Window and Door openings through walls

[Anonymous]

I've got a project in which I am not using composites for the exterior walls. The walls are comprised of:

3 5/8" Brick Veneer
1" Air Space
0.5" Plywood sheathing
2x6" Studs
0.5" Gypsum board

This gives me a total of 11 1/8" wall thickness. My problem is that I cannot get the window opening to project through the necessary walls materials. If I place the window on the brick veneer and increase the reveal depth the window shows properly on the interior and the opening is cut in the veneer. However, the window opening is NOT cut through the sheathing and the air space wall objects as you can see below.



If I place the window on the stud wall then no hole is cut in the sheathing, air space, or brick veneer, as expected. The result being that the window is not visible in 3d or on elevations. I have also tried SEOs only to realize that the window and door objects are not valid target or operator elements and cannot be used.

So my question is, how does one make the window opening protrude through multiple wall items when not using a composite? I realize that I am probably missing some simple solution or standard method of working in this situation but I am rather stumped at the moment. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

(note: Before someone points it out, I realize the Air Space item is on the layer A-GLAZ-FULL in the included image, that was an accidental click and I have returned it to the proper layer. )

[Anonymous]

There are window opening objects. These are just blank openings you can insert into a wall.

So you would just insert a blank window opening into the wall directly opposite the window in the other wall

[Jacek]

Not sure if I understand your question.
I have created the same wall as you have described and placed a window as you have. The result is as predicted. Check picture below.
Why are you creating a composite wall out of individual walls instead of a single composite?
What are you trying to do?

[Anonymous]

There are window opening objects. These are just blank openings you can insert into a wall.

So you would just insert a blank window opening into the wall directly opposite the window in the other wall

Is that really the best available (or only available) option for going about this? In the event that I change or move a window I would then need to change and move a second object every time. That seems rather tedious and I thought there would be a far better method.

[Anonymous]

If I understand correctly, you have four separate walls that
touch each other except for the sheathing and the brick.
Archicad openings cannot go through any other wall except
the one host wall. You can either make empty openings
in the other walls or make a block with the slab tool
the height and width of the opening and SEO the openings
in the other walls.
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

First and foremost, thank you all for your prompt responses.

Jacek wrote:
Why are you creating a composite wall out of individual walls instead of a single composite?
What are you trying to do?

I'm creating composite walls out of individual components because the individual components don't necessarily terminate at the same vertical locations. The result being that the sections do not display the components as the structure would really be built when using composite walls. For example:



Which means that I would need to create additional wall items to fill in the gap. The following image shows what I mean. In the top portion I show the method I am currently using, i.e. creating four separate walls with the bottom of each at its necessary height and continuing to the top of the structure.



The lower portion of the image uses the alternate method which would be to use a single composite wall above the floor system and then create three separate walls below the floor system for sheathing, air space, and brick veneer (shown selected). The problem with this method is that not only do I need to do this where the first floor meets the foundation wall but also between any floors above and it must be done for each face of the structure. This seemed overly tedious to me hence my decision to utilize the first (top) method.

Also, when it comes to details and sections the first approach results in contiguous wall lines from foundation to roof whereas the second approach leads to borders between the individual portions of the wall.

However, having run into this window and door issue I now see the flaw in trying to do things the quick and easy way. As I'm rather new to ArchiCAD, let alone design, I am still in the process of learning the best methods of achieving desired results so please bear with me if this is a "beginner" type issue. If there is another accepted method I would greatly appreciate it if someone could briefly describe it or point me in the direction of a guide or tutorial that looks at this particular type of scenario.

[Jacek]

OK I would use composite walls and use the floor slab to "Subtract" the wall elements with "Downward Extraction" to achieve something like the attached section. You can further play with it to achieve the desired profile.

[Anonymous]

Jacek wrote:
OK I would use composite walls and use the floor slab to "Subtract" the wall elements with "Downward Extraction" to achieve something like the attached section. You can further play with it to achieve the desired profile.

Wow, I'm not sure why I let that method slip by me. Thank you. It's so obvious I can't believe I missed it! (I'm not being sarcastic, by the way.)

[Jacek]

Don't worry.
That's why we have this forum, sometimes the most obvious to one, is a mystery to another, it takes a 'second look' from a different perspective to discover it.
You may also look into the "Design Extras" and start using the "Accessories" for footings and walls. I have seen some users really customize them and model incredible detail, handy in sections and details.

[ares997]

I know this post hasn't been responded to for a long time but I have just run into an issue similar to this and it's driving me a little batty.

Ok...I have an empty window in a wall with a window behind the wall. Why (you might ask)? Well I have an 1" worth of tile on one wall and don't really see the need to create a custom profile for this one wall, though the amount of time I have wasted trying to fix this one problem I would have created a custom wall for every wall in this little house.

So the question I have is if you have an empty opening and a window behind how do you get it to show the window through the empty opening. I have the transparency on in the settings and would think that transparency means you can see through something, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

If I am understanding the tool correctly it can only see the surface of the objects that it is touching but can't really see through to the other side of things. It's kind of like a 3D scan of a room such that the only things that are visible are the things on the surface...right?!