Suites vs. Pro

[dmacgregor]

Hello.

I just purchased HD Suites 2018 after trying both Suites and Pro.

I am adding a garage to my house and I wanted to quickly draw up some designs for the architect as a guide.

I noticed that I can't do Manual Roofs with the Suites.

Despite this limitation, can I be expected to achieve the same results when it comes to roofs as I would with Pro 2018?

I am trying to draw a shed-style roof sloping away from the main house and I can't find a way to do it in Suites.

It was easy in Pro.

Thanks

 

Doug

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage.plan

[Jo_Ann]

???????????????

[dmacgregor]

I don't understand your response.

 

[Jo_Ann]

Your file is a hot mess.  I don't think anyone will be able to figure out what kind of look that you are trying to achieve.

[dmacgregor]

41 minutes ago, solver said:

1) Please fill out your Signature -- see below.

 

2) Open Help, search for shed roof. Information is there.

 

--------------

 

It helps if we know what title (Suite, Pro etc) and version (2014, 2015 etc) you are using. You can add this info to your signature by clicking on your user name at the top right of the page, click Account Settings, then Signature on the left. Doing so makes it always available, and this info is often key to providing a good suggestion

 

Resources for self help:

 

The built in Help System (always a good place to start)

 

Getting Started

 

Knowledge Base

 

YouTube

My first sentence mentioned that I was using HD Suites 2018.

I understand the importance of including my current package in my Signature and I will do that  ASAP.

I apologize for not being clearer about what I was trying to achieve.

I am attaching some pictures and screen captures of my first attempt with the Trial Version of HD Pro 2018.

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by dmacgregor
Adding pictures

[dmacgregor]

I have an updated Plan File.

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage.plan

[dmacgregor]

Here are some additional screen shots of my first attempt last month before purchase.

I did not have a lot of time to evaluate as there was too much going on.

I did the best I could and watched some "how to" Youtube videos.

I got close.

 

Home Designer Pro Trial.pdf

[DavidJPotter]

The house shown in the above photos will be hard to impossible to model in Suite. It can easily be done in Home Designer Pro once you learn how to manipulate its manual roof tools.

 

DJP

[dmacgregor]

Thank you for your honest assessment David.

I guess I bought the wrong package.

Cheers

 

Doug

 

[LawB10]

Hold on, Here's a barebones version of the plan to get the roof extensions use the room divider tool. Then turn off Auto rebuild roofs and delete the invisible walls.

 

Macgregor-1.planMacgregor-1.plan

[DavidJPotter]

I defer to LawB10 in that he and some others here seem to be more facile with non-Home Designer Pro titles than myself. He has obviously figured out how to do what you need done in Suite. I have been spoiled for years by Chief Premier's manual roof tools.

 

DJP

[dmacgregor]

2 hours ago, LawB10 said:

Hold on, Here's a barebones version of the plan to get the roof extensions use the room divider tool. Then turn off Auto rebuild roofs and delete the invisible walls.

 

Macgregor-1.planMacgregor-1.plan

 

Thank you LawB10. You didn't have to do that but I really appreciate it. I'll just have to move the garage to the other  side of the house.

I'll try out your tips.

 

Doug

 

[dmacgregor]

If you don't mind LawB10 I have some questions.

 

1. I can't find the :"room divider" tool you mentioned.

2. I don't understand why the 2nd floor plan shows 2 side walls for the garage. Why are they there since the garage is only a 1 storey structure?

3. The same goes for the Living Room with the cathedral ceiling.

4. Did you draw it using Suites?

5. What are the little red icons next to the 2nd floor walls?

 

Thanks

Doug

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage-2.plan

[LawB10]

Doug,

Please use the tutorials, reference manuals and anything else that helps you understand how the software operates.

 

To answer you're questions:

 

1. Click on the wall tool (the upside down triangle) and a drop down list will appear.

2. Whenever you gable a wall, the software creates a "attic wall".

4. Yes

5. Electrical Outlets

 

Click on everything in the plan I sent, to see what was done, it will help understand how the house was created.

[dmacgregor]

I'm studiously going thru the Tutorials and Reference Manuals.

 

1. Got it. Staring me right in the face.

2. Understood.

4. Gives me confidence.

5. Of course.

 

I am inspecting every aspect of your generously supplied sample plan. One question...if a certain roof, say over the garage is automatically drawn and it's the wrong style (or wrong direction) how do I delete just that roof if I can't "select" it? I tried de-selecting "roof over this room" and "ceiling over this room" but it is still there.

Doug

 

[LawB10]

First, How do you want the garage roof to look?

 

[dmacgregor]

Before I answer that, there seems to be an error in the instructions for "Build A Staircase" in the Tutorial (or in the Help, they're the same).

It says to Click on Build | Stairs| Straight Stairs. I tried that twice and it doesn't work like it says and besides that I can't create a landing

and the Auto Stairwell icon tells me I need more treads. BUT...if I use Build|Stairs|Draw, it all works like they say.

Curious. I wasted 30 minutes on that problem!

Now, as far as the garage roof is concerned, I would like a Gable End roof with the Gables at the Garage Door end and the opposite end as well next to the Entry.

We haven decided yet on exactly the style we want. We started off wanting a Shed Roof slanting towards the garage doors from the side of the 2nd floor above the

Entry (in effect, covering the Entry roof with the new roof) (see original screen capture). But we decided against it because it would require dimensional lumber

for the roof rafters and they would be so long that it would have to be custom lengths.

