Creating an Opening in the Stem Wall for a Garage Door

The information in this article appliesto:

QUESTION

I have created a first floor room with a garage door. When I add my foundation the stem wall will not create an opening for the garage door. Instead, the garage door seems to rest on top of the stem wall, just like the rest of the walls of my garage.

ANSWER

If certain conditions are not met, a stem wall will not recognize a garage door above it, and will treat it like other doors, which rest on top of the stem wall. To create a foundation in which the stem wall breaks and allows the garage door to reach the slab floor of a garage, follow the procedure below. 

To create the garage room

1. Select the Straight Exterior Wall tool, and in a clockwise fashion draw four connected walls.
   
   
   
2. To define this room as a garage, use the Select Objects tool to click in the room to select it, then click on the Open Object edit tool to display the Room Specification dialog.
   
   
   
3. On the General panel of the Room Specification dialog, define the room type as a Garage.
   
    
   
   

   If you skip this step, and do not define the room as a Garage, then Home Designer will treat the garage door as it does all other doors, and have it rest on top of the stem wall.

   
   
4. Once this is complete, select the OK button to apply this change.
   
   

To build the foundation

1. From the menu select Build> Floor> Build Foundation .
   
   
   
2. In the Build Foundation dialog, set parameters for your foundation, then click OK.
   
   In this example, the default values are used.
   
    
   
   

To return to the first floor to add the garage door

1. Using the Up One Floor tool, return to Floor 1.
   
   
   
2. Once you are back on the first floor, from the menu select Build> Door> Garage Door and click on the wall in which you want to add a garage door.
   
   
   
3. To create a 3D view and ensure the garage door is correctly protruding into the foundation, select 3D> Create Camera View> Perspective Full Overview .
   
   In Home Designer Pro, select 3D> Create Perspective View> Perspective Full Overview  instead.
   
   
   
4. In the camera view, you will see that the garage door now penetrates through the stem wall, and it rests on the garage floor.
   
   

As you have probably noted, this process must be followed exactly in order for the foundation to recognize the garage door and form an opening for it.

In brief, you must first build the first floor and define the room as a garage. Then, you must build a foundation. The first floor room must be defined as a garage in order for Home Designer to build the foundation correctly. Once the first floor is built and the foundation is complete, the last step is to add the garage door.