This is kind of what options I have in mind, as you can see there are a number of possible permutations by enabling or disabling certain features:



Each color denotes a unique material that can be specified by the user.  Hopefully this should give enough flexibility when it comes to wrapping free standing columns.

For now I will stick with rectangular posts, circular posts/columns (greek columns) are a whole can of worms on their own.

Postscript:  Now that I am thinking about it some more both the wrap and the wainscot will need an option for an air gap, since the wrap may be stone or brick and not butt up tight against the actual structural steel or wood post.

Version 1.0.0b - 01.16.2019
- Enabled opening and closing of all garage doors.



Toggling the opening angle will have no affect when you open a garage door, it only affects the man door openings.

With the garage doors the assumption is a 12" radius for the track of the garage door.  When I further flesh out the Garage Door tab in the global settings I will make this parameter user definable.  It appears that the most common radius for the garage door track is somewhere between 12" - 24".  So for now I am using the minimum radius of 12" since it provides the least amount of headroom when the garage door is open but also allows for the least amount of installed space required (clearance between top of garage door and ceiling).

The door opening/closing tool as was actually a very simple piece to add in. I probably should have added it a long time ago but no one had ever asked.

When you open and close doors the wall itself and all of its components/elements do not get altered in any way so the nice thing is that a wall regen is not required. This makes this feature very quick and lightweight. All that is really happening is the door(s) are getting rotated into their new positions or back again.

Since the tool is persistent, you can easily go around the model opening and closing doors until you are blue in the face.

The Larry Haun videos (free on youtube) along with his book the very efficient carpenter clicked for me. You still need to learn the codes but it is a good overview.

Stuff by Taunton... 'for pros by pros' I liked most of those. Like akwoodchuck said, I did spend some time in the library. I would check out something like 5 plumbing books, skim them and then wound up buying my favorite, but still found good tidbits from the others.

It is definitely good to start with books because you know they have gone through an editorial process and that what you're reading is going to be generally correct.

I did get a lot of good info on youtube and reading through professional forums. You do have to use your judgment on these sites, lots of people don't know what they're talking about.

For home performance, buildingscience.com and Joe Lstiburek are a great resource. I would buy the version of his book that is applicable to your climate.

Part of what worked for me was to get a general overview of how to do things before starting to build. But I didn't research hanging and mudding drywall, laying and finishing a wood floor, building a wooden staircase, tile shower, ... list goes on ... until I was at that step. I learned enough to make sure that my rough framing layout would enable me to do all those things, though.

For now I'd focus on general framing and masonry, as well as Joe Lstiburek's book.


Also this list is still good:

https://countryplans.com/books.html

When making the final joint I discovered my tablesaw was not square!  Took a little work but got the blade set back to zero (and have no idea how it got out) and made the final edges squared up for gluing etc.

Put it together and noticed movement in the wood already   Must be do to the temp change so I cut in the biscuits, glued it up and clamped it together.

Now I'm looking for some hardwood to make a bowtie or two in the center to make sure it doesn't pull apart at the cabin.