Foundations


debgreen
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Hi, I am using Suite 2018 with Mac High Sierra.

 

I'm having two problems with foundations.  I've read all the help screens and forums and whatever tutorials I could find and I'm still having trouble. 

 

First problem is  I cannot get the garage and parking slab to generate without the foundation height.  I've changed all the dimensions and heights but I can't get it to work.  Both are attached to the house.  I haven't put the 3-step landing in yet, is that the problem? Haven't got to learning stairs yet.  I read on the forums that one has to remove the attached garage and carport from the house in order to change the foundation but I still can't get it to work.  

 

Second problem is  I CANNOT get the house and foundation to show together.  I either get the foundation floating in mid-air or the house floating in mid-air.  

 

Advice is greatly appreciated.  While I have been using design programs for 10 years, I am a beginner with Home Designer.  Many thanks.

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Each camera type as well as plan views have their own Display Options dialog. That means that the foundation may show in plan views but not show in the various camera views, each object group has an alphabetically assigned "layer" that controls whether or not any object group displays or not depending upon the camera type used. This is explained in the Users guide and Reference Manual but if not carefully studied can easily be missed.

 

Foundations in Home Designer software are purely cosmetic in nature unless you happen to be a State Licensed Structural Engineer who can legally design them. In terms of the floor height, that is controlled in the Local Room Specification Dialog - Structure Tab - Floor Height input box. Commonly the garage has the lowest floor height of the first floor, otherwise one would have to build a ramp to enter the garage from the grade.

 

I do agree with Jo Ann about posting images or even a copy of your plan file here along with clearly stated descriptions of your exact difficulties. No one here knows your project like you do.

 

DJP

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Thank you David for your kind and professional reply.  I did make sure the various display options had foundations checked.  I now have my calculator out and hopefully will hit the right sequence of numbers to remove the foundation height from the garage and carport slabs.  I will keep trying a bit longer before posting images. 

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Hello David,

Working and learning diligently.  But now it's time to share some screenshots.  If for a laugh if nothing else.  Still trying to pull my garage and carport along the same roof lines and required foundation.  I've spent about six days trying to do this.   Didn't think I'd need my calculator to do what a computer should do, but I get it.  This is is a professional architect (which I am not)  program, even though it's sold as as a user suite, not  pro, but so be it.  I'm  keen to learn, so I'm trying!  I have many years experience with other programs and the floor plan was easy.   It's now all the other stuff I expected the program to do automatically but isn't.

 

I am looking for help with the roof at this point.  I've given up on the foundation.  (I see that I have to put parameters in for the visual view, not the actual depth of the foundation in  order to see what I would see at ground level.)  Here are screenshots of my dllemma and hopefully Jo-Ann won't trash me again.  

 

The foundation/roof structure align never did align.   See Image 1.   So I deleted  the garage and carport slab and the second image is what turned up.  Please ignore any other images that downloaded.  For some reason, it uploaded files i didn't want.  Man are we having internet troubles up here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2017-12-31 at 5.17.52 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-12-27 at 4.54.09 PM.png

First.png

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Thank you everyone.   It may be that my Home Designer Suite 2018 does not run properly on Mac High Sierra, which would explain the insanely illogical issues I've been having.  As just one example, take a look at the attached screenshots.  From the earlier thread, I had some problems aligning the garage and carport foundation and roof to the house, so I deleted them intending to start over.  What I got  - see the shot - was an "invisible" wall section that is not checked as invisible, a 12" high garage that was entirely deleted and is still showing up on the cameras, and a 37-1/2" foundation that I had reduced to 18" but won't change to 18".  So the changes are not generating.  I appreciate  your offer to check my floor plan so I have uploaded it here and if anyone can see something off, please please let me know because these are really basic issues that I should not be having problems with and if I can't fix them, there is no point in keeping the program and I'll get my money back.  Thanks all.

 

I changed my signature but in case that doesn't work either, here it is again:

Deb

Home Designer Suite 2018 on Mac High Sierra

 

Screen Shot 2018-01-01 at 5.02.16 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-01-01 at 5.02.39 PM.png

Juniper Addition1.plan

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Hi Solver,

 

Thanks for getting back, and Happy New Year!  What I specifically want is for the changes I make to register with the program.  In this case, I want to know why half the exterior wall showing up as invisible when this has NOT been selected and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so.   Why is this silly 12" high garage showing up in the camera view when the entire garage HAS BEEN DELETED and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so?  Why is the foundation showing as 36 inches when I set it at 18" and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so?   What I am trying to accomplish is for the program to register the changes I have made and produce a visual that reflects that. 

 

I do not have images of an existing house.  I sent the upload of the floor plan I created, I hope that will suffice.  I really think this program is not compatible with Mac High Sierra and I am calling Apple tomorrow to find out if that's the case.  I will post back when I hear because the illogic of this is beyond words.

 

Thanks,
Deb

Home Designer Suite 2018 using Mac High Sierra 

 

 

 

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14 minutes ago, debgreen said:

Why is this silly 12" high garage showing up in the camera view when the entire garage HAS BEEN DELETED and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so?

 

You deleted the garage walls, but not the foundation.

 

17 minutes ago, debgreen said:

Why is the foundation showing as 36 inches when I set it at 18" and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so? 

 

Check Rebuild Foundation and leave it checked until the foundation is correct.

You must tell the program to apply your settings in many cases.

 

These settings are from your plan and show the out of box defaults for the foundation, not your changes.

 

ht1.thumb.jpg.6c8dd4d4d8ee059850cd1068cee0c097.jpg

 

21 minutes ago, debgreen said:

I want to know why half the exterior wall showing up as invisible when this has NOT been selected and how do I fix that when there seems to be no other option to do so.

 

Delete the garage and its foundation and the wall fills in.

 

If you look, you will see the roof that is building over the garage foundation is intruding into the house. Roof planes cut walls, so the program built that wall until if found a roof plane.

 

25 minutes ago, debgreen said:

I really think this program is not compatible with Mac High Sierra and I am calling Apple tomorrow to find out if that's the case.

 

I assure you there are many Mac users using the software without issue.

 

-----

 

You should set the room types too. Especially the garage as it's treated differently. I noticed you created a Slab room under the garage, which is not the way to build a garage.

 

I linked some videos on YouTube above, and it might help you to watch some of the 1 hour quick start ones. They go through, step by step creating a house. You seem to be fighting the software and are clearly frustrated. 

 

Suite will do a lot, but it's far from perfect and requires out of the box solutions to many problems.

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THANK YOU ERIC!!  That fixed those problems.  I see where I went wrong -- of course even a slab has a foundation.  I did review all the basic "welcome" videos and tutorials before starting the design, then went on to roofs and foundations as well as reading the manual.  But I could not find clear answers so thanks again for providing them.  I'll go through those links you provided and then hopefully get that garage and carport looking the way it's supposed to.

 

Deb

Home Designer Suite 2018 using Mac High Sierra. 

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WOW, LawB10 that looks amazing!  May I use the plan to continue?  I have to adjust the roof over the garage and carport area (it's all gable end to end  but I like yours better).  I will also look at the settings you used so I can learn them.  Thanks!

 

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Hi LawB10, just a thanks again.  I was able to use your plan, make the roof changes I needed and I'm onto my exterior features and terrain.  Quick question:  did you do that plan on a Mac or Windows?  Some of the basic toolbar functions are not working, like tiling.  Let me know when you have a sec as I have a ticket in with Support.  Thanks!

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