below.  I cannot figure how to make these look right even if I make the walls go "thru to the end".  Is there a "connect wall" feature that makes walls and ceilings come together properly?  Best, Dave.

[solver]

Try a doorway in the opening. Turn off casing and everything else. make it as wide and tall as the opening.

[Lightspeed65]

dang, that's a good idea!  So this is an issue that you have yourself sometimes?  Or that is common to the software?  Thanks again Eric.  Dave.

[solver]

22 minutes ago, Lightspeed65 said:

So this is an issue that you have yourself sometimes?  Or that is common to the software?

 

Both. Just one of the many workarounds you learn while working with the software.

[Lightspeed65]

OK, thanks very much Eric.  I am getting there, with the help of this Forum and yourself in particular.  Really appreciate it.  Dave.

[solver]

Thanks.