So we changed to a Gable End roof ending at the side of the Entry. This way we can use trusses.

So the sloped roof of the Entry (like you showed in your sample plan) would meet the Gable End opposite the garage doors. You can see it in my photographs.

Essentially the garage is going where the propane tanks are.

The dog run at the back corner will be turned into a one storey studio.

BTW I'm up to page 47 in the House Design Tutorial.

 

 

[dmacgregor]

Updated floor plan...

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage-2.plan

[dmacgregor]

This software is turning out to be a colossal waste of my time.

I can't believe how difficult it is to do things.

All I'm trying to do now is change the exterior siding. I set the default Material for Wall Covering to Home Designer Core Catalogs | Materials | Siding & Paneling | Vertical Paneling | Vertical Paneling Buckskin.

Did it change my existing siding? No

Did it change my siding to Buckskin on new plans? No.

Why is it so  difficult to either change the defaults or give a simple explanation on how to do it in the Help Dialogs?

 

[dmacgregor]

OK. This is even stranger.

I can do it in Pro 2018 Trial but I  can't do it in 2018 Suites (purchased).

Is there a logical reason for this?

 

[LawB10]

First things first...with the straight stair tool you have to draw the stairs, with the click stair tool, it's automatic.

In the plan I drew the stairs to show how it works.

 

For the garage roof, there's two ways to do it, use the break wall tool and break the wall where you want the gable to be or

build a second floor room over the garage, move the wall to where you want the gable to be.

the two pics are what each method looks like.

 

Generally, you change defaults for floors, doors, cabinets, roofs and windows. In Suite you change things in plan or camera view.

you choose the material you want and either a paint can or roller will appear, then you apply the material to the walls etc.

 

With painter tool:

C is for component ( it paints part of the object)

O is for Object ( it paints the object)

R is for Room ( it paints everything in the room that has the same material)

F is for Floor ( it paints every thing on that floor that has the same material)

P is for Plan ( it paints everything in the plan)

 

The plan you have created, won't give you what you want.

 

The main house pitch is too low at 4" it needs to be 8".

The way the walls are built you should have a shed roof on family and garage room, uncheck high shed/gable and use full gable

for the side walls.

 

As stated earlier click on everything in the plan to see how it was done ie: walls, rails and floors.

 

The one on the left is the first floor using the breakwall tool, the one right is the second floor with wall moved.

 

Macgregor-1-1.plan

 

 

 

 

[dmacgregor]

I am making progress.

I finally got the hang of Wall Breaks.

 

I am having a problem with the roof pitches at the back of the house.

On the left hand side where it says "Open Below" the pitch indicated on the back wall is 4 in 12.

For the rest of the back of the house, the pitch indicated on the back wall is 6 in 12, yet in the

Perspective view they look to have the same pitch and are even for the  full width of the house.

I don't understand. Isn't pitch absolute? A 4 in 12 is a 4 in 12 no matter where it starts, yes?

I don't understand how two sections of roof adjacent to each other can have different pitches but be level with each other.

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage-2.plan

[LawB10]

Is the house I uploaded the way you want it? If yes, then why are trying to rebuild it.

Why are you having a problem if it's the way you want it.

 

Auto rebuild roof is off, so you can change walls, ceiling heights, pitches to what ever you want, just don't turn auto roofs on

if you do, the roof will "explode". Please keep in mind, this is a software program, which means anything can and does happen.

 

To get an idea of what happens, turn on auto rebuild roofs and start moving walls around, raise or lower the pitches

Change ceiling heights on the first and second floors, add the one room studio to the garage. That's one way of getting to

learn how the software works. Just remember to click "don't save" when you close the program.

 

[dmacgregor]

Got the Painter Tool OK.

The plan you sent me is very close. and I thank you for that.

The garage roof needed to be rotated 90 degrees so I did.

What I could not figure out is that you have the garage door wall set as a Gable Wall as well as the opposite wall next to the entry, yet those aren't showing as gable walls in the perspective. And the other two walls are not set as gable walls, yet the are showing as gable walls. It seems all bass ackwards.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to roof the Entry and Study - I'll have to do that on the  fly with the draftsman or architect.

I've tried all sorts of different things for the back roof trying to get it to match yours and figure out what exactly you did.

I could use yours but then I wouldn't learn how you did it.

I used to be a programmer early on in my career so I know what can happen.

 

Is my assertion about pitch correct or am I off base?

 

Cheers

 

 

3414 Panmure Road with garage-2.plan

[LawB10]

Doug, I was going by the pictures that you uploaded, the entry has a roof over the door. If you keep the roof

the garage roof will cut into it, so you have to build a second floor and lower it to 0". The only time you need to

gable front and back walls, is when the room is a standalone . If it's attached as in this case, you only need to gable

the front wall. The side walls control how steep the roof will be. To see the effects, change the pitch on the side walls to

12". If you gable the front wall for the Study it will cause a problem with the garage roof, however you solved the problem

just click "extend the slope downward" for the front wall.

 

Again click on the walls to see what was done, some of the walls in your plan are gabled and that's what's causing the problems.

 

The porch on the second floor has to be moved out 3 to 5" to get the high shed to form and the back wall over the porch needs to

come down about 4" or so.