Attic space

[Ken B.]

The house I'm designing (hopefully for my retirement) has a lot of space under the 9/12 roof which I would like to semi-finish off for storage space. Is it possible to add Knee-walls, some drywall, rough flooring, a few lights and drop down stairs?

Since this is a one story home, there is a LOT of space up there.........

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[RootFarm]

Yes, except for the drop down stairs in explicit detail. Since you have Pro 7, take a look at Training Video 107, "Automatic Roofs On Multiple Story Homes." It covers the subject of attic rooms.

[Ken B.]

I'll take a look at that tonight..........

Thanks again!!!

[Ken B.]

I looked at Video 107, but it looks like you have to add the attic before (or while) you're putting the roof on. That presents a problem since my house is already about 90% complete and I really don't want to go back and start from scratch, which I would have to do since you can't copy from one plan to another.

Maybe someone else has figured out a way to add the attic space as an after thought.

Thanks for the help...........

[RootFarm]

I don't understand the start from scratch issue. To build an attic room, you actually build another floor, albeit one with real short walls. Nothing on the lower floor(s) should have to be done over, if you are designing for drop down stairs.

I would suggest using Save As to a new file name and giving it a try. There is no risk in doing that.

[Ken B.]

Hopefully, one last question regarding attic space...........and yes, I'm finally testing with a copy.

I have reference floor 0 (basement), reference floor 1 (first & only real floor), reference floor 2 (where all the full gable walls are shown) and reference floor A (which I assume is for the attic) which is totally blank.

The 2nd floor plan seems like it would be the place to add the knee walls running from one full gable wall to the other, but that doesn't create a room so I can't add a ceiling or adjust/change anything, even though in the "doll house mode, there is a floor, knee walls and when you use the camera into the room, there is a cathedral ceiling. But it still doesn't recognize it as a room.

When I try "Build new floor" and "derive" it wants to copy the 2nd floor which comes up blank.

I'm at a dead end...........

Thanks again for the help!!!

[RootFarm]

I don't understand how an enclosed space on the second floor could not be a room. If you double click there, what happens?

[Ken B.]

Absolutely nothing happens if I click or double click on the "floor" of reference floor #2.

Here's what I have right now............

Pic 1 - Reference floor #2.....the 2 long horizontal lines are knee walls

Pic 2 - Doll house view

Pic 3 - Camera inside view

It looks like a room from inside, but for some unknown reason, it isn't.

Thanks again for your help.........

[RootFarm]

Glad to help.

You don't have enclosing exterior walls, so nothing is working.

I would suggest deleting the second floor you have now and building a new one using the Floor tools. Then follow the procedures in the training video.

Before you do that, though, it would probably pay to invest a little time in a simple practice house to see how it works. Nothing complicated, just a shell with a couple of rooms with which you can practice.

The thing to remember is that an attic room in HD turns your design into a story and a half house (assuming you have a one story to start with), and that getting there requires you to first add an entire story, and then follow a set of moderately complicated steps to get to the end point. It is easy to make mistakes getting there, and there is a learning curve. A little practice with a simple throw away design will pay dividends.

[Ken B.]

....RootFarm,

I followed your advice and created a small "L" shaped house and finished the attic per the video instructions and it worked. Sure wished they showed the roof line when you created the new floor, because that would make it a lot easier to position the knee walls. but after playing with it a bit, I got it to work.

Now to create an attic in my master house plan...........on a copy!!!

Thanks again

[RootFarm]

"Sure wished they showed the roof line when you created the new floor....."

If Auto Rebuild Roofs in on, it will show when the new floor is created.

Good to hear you got it working.