attic remodel

[Deirdre]

Dee,

I thought you were saying you couldn't. The statement was a little confusing.

I know it's possible that's why I posted the picture.

Perhaps I should have said IF I can't drag it through the roof. I love soffits for that reason.

[daydreamer]

Thanks for all the help. I'll get back at it tomorrow. The stairwell is getting there but the dormers are still squirilly

Did you use an invisible wall to connect one of the railings on the 2nd floor to an outside wall?

Why are the dormers still "squirrelly?

When you click on top of the stairs on the 2nd floor do you get a "highlighted" area? (see 1st thumbnail) If you do, right click in the stairwell and left click on Open Object. Select the Structure tab and unselect the radio button next to Ceiling Over this Room. Left click in the area outside of the stairwell and the entire 2nd floor should be highlighted except for the stairwell. Again, right click in the area and left click on Open Object. Select the Structure tab and unselect the radio button next to Ceiling Over this Room.

If I don't uncheck the Ceiling Over this Room in the stairwell, I get similar results. (see 2nd thumbnail)

[daydreamer]

Hey dra,

Once you get the stairway complete you may want to take a look at the following links regarding Dormers. I'm sure they will help you a great deal.

Building a Dormer Manually - http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/...?faqNumber=396

How to create an automatic dormer - http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/...?faqNumber=442

Good luck!

[draitp]

OK. I'm back at it and things are not getting any better. My dormers are a continuation of the main roof ridge and slope but I can't get the dormer tool to fit a dormer that big on the roof. I went with the largest dormer I could fit (see pic) and tried to fit the stairwell under the dormer as per your instructions yesterday. However, I could not get a wall of any kind to continue under the edge of the dormer.
So, two questions. First how do I get a large dormer (I need one 70" high but can only get 50"). Second, how do I get a stairwell partly in the dormer.

[daydreamer]

To get the higher dormer you either need a steeper roof pitch of a taller room.

To get the stairwell walls into the dormer hold the CTRL key, click on a wall and use the drag handle at the end of the wall to "stretch" in in place.

Here's what I have so far. I tried to make it close to your plan.

[draitp]

Thanks. The CTRL stretch has fixed my staitwell problem although I still have a strange overhead artifact ( see pic). Attaching a transparent wall from the railing to an outside wall didn't help. The pic also shows a breakup in the knee wall giving some transparent patches. Any fix for this?

I followed your advice and increased the ceiling height. That allowed a taller dormer but I still can't get it tall enough to give a continuous ridge line and mattching roof lines.

[daydreamer]

Go back and read post #17. I think it's the Ceiling Over, that's causing the artifact. In this scenario, attaching the invisible wall from the railing to an outside wall allows the Open Below to produce the hole in the floor.

You may not be able to get the dormer to give you a continuous ridge with your product and version.

[draitp]

Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated. I was able to eliminate the artifacts by going to the attic view and making all of the walls invisible. A final question. You said I might not be able to make a continuous dormer with the software I'm using. What software would allow me to do that?

[daydreamer]

Hey you're welcome.
It was a good exercise.

The only BH&G product that has manual roof planes is Pro 7.