Hi
As a newbie, I'm just starting to get to grips with TFPP and trying to draw up an extension on my house.
I want to make best use of the attic space. Should the main/exterior walls be done as pygmy walls? The head height/ceiling should then be limited by the pitch of the roof. But I'm struggling with this.
Is there a best way to start drawing up a room in the attic?
Finally, is there such a thing as a simple CAD package to which I can switch the TFPP files for completion, or is this unnecessary?
Thank you for any advice you can give me.
James Mitchell
Hi James,
Welcome to the forum! :)
Very simply put the attic walls (second Floor) are, as you called them, 'pigmy walls' (In Building Locations set the Second Floor walls to just a mm or fraction of an inch high) but the Head Height should be normal and the Ceiling height to the same as the walls. The Walls themselves must be set to Extend To Roof - if you do this they will automatically extend into gables or up to the roof itself and will accept normal height doors and windows where the pitch of the roof allows.
Drawing these walls and inserting windows and doors, is exactly the same as inserting them on the Ground Floor. Because the roof is inserted on the second floor, the roof will sit at just the 'pigmy' height and the walls will then extend to meet the roof. Because the attic ceiling comes right down to the floor, it should be set to the same height as the wall height but the type set to Cathedral, with the same slope as the roof. The 'main walls' (Ground Floor) should be just the normal height.
Attics have been dealt with a number of times before so use the forum Search (for 'attic') to get more help on this if necessary.
Plans elevations etc can be displayed and printed as displayed on the screen but there is no way to put several elevations for example on one piece of paper or add dimensions and text to these elevations, unless you use the technique described in the PDF in this post: http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,877.0.html (http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,877.0.html). Text, Dimensions etc can be added to the plan view of course.
The model can be exported as a DXF file and that can then be opened in other CAD programs (such as TurboCAD and Design CAD - both also from IMSI), where they can be edited and used to produce construction drawings. Jack has produced some videos on doing this - http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,2093.msg9220.html#msg9220 (http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,2093.msg9220.html#msg9220). The DXF output should also be openable in most other CAD programs, probably even some free ones.
If you can justify the extra expense, (about 20 times the cost of TFP) the a better option would be Envisioneer (TFP's parent program) which allows you to produce full working drawings 'automatically' from the 3D model, including one created in TFP as it will open a TFP file.
Allan
Thanks for that, Allan. You've got me moving again. I'll have to think and try your other points.
I had tried various other searches without any luck. Your help is appreciated and I'm sure I'm going to need you again.
James Mitchell