2 structures on the same terrain / lot, with different foundations

[srsonido]

I am running Home Designer Architectural, which I am new to.

 

I'm trying to add a granny flat (with slab on grade foundation) behind an existing house which has a stem wall / post & beam foundation (historic house).

 

I've been able to model the existing house properly (I think), using the subfloor setting to place the existing house at the correct height (there are Craftsman porches, etc.).  However, when I begin with the ADU unit directly behind, if I set it's foundation to slab I can't seem to get the correct set of configurations to have the slab house at terrain level -  it either floats above grade and the existing house looks right, or the new ADU sits properly but the existing house sinks below grade.

 

I've been searching FAQ and KB articles for 2 days now. Closest I can find is something about split level, which not what I want - I want 2 separate structures: the existing Craftsman to  on it's foundation type and height, and the new unit to have it's own foundation type and height.

 

Can anyone point me to an example of doing this? 

 

Thanks all for any help you can provide.

 

SR

[srsonido]

3 minutes ago, solver said:

It's helpful to have a screen capture or 2 so we see the problem too.

 

Attaching the plan file (close the program first) is also helpful.

 

Generally, you move the terrain relative to the primary structure, then change the absolute elevation for any secondary structures.

 

 

Thank you for this Eric. I will ad my SW version to my profile as you suggest. 

 

Let me try and apply what you have said to my drawing and see if that leads in a useful direction.

 

Will also post a screenshot soon.

 

Thanks again!

 

SR

[DavidJPotter]

Commonly, in this software you set the floor height of each structure manually and separately. You set the foundations by way of Room Specification dialog - Structure Tab per structure/room (you set the Edit Default Settings - Floors and Rooms - First Floor for the majority or largest structure and the secondary one you do manually). Terrain is an add on feature which, by way of its Specification Dialog - Building Pad input box, you control its height relative to your structures/buildings. that is the way it is programmed to work.

 

DJP

[srsonido]

On 10/8/2020 at 9:10 PM, DavidJPotter said:

Commonly, in this software you set the floor height of each structure manually and separately. You set the foundations by way of Room Specification dialog - Structure Tab per structure/room (you set the Edit Default Settings - Floors and Rooms - First Floor for the majority or largest structure and the secondary one you do manually). Terrain is an add on feature which, by way of its Specification Dialog - Building Pad input box, you control its height relative to your structures/buildings. that is the way it is programmed to work.

 

DJP

Okay, David (sorry for calling you Eric???)  I have followed your comments "in this software you set the floor height of each structure manually and separately." and was able to move structures up and down - that's a good start.

 

As you can see by the screenshot, there are 2 buildings - one historical with stem wall / post and beam foundation; the second will be slab on grade. Getting their relative heights correct is important to the design at this stage as they will be in close proximity and I'm mindful of privacy. 

 

If I set the foundation to Walls With Footings, in Floor Tools - Build Foundation - Walls With Footings,  that applies to both buildings. When I look in the settings you referenced: "Room Specification dialog - Structure Tab per structure/room" (3rd attachment), to set foundation manually I see nothing to specify the foundation type individually for that structure.

 

What am I missing?

 

Thanks!

 

PS, bonus points if someone can explain why following the instructions for a shed roof verbatim, yields different results each time I build a structure. In the first screenshot, the smaller building s supposed to have a shed roof. As you can see there is an extra fold in it. I have got back to the manual, this link:

 

https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00359/automatically-building-the-basic-roof-styles.html#Shed

 

And followed the instructions verbatim. Sometimes it build the roof correctly, other times not. I find I'm really struggling to understand how things work and interact in this program. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[solver]

With Architectural, you don't have the options to do this easily.

 

Set the rooms in the slab building to Open Below and build the foundation.

 

Delete the unwanted foundation walls and draw in your own slab (slab with footing if needed).

 

 

For your shed roof, one wall is Hip, the opposite wall is High Shed Gable, and the other 2 are Full Gable.

[srsonido]

37 minutes ago, solver said:

With Architectural, you don't have the options to do this easily.

 

Set the rooms in the slab building to Open Below and build the foundation.

