Version 3.5.0 - 05.26.2024
- Enabled "flat" ceiling gypsum for dutch gable rafter roofs.
- Enabled "flat" ceiling gypsum for hip rafter roofs.
- Fixed a bug with the global settings for rafter and truss roofs when the layer/tags option is turned off.





**CRITICAL BUG FIX!**
Version 3.4.7 introduced a bug for both rafter and truss roofs when the layers/tags option is turned off.  This release fixes that bug.  I highly recommend that everyone download this latest update to correct this bug.

Version 3.4.9 - 05.26.2024
- Enabled "vaulted" ceiling insulation for gable rafter roofs (symmetric and asymmetric): Batt, Blown-in.
- Added "vaulted" ceiling gypsum to gable rafter roofs.
- Enabled "flat" ceiling gypsum for gable rafter roofs with ceiling joists option enabled.

Tutorial 30: General Roof Connections (16:54 min.)


Please email me any feedback or suggestions on this new feature.

Version 3.4.8 - 05.25.2024
- Enabled Roof Connections for the following additional truss types: tray, monocathedral, cambered, monoscissor and coffer.
- Enabled Roof Connections for hip and dutch gable rafter roofs.
- Enabled the "Edit Roof Assembly" function for dutch gable rafter roofs (imperial and metric units).
- Enabled the following 3D roof cladding material for dutch gable rafter roofs: Metal.

After all of this if you want no fastener applications to show several things are acceptable. DAP or Elmer's plastic wood will do the trick, but sanding is required. Caulking nail screw heads can be tricky.. however if you are priming before painting good primers, followed by a paint and primer product will do a decent job of it for you.

Here ya go!  My latest

Version 3.4.7 - 05.23.2024
- Enabled Roof Connections between complex roofs, rafter roofs, truss roofs and solid groups.
- Added the "Configure Roof Connection" feature to the edit menu for complex, rafter and truss roofs.

This is not a completely new feature however the configuration capability introduced (and the level of granularity achievable) is new and somewhat experimental at this point.  I'm sure it will take a few updates and versions before all the issues are worked out and all the necessary refinement is achieved.

Also note that that not all rafter roofs and not all truss types have this feature enabled yet.  The following rafter roofs have been enabled:

- Gable
- Shed
- Shed w/ Ledger

The following truss types have been enabled:

- Common
- Monopitch
- Scissor
- Attic
- Tail Bearing
- Symmetric Cathedral
- Cathedral
- Parallel Chord

More to come soon...

Got power?  Need a simple solution to extend the small power station to run a small fridge?  Check this out!

I second the idea for a perimeter foundation. With a 12" frost depth it would be a better than pier foundation and about as much work as a bunch of pier holes, with concrete in the bottoms.  Perimeter would be much more stable than many pier foundations can ever hope to be.

Digging the trench can be assisted with the use of a roto-tiller to loosen up the soil, then shovel it out and rototill some more as necessary.

The more piers you have the more chances you create for uneven settling and movements of the piers.

The AWC calculator can help try different sizes for joists.  A simple cabin without any large loads such as big refrigerators, water beds , etc can likely safely use 30 PSF as a floor load. Floor joist selection will depend upon lumber species and grades as well as spacing, but a 16 foot span is possible for a one floor simple cabin.     https://awc.org/calculators/span-options-calculator-for-wood-joists-and-rafters/

You mention 2 porches. Is that one on a long side and a second on an end?  How do you intend to frame the porch flooring?

Quote from: Motovista on May 17, 2024, 09:38:49 PMThey were $4 when they were first issued. The architect who created them allowed someone to share them. That person decided to use them to sell some plans that there is very little interest in. That's not what I call ethical, and likely not what the architect had in mind. When they first got hold of them, they offered them if you purchased three months of a membership in some home building club for $30. That's closer to reasonable. I don't find it hard to believe that a company would try to make money, I find it hard to believe that someone would try to use them to sell something that apparently few people are interested in. I have no issue with paying a fair price for them. Paying someone who had nothing to do with their creation and got them free almost $300 is something else. It's like someone got a free chicken, and offers to give it away. But to get the free chicken, you need to buy 18 ducks, whether or not you want 18 ducks. If you describe this to most people, they will tell you it sounds like a scam.

Why not just ask the Raabes?  I doubt he's making a killing selling $300 plans to a handful of DIY people, which is rare enough these days especially now that most places are regulated into oblivion.  

FWIW the dude got started in the peace corps for god sake, living in Kurdi gunds of Rojhilat probably surviving off of naan, chai, and cheese.  I've lived with those people, I don't think the scamming sort would last 2 years out there, part of the reason why I was attracted to Mr. Raabe's plans in the first place.