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Chapter 4 Drawing Walls
Chapter 4 Drawing Walls
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Introduction.
The wall designer section creates a 2 dimensional floor plan of the structure. The plan is dimensioned
and openings inserted.
As walls are drawn, the default Set file is allocated to each wall. This contains the layout information that
the program will use to construct the walls when it is brought into Project mode. Any wall, or group of
walls can be selected, and the set file altered to customise the layout.
Correctly completing the Wall Designer section BEFORE moving to project mode will lessen the chance
of errors.
Starting a Job.
Before starting to draw a project, check the Wall designer and Project settings.
Special attention should be given to.
.
Units. Check the correct units are selected.
Auto recover. Check the settings
Enter the project information
Wall heights.
Wall and floor thickness.
Cladding thickness if this function is to be used
Floor Levels.
Roof pitch, and overhangs.
Ceiling thickness.
Important. If the project does not have a ceiling, check that the selected ceiling
set file has a thickness of 0. This affects the height of the roof planes.
Drawing walls.
To draw walls, click on the Drawer Walls tool.
Then left click on the screen where the wall is to begin, and draw the wall in the desired direction.
The wall will angle snap according to the settings in Wall Designer Settings.
When the wall has reached its approximate length, left click again and the wall will end.
Start the next wall by left clicking the cursor within the snap range of the end of the first wall.
Start here
When multiple walls join at 1 point it is necessary to reduce the snap range, and Position lock walls when
they are correctly positioned, to prevent them re snapping when another wall is drawn.
Checking Snap to Grid will cause the walls to snap to the grid lines as they are drawn, provided they are
within the snap range.
Walls will snap with the grid lines as their centre line.
Centre of job
Origin Point
To align the wall layout with the grid, draw a temporary corner on the intersection of the grid lines in a
convenient position clear of any of the walls.
Temporary
corner
Use Ctrl-A to select all the walls including the temp corner, and then use the Translate selected from
corner to corner tool to align the project with the grid/
Ensure that you draw the line from the project to the new position at the temp corner.
When the second corner is clicked, the project will align with the grid.
The temp corner can be deleted.
Beginning from one end, position the walls horizontally using the Select wall tool.
Select the first wall to be positioned, and then click on the measurement governing its position.
Click OK and the selected wall will move to its correct position.
Continue progressively along the structure horizontally.
Note, All automatic measurements shown are internal measurements.
Most dimensions required will appear automatically when a wall is selected, but if additional
measurements are needed they can be added using the Dim Line tool.
Exterior dimensions display in black when the Settings Dimensioning Show outside dimensions box
is checked, and are not selectable for re sizing.
When the Horizontal adjustments have been completed, correct the vertical sizing by starting at the top or
bottom.
To grab one of the handles, place the curser over it. Click the left mouse button and the handle will be
grabbed. To release the handle, click the left mouse button again.
Grabbing the centre handle allows the wall to be moved in a direction 90 deg from the lay of the wall.
Grabbing the centre handle of angled walls enables them to be moved in any direction.
Grabbing an end handle allows the wall to be retracted or extended, or pivoted around the opposite end
handle.
End to be
adjusted
Double
click here
The wall will adopt the new measurement, with the alteration taking place at the selected end.
Note, any joining wall will not move with the change in length.
Note. Structures are normally set to the correct dimensions after the shape has been formed. Sizing
individual walls is only done in special circumstances. ( see Sizing The structure previously in the
chapter )
When single walls are selected, the existing wall width will display, but when multiple walls are selected,
as per the example, the width box will be empty.
Enter the new width, and click Rebuild.
The walls will expand or contract from their centre.
Any wall joints will not automatically adjust, and will need to be selected and have their joints corrected.
Note. The structure size will change when exterior wall widths are altered. Measurements should be
checked.
Inserting openings.
Note. Window openings that extend to the floor must be entered as door openings otherwise an additional
opening bottom will be built.
Openings cannot be placed, one above the other. The larger opening should be inserted and the smaller
manually constructed later, or an opening containing both constructed, and additional internal members
added in Project mode later.
Measurements to the opening are displayed. These can be selected and altered to position the opening.
To alter the size of the opening, click on the Select Opening tool and then double click on the opening to
be corrected.
A text box will appear showing the properties of the opening, and the drawing will display the dimensions
showing its position in the wall.
The opening is still selected. Clicking on any of the position measurements will produce a text box where
the entry can be altered to exactly position the opening.
When selected, openings display dragging handles.
Grabbing and moving either of the 2 outer handles will move the opening side, (this will alter the opening
width.) Grabbing and moving the centre handle will slide the opening along the wall. (The opening width
remains the same.)
Using the Cut a wall tool, cut the walls where they will step from one level to another.
Select the walls to be lowered in the first area. (Lounge, Kitchen, and Dining room)
Because multiple walls have been selected most entry spaces will be blank and the name and length of
the active wall in the selection will be greyed out.
Enter the necessary changes. In the example, the floor level will be lowered to minus 300, and the wall
height extended to 2700.
In the example, they will be lowered to minus 400 and the stud height increased to 2800.
To display the result, the example has been taken to project view.
To duplicate the level, select all the walls using the Select wall tool while holding down the Ctrl or
Shift keys.
Return to level 1.
In the Example Levels 2 and 4 have a different configuration, and only the perimeter, and any common
walls are selected to be copied.
Click on the Copy walls tool again. The new copy will overwrite the first.
Change to level 2.
Click on the Paste walls tool and a copy of the selected walls will be created at level 2.
The window and door openings that have been copied are now incorrectly positioned for the new floor
layout. They are selected and deleted.
The new level 2 layout can now be drawn.