 

Delete the unwanted foundation walls and draw in your own slab (slab with footing if needed).

 

 

For your shed roof, one wall is Hip, the opposite wall is High Shed Gable, and the other 2 are Full Gable.

Re Architectural limitation - Yikes, but I'll give it a whirl. Thanks again.

 

Re shed roof, yes that's what I have at the moment. But as you can see, it does not render as a proper shed roof. As I alluded in my last post, I have done this several times (working through various ideas). Sometimes it seem to work as advertised, over times - like the attached pic - not so much. FWIW, for the structure in the screenshot I actually deleted the walls and recreated them - all 4. No love. There must be something to the sequencing of thing, is all I can figure. 

 

[srsonido]

Here it is. Thank you for your help. It's probably a noobe mistake, but I can't suss it out reliably.

 

I closed HD, as instructed, but can I reopen it and still work on other plans as long as I don't load this one>

 

Thx!

ADU ALT1x.plan

[solver]

HD locks the file while it's open, so the upload will fail. Once the file is uploaded, you can open it and go to work.

[solver]

I rebuilt the roof. No changes.

 

[solver]

You can help yourself by reading up on default settings. Your roof defaults show 10:12 pitch, but no roof planes have that pitch -- just as an example.

 

Your floor for the main house is best set at 0, and then you adjust the terrain up or down. Lots of small things that add up to problems.

 

It's best to leave Auto Rebuild roofs on too so any changes you make are obvious.

 

I changed a couple of settings and built the roof.

 

[srsonido]

1 hour ago, solver said:

You can help yourself by reading up on default settings. Your roof defaults show 10:12 pitch, but no roof planes have that pitch -- just as an example.

 

Your floor for the main house is best set at 0, and then you adjust the terrain up or down. Lots of small things that add up to problems.

 

It's best to leave Auto Rebuild roofs on too so any changes you make are obvious.

 

I changed a couple of settings and built the roof.

 

 

 

Thank you. 

 

Would you mind returning the file you edited so I can study what you did?

[solver]

Did not save ...

[srsonido]

16 minutes ago, solver said:

Did not save ...

Darn. Okay, I will pull out the manual and read up on defaults.

 

FWIW, I did a rebuild on the roof, set it to auto and 4" in 12" (will add this to defaults). That fixed the shed roof issue but left me with the main house out of whack - looking like your first picture. Then I set default floor height to 0", went into the main house and set all the living space back to default on that parameter.  

 

I ended up with the attached picture. Things are still out of whack. There is a weird post (wall segment?) protruding the roof and the awning on the stub out is all wrong now. I suspect I will need to start over. That's disappointing.   

 

Thank you for your help though.

 

This software cannot really be said to be user friendly. I know it's a poor craftsman who blames his tools but this program is counterintuitive in many functions. Couple that with the different levels of options and the fact that training videos and other help do not always target those different levels, and I've found it quite a challenge. Take for instance the disparity of advise even on this forum. One person advised me to use a function that doesn't even exist in my version, This is reflected across many other functions, particularly roofs and foundations. I'm not an architect - I have no illusions to that - but I have been using and developing software for over 30 years. This program has a steep learning curve. It could be made friendlier. It's a little like learning the guitar: easy to get something simple and useable, but difficult to master.

Thanks again.

 

SR

[solver]

 

 

Watch on YouTube: http://youtu.be/sny8NWxamYQ?hd=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[solver]

[srsonido]

@ Eric: Thank you so much for all this extra effort. I have watched your video and will do so several more times I'm sure. Have already learned a lot just watching you work. I have also reviewed much of the material you referenced from your earlier post, and will continue to chew on that. Had the manual out reading till I fell asleep last night, so I am motivated. I'll get there...

 

I started developing process automation software in the early 80's, which morphed to sales management and DB software in the 90's, and on and on, until I finally found myself designing and managing networks for a large Pharma company in the '0's. Long trajectory. Sounds like you know the story. So yeah, I have looked at a lot of UI's and seen many different languages implemented. Now I just write the occasional app and support a couple websites, but that's about it. 

 

Thanks again.

 

SR