Unusual sloped roof / ceiling help needed

[jayson]

This is my first time using Home Designer Pro, and I really just wanted to be able to make a model that we could use to plan our interior decorating. Our house has some unusual rooflines, and it's making it hard for me to figure out how to model it.

As you can see in the photos of the house, one part of the house has a gable roof, and the other part is more like two shed roofs that don't meet.

It seems like what I have to do is first get all of the walls defined with their different slanted heights so the roofs will fit on top of them, and then create vaulted ceiling planes?

 

I've tried reading the user guide and reference manual, but there are so many terms that are unfamiliar to me because I don't have an architecture or contracting background.

 

What are the correct steps I should be taking to set up my walls, roof, and ceiling so that they match the real house? 

Reservoir Rd.plan

[DavidJPotter]

How to set up for auto-roof generation is to be found in the "Build Roof" dialog - "Roof Styles" tab. On simple test plans practice producing each of the roof types BEFORE you work on the roof system of your house plan file is my advice. The settings must be exactly right to obtain an intended result and this requires study followed by practice to obtain actual competence. For the roof geometry of your home some additional tweaking of what is generated "automatically" will need to be manually adjusted by you to emulate your home's roofs as well.

Here is a link to the Home Designer website of help articles addressing Manual Roof Editing: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/search/?default_tab=all&q=manual+roof+editing

 

DJP

[solver]

I'll suggest you learn the manual roof tools. This is an easy roof to do manually, and while you could start with auto roofs, you will probably need to finish manually.

 

Don't overthink things or focus on what you don't know. As David says, practice a bit with simple plans.

 

I pointed you to some learning resources in your Landing thread, David has lots of roof related videos on his YouTube channel as do I.

 

8 hours ago, jayson said:

and the other part is more like two shed roofs that don't meet.

 

That condition is typically called a clerestory. Search the Home Designer website for info more info.

[jayson]

1 hour ago, DavidJPotter said:

How to set up for auto-roof generation is to be found in the "Build Roof" dialog - "Roof Styles" tab. On simple test plans practice producing each of the roof types BEFORE you work on the roof system of your house plan file is my advice. The settings must be exactly right to obtain an intended result and this requires study followed by practice to obtain actual competence. For the roof geometry of your home some additional tweaking of what is generated "automatically" will need to be manually adjusted by you to emulate your home's roofs as well.

Here is a link to the Home Designer website of help articles addressing Manual Roof Editing: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/search/?default_tab=all&q=manual+roof+editing

 

DJP

 

Thank you. I'm practicing with a simple rectangular structure now, and I'm getting the hang of a shed roof.

To set the heights of the taller and shorter walls, do you have to set the roof pitch first? Or can you specify the heights of the walls, and let the program determine the roof pitch based on the wall heights?

[DavidJPotter]

You need to measure or estimate the roof pitches of YOUR home and input those to get your roof system started. The program, the software is not smart, rather it is a finely made tool but has no more intelligence than a hammer or a wrench.

 

DJP

[jayson]

I've figured out how to make the roofs match the house, thank you for your help.

 

I built each "box" of the house on its own, then moved them together into the final house shape.

This was my process:

1. Create the four walls of the tallest shed roof section. Set the sides to full gable walls, then set the tallest wall to a shed wall. I measured the rise and run of the real house walls to get the roof pitch.

2. Create the four walls of the shorter shed roof section. As above, set sides to full gable walls, then set tallest to a shed wall.

3. Move the shorter shed roof section up to abut the taller one. The taller roof now rises above the shorter one exactly as the real house does.

4. Create the four walls of the gable roof section of the house (the "main" part of the house). Set sides to full gable walls, then move it to connect to the ones I already made.

5. Create the three new exterior walls of the garage, then change the side walls to full gable roof. The gable roof now extends over the garage in a smooth slope, exactly like the real house.

 

 

[jayson]

21 hours ago, DavidJPotter said:

You need to measure or estimate the roof pitches of YOUR home and input those to get your roof system started. The program, the software is not smart, rather it is a finely made tool but has no more intelligence than a hammer or a wrench.

 

DJP

 

Edit: I think I may have found my answer here: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00492/building-a-clerestory-skillion-roof.html

I didn't know that this was called a clerestory roof.

 

So it turns out I do have another question.

 

In order to make the rooflines work, I created two exterior walls that sat next to each other, which is not the right way to do it. 

 

If I make that area one shared wall instead of two butting up to each other, the roofline changes. I no longer get the overhanging roofline so that the rear roof sits higher than the front roof, creating a wall where windows can be placed.

 

How can I make the two shed roofs sit at different heights, rather than turning into a gable roof as it is doing by default in the screenshots?

 

I believe what I'm trying to do is create a wall that looks like the profile in my third screenshot.

 

 

(The first screenshot is of the two walls next to each other, the second screenshot is with just one shared wall)

Edited May 22, 2022 by jayson
Added possible answer that I found while searching

[solver]

On 5/21/2022 at 8:20 AM, solver said:

 

On 5/21/2022 at 12:02 AM, jayson said:

and the other part is more like two shed roofs that don't meet.

 

That condition is typically called a clerestory. Search the Home Designer website for info more info.

 

[DavidJPotter]

Get it close using the method you have developed then turn OFF auto roofs and adjust the roofs manually to get a good rendition of your home's roof system. It takes time to learn and create personal competence.

 

DJP