I cna't create a second story.

[Keith_K]

I've been away from HD forums for a long time, almost 2 years, and it's good to see that it is still going strong.  I received excellent assistance from contributors in the past so I am hoping someone will be ably to help me now.  A friend who lives in South Africa sent me copies of plans he had drawn up for a new house he wants to build next year.  The house will be on a sloping terrain.  He wanted my comment and suggestions and I am full of them but in order to show them I have to recreate the plan from the drawings he sent.  I printed off KB-00718 for modelling on a sloping terrain which said that I should start drawing what would, in effect, be the lower ground floor (basement).

 

Once I had done this I used the "build new floor tool" so that I could start drawing what would be the living accommodation using the reference floor thingy.  I had only done the exterior walls when I noticed that what should be floor 1 (i.e. the basement) is showing as being floor 2 and whatever I draw for what should be floor 2 is showing as floor 0 so that the basement sits on top of the living area instead of vice versa.  I tried swapping floors and all other options that I could find to no avail.  What must I do to enable me to carry one copying the drawings.

 

I have attached the drawing of the lower ground floor.  I have an idea that I might be told that the method doesn't work without the sloping terrain being drawn (and this isn't really needed for what I want to show my friend) but I don't have actual levels and my attempts at doing so created something weird.  If this slop is vital to achieve my end what would the absolute simplest way be of doing it?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Barry plan.plan

[DavidJPotter]

Are you, as you said: "cannot create a second floor" or are you needing help creating a walk-out basement relative to terrain. after reading your post twice, I am not sure at all what you are precisely asking for.

 

 

DJP

[solver]

I was just wondering about you Keith.

 

I'm clueless as to what you want like David.

 

Your plan has drawing on level 2. If it's not where you want it, move it. Delete the floors below and it will move down, or use Edit Area to select it, cut then paste/hold position on the floor you do want it on.

[Keith_K]

Hello David and Eric.  Good to see that the old stalwarts are still around.

I'm often told that I have a gift for words and that I should have been a writer but when ever I try and explain a problem on here the words I choose never seem to convey my problem succinctly enough for others to understand.  I'll try again...

1.  I have been sent a set of plans of a house he wants to build by a friend in SA who has asked me for suggestions.

2.  In order to show him what my suggestions are I need to replicate the plan.

3.  The erection will be on a sloping terrain with a basement configuration underneath the main house.

4.  I have never used HD on a sloping terrain before so I printed their article on how to model a sloping terrain for a walk-out basement.  Article number KB-00718 refers.

5.  The result was a hash-up so I deleted the elevation lines leaving me with the drawing of the basement section on a flat terrain.

6.  I then tried to add a floor above the basement and had only drawn a couple of walls when I noticed, although I had never selected it, that the basement section was listed by HD as floor 2.  To me it should have been floor 1 as the terrain was flat.

7.  I was unable to change it to read floor 1. Whatever I try the basement section in perspective views is always reflected on top of the main living area instead of under it.

8.  I gave up trying to think it through myself and turned to the forums for help.  I tried the suggestion made by Eric to no avail.

8.  This morning I decided to scrap the original drawing and start again.  Because the terrain isn't really relevant to the changes I am making which only involve the interior layout and windows etc.  I made no attempt to create a slope and drew the basement section again on a flat terrain using invisible walls on which the upper story would "rest".  This shows on my screen as floor 1.

9.  All well and good until I try and add a floor above it.  Then the crap starts again.  HD says that floor 2 doesn't exist and takes me straight to "attic".

10. I now don't know what to do and hope that what I have written now is easier to understand.  I have attached my new drawing as well as copies of the drawings sent to me.

 

Keith

Barry GROUND FLOOR.pdf

Barry LOWER FLOOR.pdf

Barry side elevation A.pdf

Barry side elevation B.pdf

Barry section a-a.pdf

Barry plan suggestions.plan

[Rookie65]

Hi Keith,

Good to see you on here again. In going over this quickly, my suggestion is to start on the default floor of 1, which would be the ground floor in this instance. The lower floor will generate as a foundation on floor 0. In essence, both floors will generate at the same time. Change the default wall types for both floors to what they need to be. For the grade, it is usually set for distance below the floor. So if your ground floor is elevation "0", set the grade below floor to the difference between the floor and grade. That will set the flat plane at the same height below the "ground floor" even all the way around. The lower floor can be "revealed" by setting your elevation heights as negative numbers from the existing grade you created. You can draw an elevation line where it stays flat and set it to "0" so it stays flat. Then the next elevation line will drop to the distance it needs to be. I hope this helps as a start, yet you can always save the terrain until the end before placing exterior stairs, etc.

[solver]

The software works best when you build the ground floor (1st floor to us in the US), then build the basement/foundation.

 

The terrain has nothing to do with anything other than itself. That is you don't draw on the terrain, you don't need a terrain, but if you have one, you move it in relation to the structure, and it generally works best if drawn on the ground (1st) floor.

 

1 hour ago, Keith_K said:

9.  All well and good until I try and add a floor above it.  Then the crap starts again.  HD says that floor 2 doesn't exist and takes me straight to "attic".

 

You must Build a new floor before you may draw on it. Build>Floor>Build New Floor

 

 

[DavidJPotter]

Watch some of these tutorial videos please:

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Walk+out+Basement+in+Chief+Architect (Found through "Search" at the Chief Architect Website - Knowledge Base of Help Articles)

 

DJP

[Keith_K]

Thank you for your patience with me, gentlemen.  It behoves me to admit that I seem to have been a complete numbskull and that, because I last used HD almost two years ago, I seem to have forgotten some of the basics.  Eric's last reply above made me think and I discovered that I was trying to create a new floor while still on the floor that I was drawing instead of first moving up a floor and then using the "build new floor" tool.  What a total waste of three days!

 

All is well now.  Thanks again.

 

Until the next time my aged brain lets me down.

[solver]

25 minutes ago, Keith_K said:

I discovered that I was trying to create a new floor while still on the floor that I was drawing instead of first moving up a floor and then using the "build new floor" tool. 

 

That's the way it's normally done.

 

Start a new plan, you are on Level 1. 

 

Build a new floor. The software creates a new Level 2. No need to move up a level.