Exterior Walls - UK style

[Peter O]

I am trying to draw a plan of an existing 1930's semi-detached house in the UK, to use as the basis for proposed extensions. The building has 280mm solid brick exterior walls, with pebbledash render in parts. I have created a 280mm solid brick wall to use for the plan, but when the external shape of the building is complete, the program adds two further layers on the exterior face, making the walls 475mm thick!

What is the reason for this, and how can I draw a wall which is the correct thickness when completed? Also, is there a way of adding a white pebbledash render to the exterior face of some of the walls?

Finally (sorry - I've just started using the program!) - I want to use a double skin brick cavity wall for the exterior of the new extension, how can I create this so that it shows correctly on the plans?

Thanks for any help with this.

Peter

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds as though you have modified the width of a cavity (veneer) wall, which will add the exterior 'brick' when the walls join to create an enclosed space and it then detects that an Exterior veneer is required.  The dimension you have altered, the 'Core', is just the inside component of the wall. The veneeer is added to that.  To get a solid stone wall you need to modify a wall that does not add a veneer - the 'Foundation' walls should do what you want. Test the wall before you modify it, by drawing a= square and see if it adds the veneer.

For your extension you need to use the veneer wall that you used before but you can only adjust the Core setting (width of the interior part). In TFP you cannot control the width of the veneer (You need the parent program, Envisioneer, to do that).  If you let me know the width of the interior brick, cavity and exterior brick, I will create it for you if you would like (or the one in the post linked below may be OK). Do you want a thickness for the interior plaster and exterior render, if applicable? (What version of TFP are you using?).

The pebbledash texture is just a question of looking for something that is what you want (or take your own photo and use that). You will find some Gravel textures in Landscape Materials that may do, the Stuccos in Finishes or even in the Stone materials there are some that may do if you set the texture scale to very small to reduce the size of the stones. A photo will match it exactly of course. If you do not know how to adjust your own photo of the wall so it can be used, post a photo here and I will adjust it for you. Take the photo square on to the wall, about a metre (3') away and in bright sunlight if possible (if you ever get that in the UK!! - I came from North Yorkshire many years ago!)

Have a look at the following two posts as they will also throw some light on your questions too and you may be able to used the cavity walls that are attached to them. http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,1342.0.html and http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,1206.0.html.

If any other clarifications are needed just ask.

Allan