Note. In the example, the basic wall structure was copied from level 1 therefore they will all have the
level 1 height setting. The additional walls drawn on level 2 will have the level 2 height setting.
If different wall heights are to be used at each level, the walls at each level must be selected and have the
wall height appropriate to that level applied to their set files.
Shooting walls.
Walls can be shot to Floor Ceiling or Roof planes
Note. Walls can only shoot to ceiling or roof planes on their same level, but will shoot to floor planes on
the level above.
To instruct walls to shoot, select the wall or walls, open their properties, and check the Shoot box in the
General tab.
The lower walls have been constructed at 2400 because their heights will automatically be adjusted to
shoot.
The upper floor starts at 2700 because this is the correct level of the lower end.
Joist depth is 300, and 20mm has been allowed for flooring.
The floor planes are built at the level of the bottom of the walls by default, therefore the planes in the
example were built at 2700. (The centre portion was ramped, and the RH end portion was raised after the
planes were first built.
The floor planes are built on Level 2. Wall planes will snap to any floor plane at any level above the wall
level.
The floor planes are now lowered by 320. (300 for the joist, and 20 for the floor)
Moving the floor planes will not affect the joists already built. The floor joists can be Items locked to
prevent any rebuilding if desired.
To move the floor planes, open Floor designer, and view level 2.
Select the first Floor plane near the LH edge, and double click to view its properties. The properties
displayed will be the general properties of the plane, and the properties of the plane edge selected.
Click OK.
Move the other 2 planes the same way.
Open wall designer, select the level 1 walls, and check Shoot
Click Rebuild
The lower floor walls are now shot to the Floor planes.
To complete the project, modify the base of the upper walls to the floor shape.
Once a group of walls have been selected they become locked, and can be collectively moved by
grabbing the centre handle of the active wall and dragging in the desired direction.
Clicking the left mouse button will complete the shift, but leave the walls selected.
Collectively shifted walls will not automatically join to other walls when released. The shifted walls must
be individually selected and the handle at the snap end moved toward, or away from, the wall to be
intersected to activate the snap.
To de select the selected wall or walls, place the cursor in a clear space and click the left mouse button.
The Select wall tool will remain active until another tool is selected.
All walls within an area may be collectively selected by holding down the Shift key, and drawing a frame
around the area to be selected.
The active wall within the selection will be the last wall to be selected, or an adjacent wall if the previously
selected wall is outside the selected area.
To select the wall, that will become the active wall, select the wall before the select area is drawn.
Selected walls can be finally positioned, by activating, Settings, Dimensioning, Show parallel wall
distances, which will display the measurement from the active wall, or drawing a manual dimension from
the active wall to an appropriate place.
Select the appropriate measurement by clicking on it, and a text box will appear where the measurement
can be amended to bring the selected section into its correct position.
In the example the 2 sections will share a common wall, therefore minus 90 will be entered.
Final vertical adjustment is made by re selecting the walls, with wall 8 as the active wall, and adjusting the
appropriate measurement.
To remove the wall duplication at the joint, select one of the duplicated walls, and using its handle, draw it
back from over the other wall. Check that wall joints have not overlapped.
Walls may be copied to the same level or to any of the other 4 levels available.
To copy walls, select the ones to be copied by holding down the Shift or Ctrl keys, or by area selection,
(See select wall tool) and then click on the Copy selected walls tool.
Selected walls may also be copied using Ctrl + C.
The Paste copied walls tool will only become active when walls have been copied.
Walls may be pasted to the same level or to any of the other 4 levels available.
The copied walls will be sequentially numbered from the previous highest number and in the same
sequence as the original.
Successive clicks will produce multiple copies, with the last one as the selected copy.
The copy can now be moved to it desired position by grabbing the centre handle of the active wall. (See
Select wall tool.)
The copy can now be finally positioned by activating the Settings, Dimensioning Show parallel wall
distances, which will display the measurement between the 2 structures.
Select the appropriate measurement by clicking on it, and a text box will appear where the measurement
can be amended to bring the copied section into its correct position.
In the example the 2 sections will share a common wall, therefore minus 90 will be entered.
Final vertical adjustment is made by re selecting the copied walls, with wall 8 as the active wall, and
adjusting the appropriate measurement.
To remove the wall duplication at the joint, select one of the duplicated walls and using its handle, draw it
back from over the other wall. Check that wall joints have not overlapped.
Pasted to level 2.
Open the Barn in Wall Designer. Select the front wall as the active wall, and then select all the walls.
Grab the centre handle of the active wall, and drag the copy to its approximate position.
The copy will need to be completed, because the special information required for roofs, ceilings, and
special walls is not contained in wall designer files.
Note. The walls and openings in the structure that was copied across still have their original set files
attached. The openings and walls may require modification to match the new location.
Curved Walls
The total length of the curved section, can be calculated, by counting the number of segments in the
polygon of walls, represented in the project, and multiplying the result by the length of each segment.
In the example, 19 segments at 447mm long =8493. plus 2 straight sections at 2000. = 12493.
The wall will be made in 2 sections. One of 9 facets plus the 2000 wing, and 1 of 10 facets plus the wing.
To create the first section, create a wall 6023 long. (9 x 447 + 2000)
Set the Vertical settings to space the studs at 447.
(If the wall is to contain a curve only, Doubles can also be checked)
Double the studs in the first 9 sections, and re space the studs in the remaining 2000, to the normal stud
spacing.
Double
these studs
Re space
these studs
Cut through the outside flange, and base of the top and bottom plates, between the double studs where
the facets join.
Plate
Cut
here
Curved walls which are shot to a raking ceiling or roof can have the heights of the top plate in each
individual segment found from the individual segments in the project,
and the top plate cut, and the segment heights adjusted in the wall to be built.