House with garage under 1st Floor

I am new to CA and wanted know if anyone knows how to set up the following. I am trying to create a house that will sit upon a hill. The house has a first floor and a basement that would contain the garage and other rooms. I am trying to make the garage downstairs however the garage and other rooms in the basement do not necessarily sit all under the 1st floor of the house. Parts of the garage/rooms would actually be under ground or under a deck. I keep seeing no ceiling to the garage and the terrain is going through the garage wall. When I started the house, I created the 1st floor, then added a basement. I then manipulated the basement so that it start to show the garage and the other rooms down there. See file attachment to see what I mean. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can correct this?

Welcome to the forum. Is your first house? How long have you been using the program? I'm only asking because some of the answers could be rough for someone not familar with the basics of the program. I'm sorry about the bad reply but would like to know a little about your knowledge of the program.

Just started with the program a few weeks ago and yes this is the first house I have built...

Start playing with building foundations with foundation walls and not monolithics. I assume your first floor is at 0". Start adjusting the floor and ceiling heights of the basements and keep the (1st floor) floor height at 0".

I don't due much basements (here in Houston) but just did one. Trial and error is a good teacher.

Something else that will help you is after you create your foundation (basement), do a backclip camera view so you can see the floor levels and then tile the views so that you can see the plan view and backclip view at the same time. You will now see the visible changes when you make them. This will help you tremendously.

I would make the basement the first floor so you can generate a foundation plan below that.

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Originally Posted by perryh

I would make the basement the first floor so you can generate a foundation plan below that.

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We do full foundations on almost everything that we design here in Canada. I don't have a problem leaving the first floor as first floor and the basement as such. I wouldn't switch it now as a rookie. That is how I design and it's not an issue. In the future there may be some benefit to doing it this way possibly, but for now, I suggest leaving it. It works.

It may be beneficial for you to post the plan for people to look at to help you figure out your concerns. Easiest way is to search posting plan on the forums. There is lots of help if you are unfamiliar with this step. Welcome to the forum..

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Originally Posted by perryh

I would make the basement the first floor so you can generate a foundation plan below that.

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I agree with Perry, I disagree with Charlie, (but it works for Charlie so he should not change it). Perry and I come from areas that typically utilize monolithic slabs, and that is the main reason why Perry suggests making the basement the first floor. So if you use mono slabs, I would suggest the basement be the first floor.

Another comment on this..... there is nothing magic about the LEVEL 0, especially if you do not use auto foundations which I do not use. So the fact that you have the basement on level zero is not a big deal in that you can still use that as your foundation if you so choose. The idea of having a level zero (even though you may not send it to layout) simply gives you more flexibility if you may need it.

I did a few vids on how unimportant LEVEL 0 is by putting the foundation on LEVEL 3. This demonstrated the inherent flexibility that CA has build into the program. However I must admit that vast majority of the users probably do use LEVEL 0 as the basement level.

Disclaimer: Perry is not much smarter than I, so be careful when you listen to his suggestions.

Yes I'm definitely not a trainer in any way, and never want to be.

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Originally Posted by perryh

Yes I'm definitely not a trainer in any way, and never want to be.

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Smart decision, you will make much more money if you stay out of the training business and draw plans..... I think I might take that approach this year. Thanks P.

Yeah, I'm with Perry - I seem to have better luck with mono slabs when they're in a foundo plan below the lowest defined room.

If someone puts the basement on level 0, than where do you put the foundation plan, or do you show it on the basement plan, could be confusing for the builders.

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Originally Posted by perryh

If someone puts the basement on level 0, than where do you put the foundation plan, or do you show it on the basement plan, could be confusing for the builders.

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Hey P. stop trying to train us, you will make much more money drawing.

if there is no basement development shown at time of the prints, it's pretty clear, not too confusing. When there is development, I just use annotation sets and show a separate page, one, foundation, two basement development.

Scott
Ya, I almost threw up in my mouth a little,stop it ,P

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Originally Posted by Tundara Homes

if there is no basement development shown at time of the prints, it's pretty clear, not too confusing. When there is development, I just use annotation sets and show a separate page, one, foundation, two basement development.

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I'm sure you get it, I still don't though.

If someone puts the basement on level 0, than where do you put the foundation plan, or do you show it on the basement plan, could be confusing for the builders.

here in the north basement and foundation usually go together on floor 0
but they don't need to

over the years I have seen pros and cons for both methods

Lew

Lew,
Around here they would shoot me if I did that.

Perry:

differences abound ....

across the nation and across the world

Lew

Thanks for all of the welcomes! :) And thanks for all of the suggestions.

I got it to show correctly with adding a ceiling to the garage under the deck and using terrain hole to cover the terrain that was bleeding through the walls of the garage. It seem that decks default to having terrain under them.

If I touch the deck in anyway, the garage is reset to default values on the floor and ceiling, etc. that are not the ones I would like in the garage. But if I leave the deck alone, it seems to work. Not sure why it resets when I touch the deck. this means other than decks default to having terrain under them. I am not sure if that's the way it should be but it seems to be showing everything correctly.

I'm wiht Charlie on this one. I've done some simple mono slab plans, and I've had no trouble with foundation plans, ect. But everyone uses chief differently, and there is nothing wrong with that. Heck, you could put the foundation on floor 10 and work from there if you really wanted to.

Rod,
I see you are using X3. In X4 the slabs work 100% better than X3, you would really like it. For me it was like night and day. It's very nice.