Help Database

To change the material of an entire wall 

1. First, use the Select Objects  tool to select the wall that you want to adjust and click on the Open Object  edit tool to display the Wall Specification dialog. 
   
   
   
   
   
     Note: You can select the Wall in either a 2D floor plan view, or in a 3D camera view, to open its specification dialog.
   
   If you are in a 3D camera view, and the entire room highlights first, click on the Next  edit button, or press the Tab key on your keyboard to select just the individual wall.
   
   
   
2. Go to the Materials tab, and select the surface of the wall that you want to change.
   
   Remember that when drawing walls in Chief Architect, you draw in a clockwise fashion so that the exterior surface will display as outward.
   
   
   
3. Click on the Library Material button to display the Select Library Object dialog. 
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click on the plus + sign next to Materials or Manufacturers categories to expand them out to locate the material you want to apply to the wall.
   
   Notice that a display of the selected Material displays to the right in the Select Library Object dialog if you have the Preview and Selection panes active.
   
   
   
5. Once you have the Material that you want to use selected, click OK to close the Select Library Object dialog.
   
   
   
6. Click OK again in the Wall Specification dialog to apply the change in material or color to the wall.
   
   
   

In some cases, such as when an exterior wall runs the length of several rooms, we may not want to change the material of the entire wall.  Alternately, we may want to apply different colors to several different sections of the same wall to create a striped effect.

If you are in a 3D camera view, return to your 2D floor plan view for the following steps.

To change the material of a section of wall vertically

1. To apply a different color of material to just a section of a wall, we will first need to place Wall Breaks on either side of the section that we want to change.
   
   
   
2. To use the Break Wall tool, select Build> Wall> Break Wall  and click where you want one of the edges of the differing material to be to place the wall break.
   
   
   
3. Follow the same procedure to place a break on the other side.
   
   The Break Wall  tool remains active, so you can continue to place breaks in walls. When you are finished, select a different tool.
   
   
   
4. After you have used the Break Wall  tool on either side of the section of wall you want to change, use the instructions above to change the material on just that section of the wall. 
   
    
   
   
   The Break Wall  tool applies a break in a wall. Once a wall is broken, the two wall segments are separate walls that can be modified independent of each other.
   
   If a wall break is placed near the intersection of two walls, the break is positioned at the center of the intersection. 
   
   Walls separated by a break can be rejoined. Select one of the segments, then click on the end edit handle located at the break and drag it a few plan inches (mm) away from the break.