Rooms

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• Displaying the Square Footage, or Area, of a Room

  The display of room labels is controlled in the Layer Display Options dialog. By default, room labels are placed on the Rooms, Labels layer and use the Text Style assigned to that layer. You can specify how the area of rooms is reported by the program by turning on the display of one or more of these layers: Rooms, Standard Area, Rooms, Interior Area or Rooms, Interior Dimensions. Review the information in this article to learn more about these settings.

• Creating a Breezeway

  Create an open breezeway with a roof and exposed trusses as well as tree column supports from the Columns and Pillars Bonus Catalog.

• Adding a Belly Band to a Structure

  Creating a belly band, sometimes referred to as a mid-section trim, is easy using the Make Room Molding Polyline edit tool or the various Trim tools.

• Creating an Open Below Room

  Open Below is a unique Room Type which has no floor platform and can be used for defining an open area in the floor below for a loft.

• Using the Space Planning Tools

  The Space Planning tools allow you to create a basic floor plan by creating and arranging 2D room boxes.

• Understanding How the Square Footage, or Living Area, is Calculated

  The Living Area should not be mistaken for the footprint of a house. Only true livable areas are included in the Living Area calculation. By default, exterior and hybrid room types such as Garage, Deck, and Porch are not included. Neither is any room labeled Open Below or Attic.

• Creating a Stage or Raised Area

  A raised area, such as a stage platform, can be created either with a 3D/polyline solid, or by defining a room and raising the floor height in the Room Specification dialog.

• Creating a Solarium

  Create a custom wall type, manually adjust the roof, and add manually placed structural members to create this solarium/sun room.

• Controlling Wall, Floor, and Ceiling Heights

  Wall height is determined by the ceiling height of a given room. To change the wall height, you need to change the ceiling height. Use the Half Wall tool for creating solid railings as their height can be set on the Newels/Balusters panel of the Railing Specification dialog.

• Creating a Split Level Entry, or Foyer, with a Landing

  A split level entry consists of a landing with a floor height between the first floor and the basement and can be created by controlling floor and ceiling heights.

• Creating a Room Under a Staircase

  Create a storage or utility room under a staircase using interior walls.

• Adding Wallpaper to a Room

  Using Wall Coverings, wallpaper can be quickly applied to all walls in a room, to individual walls, as well as specific sections of an individual wall or an entire room.

• Creating a Custom Walk-in Closet

  Custom closet spaces can be designed by adding drawers and shelves to cabinets and by placing manual shelves, partitions, hanging rods, clothes, and shoes from the Library Browser.

• Displaying Room Dimensions, Room Area, and Room Volume Using Macros

  Room information such as dimensions, standard room area and internal room area can be added to a plan by using macros.

• Creating a Screen Porch

  Screened panels can quickly be created by applying a screen material instead of glass to a Window.

• Creating a Circular Room

  A completely circular wall or railing can be modeled using two segments.

• Creating a Split Level Structure

  You can easily create a split level in Chief Architect by controlling the floor and ceiling heights of different rooms in a plan.

• Creating an Attached Porch or Carport

  Create an attached carport or porch that ties into the roof of the main structure by using deck railings and the automatic roof generation tools.

• Modifying Garage Floor and Stem Wall Heights

  When a foundation is generated based on the floor plan of Floor 1, a room on the first floor specified as either a Garage or Slab type will receive a stem wall or pier foundation with a slab floor and stem walls. If a monolithic slab foundation is generated, the room will receive a slab floor with curbs.

• Creating a Steam Shower

  Design a steam shower for a bathroom complete with vapor-resistant walls.

• Troubleshooting Room Selection Issues

  Rooms need to be made up of a completely enclosed space in Chief Architect. Do not leave gaps between walls, instead use Room Dividers or Doorways. Make sure walls do not have 'No Room Definition' selected in their Wall Specification dialogs.

• Message: Ceiling values may not be changed as the floor above this room has varying heights.

  In the Room Specification dialog, if the Ceiling value is grayed out, indicating that it is inactive, and this information message displays in the dialog, it means that multiple rooms with differing floor heights are present directly above so the field will display No Change.

• Creating a Storage Loft in a Larger Room

  A storage loft can be created by using a second story that is mostly open to below.

• Creating a Room with a Short Ceiling or Plant Shelf Closet Effect

  A plant shelf ceiling or closet can be created using the Shelf Ceiling feature within a room's Specification dialog.

• Creating a Custom Glass Shower

  Create a custom glass shower in your designs by utilizing the Glass Wall and Glass Shower Door tools in the software.