8 replies to this topic

[Dennis Hilborn]

Locally, and I assume nationwide, since almost every wall section I've ever seen shows it this way, the rafter has a "birds mouth" cut and rests directly on the top plate.  This works out to a "heel height" of 5" for 2x6 rafter and 2x4 wall and slope of 10/12.

 

Yet whenever I draw a roof and examine the statistics it almost always shows the rafter sitting 10-14" above the plate and a very large heel height.  The drawing of the elevation looks nice but is not drawn correctly since it shows too much brick.

 

I understand that it works this way because the programmers wanted the soffit line to be continuous around the project so they chose that line to be the benchmark.  But that's not the way framers around here work.  They vary the overhang length if needed to match soffit lines and raise the rafter only when absolutely necessary.

 

Is there any way to set the heel height to be the default bench mark and let the soffit line float or is this something that has to be adjusted on each edge?

[Steve and Carla Farnam]

Dennis before you draw the roof all options, including the heel height, can be set globally under the roof options command.

After the roof is drawn if you edit the roof edge you are able to set the heel height for each edge.

[Heath Foster]

Try adjusting the “TOP to Facia” setting under roof options or the settings on a roof edge. 0” would be a cantilevered roof where the rafter sits on the ceiling joist.
Or adjusting the “Seat Cut” or “Heal Height” they all raise or lower the roof in reference to the wall.

[Dennis Hilborn]

Well, I know how to edit the roof to get it back where I want it, I'm looking for a way for it to stay put.

 

If you change the slope of a finished roof (that never happens), it keeps the soffit level and raises or lowers the rafter off the plate.  In reality what happens in the field would be that the rafter seat would remain the same and the soffit level would move up or down.

[Steve and Carla Farnam]

Dennis the only location I know of for setting roof option default would be

System Options > Material Dimensions > Roof Options

[Dennis Hilborn]

This diagram shows graphically what I'm talking about.

I'm looking for a place to set a default setting that will keep the RAFTER in the position it should be.  TEST.pdf   187.4KB   32 downloads

[Dennis Hilborn]

Try adjusting the “TOP to Facia” setting under roof options or the settings on a roof edge. 0” would be a cantilevered roof where the rafter sits on the ceiling joist.
Or adjusting the “Seat Cut” or “Heal Height” they all raise or lower the roof in reference to the wall.

 

If the "top to facia" is set to zero, the whole thing jumps up to put the soffit at the plate level and the rafter at 20".

[Keith Almond]

Dennis,

 

AUTOMATIC is very awkward, as Softplan doesn't know what you want to do. To make the process easier for you, you have to reconfigure the drawing options before you draw each roof, set the parameters and then draw what you want (Typically just adjust the pitch and then correct the seat cut). Once a roof is drawn, you can do what you want with the parameters (they only affect subsequently drawn roofs), the roof will stay as it was created.

 

The most important thing would be to set your system options to your most common roof configuration and work from there.

[Don Gibbons]

Dennis, the 'pivot ' point in SoftPlan is out at the fascia, not where the rafter sits on the plate. Set your Roof Options for overhang(measure from the exterior bearing material), pitch and Seat Cut( this should be last and typically set to 1½"). Set the Seat Cut last and that will show everything accurately for your roof if you've set all the other options first. The Heel Height will automatically adjust to the correct number.