Creating Rooms

Now that the exterior of the house has been finalized we can begin laying out rooms on the interior. Rooms are defined by the walls that enclose them. Rooms are then assigned a room type that assigns common room attributes.

To define rooms using interior walls

Select Build> Wall> Straight Interior Wall

and draw interior walls as shown in the following image.

Select Build> Wall> Break Wall

and place two breaks as shown in the following image.

Select the middle wall section created by the breaks and delete it.

Adjust the wall spacing of the interior walls to match the following image. Use Interior Dimensions

as previously shown. The original interior wall (hatched in the following image for illustrative purposes) should not be moved.

Using the Interior Wall

tool, draw two more interior walls, creating a room that will become the dining room. Using an Interior Dimension

, the interior wall parallel to the entrance should be 9 feet from the opposing exterior wall.

Creating Invisible Walls

In reality, rooms may not always be divided by a physical wall. The separation of two rooms may be marked by a change in the flooring (carpet to linoleum for example), or by a change in the interior wall finishing. In Chief Architect an invisible wall can be used to define rooms without creating an actual wall. We'll use invisible walls to define more of the first floor layout. For more information about invisible walls, see "Invisible Walls".

To create an invisible wall

Select Build> Wall> Invisible Wall

and draw invisible walls as shown in the following image.

Room Types

Rooms in Chief Architect are given special attributes by assigning a Room Type. For example, kitchens use a linoleum floor material while living rooms use hardwood. For more information about rooms, see "Rooms".

To designate a Room Type for a room

Activate the Select Objects

tool.

Select the small room at the bottom of the plan and click the Open Object

edit button to open the Room Specification dialog. Double-clicking a room when the Select Objects

tool is active will also open the Room Specification dialog. For more information, see "Room Specification Dialog".

Click the Room Type drop down list and select Entry.

Click OK to return to floor plan view.

Open each of the rooms and assign room types as shown in the following image.

Decks and Porches

Decks and porches are exterior rooms that are defined by the deck railings and exterior walls that enclose them. When an exterior room is drawn using the Deck Railing

tool, the room is automatically assigned the exterior room type Deck.

Railings and Deck Railings are drawn just like walls. To illustrate this, we'll add a deck off the main floor between the master bedroom and the nook.

To draw a deck

Select Build> Decks> Straight Deck Railing

Draw three deck railings as shown in the following image.

Note that when the mouse is released, the room is assigned the Room Type Deck, and given a label.

Turn on Display Temporary Dimensions

and select the outer railing to position the railing as shown.

For information about angular dimensions, see "Angular Dimensions".