Bonus Room (Walk up Attic) Ceilings: Having Trouble

[Alkregha]

Hi,

 

I am recreating my house in 3D, and running into issues with my bonus room.  My roof is Gable/Dormer style.  My first and second floors are standard 8' Ceiling, and my third floor is a converted walk up attic.  I have tried two methods for creating this room structure, and have issues with each:

1. https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00904/creating-a-bonus-room-above-a-garage.html - creating a 3rd floor (in addition to attic), setting the ceiling height to be somewhat low like 3", turning off auto roof updates, and then adjusting ceiling height to 8' (which it really is).

2. https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00358/automatically-building-a-one-and-a-half-story-roof.html - creating a 3rd floor and then updating the roof by choosing "Ignore Top (3rd) Floor".

 

The problem with option 1, is no matter how low I make the ceiling (even 0") before changing it to the full 8', the roof ends up too high above the floor, and the flat part of the ceiling is "too wide" before angling to the knee walls.

Too WIde: (10' 6")

 

 

The problem with option 2, is that the roof ends up too low above the floor, and the flat part of the ceiling is "too narrow" before angling to the knee walls.

Too Narrow: (7'2")

 

The dimension I am referring to is shown here:

 

Also, with option 2, I am surprised to see this, almost like the roof is intersecting below the floor:

 

I think I have boiled this down to the fact that the tool is using taller joists than my house actually uses. Since this is a walk up attic, I believe it is using thinner floor joists.  Can joist height only be customized in pro?  Or will that work even in the latest edition of Architectural if I update?  Any ideas?  It says the floor structure is 12 5/8" thick, which I think is too thick.

 

 

 

 

[DavidJPotter]

The software is rather robotic and mechanical in that it ONLY follows its settings and NOTHING else. If the settings are wrong then the model is then wrong. Without more visual data or a copy of your plan file, nothing more can much be said.

 

In Architectural you cannot control such things as framing defaults nor can those be manually edited as can be in Home Designer Pro, If something approaching perfection is required consider upgrading to Home Designer Pro which allows you greater control over the outcome of your construct.

 

DJP

[Alkregha]

Thanks David - I will try to get you a file to look at, but suspect I may need to upgrade to pro to really solve my problem.

 

Alternatively, I was thinking today that I might be able to create a "fake" sub-ceiling to approximate the dimensions of my bonus room semi-manually.  May give that a try as well.

 

-Kyle

[Alkregha]

I ended up finding a way around this.  I followed the "Option 1" link from my original post.  I got the Third floor created, and then played with the Ceiling Material "thickness", gradually increasing it (while keeping finished ceiling height at 8') until I got the right geometries.  So this floor has an artificially thick ceiling (about 5" thick of drywall), but I get the correct dimensions and can plan a remodel of this room accordingly.

[rfcomm2k]

When all else fails, go back to Edit Default Settings and be sure THOSE match what you are attempting to build. I have been frustrated MANY times changing room heights and structure settings, then go back later and find SOMETHING was incorrect, probably due to the automatic rebuild function