Adding Flat Regions

A typical walkout basement has an upper flat region where you enter the house on the first floor, and a lower flat region where you walk out to ground level from the basement.

To create flat regions

In floor plan view, Zoom

in on the house to see it in more detail.

Make sure Object Snaps

are on.

Select Terrain> Elevation Data> Elevation Region

and draw a flat region directly below the deck.

Select and open the flat region for specification and assign an elevation of negative 92
(-92) inches.

Select Fill Window

to include the terrain perimeter on screen.

Draw another flat region that borders the main entrance, as shown in the following image.

Leave the elevation of this flat region at the default height of 0.

Just as we did in the previous tutorial, select the deck on the first floor and click the Build Advanced Deck Framing

edit button. Go to the second floor and repeat this step for the second floor deck.

Now create a 3D camera view of the deck. Create this camera view so that the focal point is the walkout basement. If you cannot remember how to do this, see "To create a camera view".

The second floor deck was not given structural supports because there was a deck beneath it. We can take care of that manually.

To add support for the second story deck

Return to floor plan view.

On the first floor, group-select the deck railing and open it for specification.

On the Railing tab of the Deck Railing Specification dialog check Post to Beam and click OK. See "Railing Tab".

Take a look in a 3D view .

A section of our first floor deck railing should not have the Post to Beam attribute checked. Return to floor plan view and turn on the Reference Display

Select Build> Wall> Break Wall

and place a break in the deck railing where the second floor deck above recedes.

Select the remaining section of deck railing and uncheck Post to Beam on the Railing tab.

Turn off the Reference Display

Take a look in a 3D view.