Dept of Sneaky Tricks

[deaconjj]

Good point!!! I'm still in X1, and make my chimneys as polyline solids after the fireplace goes in on whatever floor. Has X2 become more chimney-friendly (as far as foundation through roof and framing, etc.)?

[sherpa_jones]

Here is how to show windows and the lower wall in a pony wall with better window display than chief offers. Change the wall and hatch styles of the upper wall (copy it first) to match that of the lower wall, using extra 'air gap' layers and invisible line styles to build it out as needed. Do not change the materials. In the pictures shown, I used red lines to show where you want the invisible lines to go, matching the original wall style.

[sherpa_jones]

Next, I need a furred wall 48" high built with 2x4 framing to insulate the concrete pony wall. I drew a 2x4 wall, designated as no room def, and dragged the top down in elevation to 48". I moved it to the perimiter and created the rest of the walls by using the same wall type handles. To clean up the elevations where an interior wall met perpendicular, I broke the bottom edge of the interior wall in elevation and adjusted it to fit around the furring wall.

[sherpa_jones]

Now, with both of these together, and a molding poline to cap the furring wall, here are the results.

As you can see, display is fairly clean in all views; plan, section, and 3d.

[sherpa_jones]

Here is a nice trick for creating those pesky valley boards:

Draw a roof plane of the same pitch and direction as the roof plane the valley board will rest on.

Open the DBX and specify the following:

General Tab:
Rafter depth = 0 (will default to 1/16)

Options Tab:
Boxed eaves off
Roof surface thickness - define the thicknes of your valley board here
Sheathing/Soffits/Ceiling/Gutter - off

Framing Tab:
Fasica and sub fascia - off

Line Style Tab:
Layer - Roof Framing

Materials Tab:
Roof Surface - set to your framing material

Next, align the roof plane edges to be parallel with the valley. DO NOT USE THE ROTATE HANDLE: THIS WILL ROTATE YOUR BASELINE AND YOUR VALLEY BOARD CANNOT BE COLINEAR. The best way do do this is to drag an edge over and snap the corners to the vallyey. Then use the parallel tool on the other edge.

Define the width of your board with auto dimensions between the parallel edges of your roof plane. Move the plane underneath the roof that intersects to create the vallye. I find that 2" offset from the valley is best.

Next, use the 'move to be colinear' tool to raise/lower the plane to match the plane it sits on. This will place the roof surface of your valley board flush on top of the rafters. Draw your jack rafters and you are set.

[sherpa_jones]

I am never happy with how chief frames the gable lookouts. The blocking members are 24" o.c. in plan view, which is wrong. They should be 24" o.c. along the sloping rafter or truss top chord. Well, here is how to do them manually, and get it pretty darn accurate.

1 - Frame your rafters/trusses and all your fascia boards.

2 - Draw a roof blocking member between your gable fascia and your first rafter/truss, crossing over your gable wall/truss.

3 - Create a backclipped cross section of your gable wall/truss and change to your 3D Framing layer set. Make sure the layer "Cross Section Lines" is on and locked. You should see the roof blocking member as a framing box.

4 - Send the view to cad detail. Select the lines that are generated from the top edge of the gable wall framing or the gable truss. Copy them, and paste-hold-position into your cross section. These lines will help you to make accurate snap placements.

5 - Select the roof blocking member. You will notice the selection handles are not exactly in place on the framing box, which is 'normal.' Using point to point move, select the corner of the framing box that you want to snap to the truss heel, and snap it there. You will need to hit F12 every time you move a roof blocking member in section view to regenerate the cross section lines.

6 - using the rectangular poline tool, begin drawing a rectangle from the midpoint snap on the ridge side of the blocking member's framing box. Drag it just past the ridge, and set the finish point on the angle snap that follows the perpendicular snap guides.

7 - use the multiple copy tool and copy the blocking at equal spacing, snapping the last copy on the top corner of the cad block that is used as the guide. Use point to point move to place the last block back at the peak.

Now repeat for the other side of the gable.

I know it is a bit labor intensive, but if you ever need to get that detail just right, well, here is one way.