Wall Framer customization possible?

[Cloud Hidden]

If you are framing a wall with peaks, the wall framer will put a stud on each side of a wall peak. There seems to be no way to stop this. My walls are framed to a dome. I use many wall peaks to match the curve of the dome--as many as 1 per running foot. The framer is putting one stud on each side of each peak--ignoring the specified stud spacing--which means there are many, many extra studs. This is not how we'd frame such a wall, and vastly overestimates the lumber requirement. We'd follow the standard spacing and not let it be dictated by the wall peaks.

The framer is especially useful for these walls, since it's hard to do a manual material takeoff on a curve-topped wall, but adding studs at each wall peak, rather than just following the specified stud spacing, makes it a whole lot less useful.

Any advice on how to address this? Ideally there'd be a checkbox labeled "Add Full Stud at each Wall Peak" or "Use the specified spacing even at wall peaks" or similar. But until then, is there any way to get a 2D, 3D, and worksheet that reflects the right spacing?

[ 09-12-2003, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: Cloud Hidden ]

[Cloud Hidden]

Any advice on how to address this?

[Robert Anderson]

There's no way to customize the Wall Framer at this time. The only way is to adjust your wall peaks -- you might try "burying" them in the domes a little to reduce the number of WP.

[Cloud Hidden]

I already do bury them--only have a few inches of thickness to play with, though, be/c we build w/ thin-shell technology. But even at 4', which is the max segmentation I can absorb, it's still at least 12 too many 2x's on each typical full wall.

Classic Catch-22...If I don't do the wall framing the builder will hate me, and they'll hate me if I overestimate their materials by 25%, which is about the best I can get now with the Wall Framer.

What's the best way to position this? Do I add it to the wish list and hope for the best in the future? Since it's more than just another feature--it's about making an existing feature match building practices--I'd really, really like it to carry some weight. How about this....I'll remove some of my dome-related wish-list items for this and a feature to be named later!? Seriously though, I have scripted my way around things like making walls rise to the dome, and really don't need them nearly as much as this. This one's a pretty big one, be/c it gives info that builders use for bidding.

Thanks for looking at it.

[Robert Anderson]

There's no quick-and-easy answer for this. You are using the wall framer in an application which is quite different from the "standard" application, which in fact does want double studs at plate breaks.

[Cloud Hidden]

I don't suppose you'd make wall framing code "open source" so that we could expand upon it, would you? I just learned to my dismay that it doesn't seem to look at curved walls--darn--which really puts me in a pickle. Great feature...potentially a huge time saver....but misses some of the things that are critical to me. I've been able to script my way around a bunch of the curve-related limitations, but this one would be lots easier with a head start.