Can I stretch vertically??

[Anonymous]

I'm working on a single family residence thats a little complex (6 changes of floor levels). It's an addition to an existing building, and the existing building had 3 different levels. We're adding new levels at each of the stair landings, totaling to the 6 levels. I set the story settings to 3 stories initially as I was drafting up the existing conditions plans.

My question is, what if one of the levels of my new stories changes? Is there a way to stretch the project vertically? I've been working more and more 3D, so I have toilets, shelves, walls, slabs, etc etc that all need to be manually changed in height if I alter one of the levels not on an actual story.

Do I want to add 3 more stories?

How important are story settings for everyone?

I've found that in the past altering the story settings midway through a project causes havoc, moving things that I did not want moved. I'm just looking for a little guidance on what people typically do...

[Gerald Hoffman]

Steven,

IMHO I think you are right in this case to consider not adding more storys at this point. I think I would add the information for the new half storey to the existing storey that is above it. That way you would be looking down on the new 1/2 storey level below. To me this would make the most sense visually I think. Storeys are obviously important for visualization of the plans and determining what you want to show in relationship to each level and I have had the same experience as you in trying to add a story into the project part way through. Sometimes you just have to do it and spend the time to adjust all the related elements.

One thing you can do to help in adjusting stuff on the different levels is grouping (temporarily) all the elements on a level and then adjust things in section with grouping active.

Hope this helps a little.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, my furry cousin from the north.

[Erika Epstein]

You might also look at using the reference levels under options>project preferences>references & project north.

I have found this helpful for example when there is a separate garage at a different level from the main house.

Also, regarding placing elements, if you place them relative to the story they are on and/or use the gravity feature, it can minimize the corrections to primarily the walls when adding stories mid-project.

Adding stories mid-project is a pain in the you-know-where. However you need to weigh the pros/cons of how much upfront corrections will make the remaining project time that much simpler. Not an easy call

[Anonymous]

Erika,

Well put, thank you.

BTW: You don't eat squirrels, do you??

[Erika Epstein]

Steven wrote:
Erika,

BTW: You don't eat squirrels, do you??

I'm not sure how to take this

I did give my Niece's dog Kira,who loves squirrels, some organic squirrel shaped cookies for Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Erika wrote:

Steven wrote:
Erika,

BTW: You don't eat squirrels, do you??

I'm not sure how to take this

LOL, I was referring to the cat-like creature you have as your avatar!

[Anonymous]

Steven wrote:
Thank you, my furry cousin from the north.

And to clarify, this was in reference to our similar squirrel avatars, I'm not insinuating Gerald is "furry."

[Erika Epstein]

Aah, that cat-like avatar is a close up of Simone-the-lovely. She passed away last year, age 17, not long after Dwight made this wonderful avatar of her.

She was an avid hunter, but knew enough not to quarrel with squirrels

[Anonymous]

At least not my super-buff squirrel!