Message: This operation modifies one or more automatically generated walls


Reference Number: KB-00872
Last Modified: July 16, 2021

The information in this article applies to:

Chief Architect Premier or Chief Architect InteriorsHome Designer Professional or Home Designer Architectural or Home Designer Suite



QUESTION

I see the following warning message every time I select certain walls in my plan:

"This operation modifies one or more automatically generated walls. The walls(s) will be retained and will not regenerate automatically. Would you like to continue with the operation?"

What does it mean?


ANSWER

In some cases, Chief Architect will automatically generate walls based on the conditions in the plan.

Some examples of these include:

  • Attic Walls
  • Invisible walls connecting "island" rooms
  • Automatically generated foundation walls when "Auto Rebuild Foundation" is turned on.
  • A wall on the floor below a wall marked as a "Bearing Wall"


The most common reason this warning will display is when the Chief Architect software detects a gap between a wall that defines a living space and the roof plane (or planes) above it, an automatic wall is created on the floor above to fill the gap. This new Attic Wall is located on the floor above the wall that defines the living space. A classic example is the Attic Wall that is created above a Full Gable Wall.

Attic Walls are only generated when there is a roof present. Any time the roof is rebuilt using the Build Roof dialog, the program deletes and rebuilds not only the roof planes but any automatically generated Attic Walls that might be in the plan. This helps to keep the entire 3D model current.

Attic Walls are also rebuilt whenever walls, floors and ceilings are rebuilt. This is another means of keeping the model up-to-date and can be done by selecting
Build> Floor> Rebuild Walls/Floors/Ceilings from the menu.

If you edit an Attic Wall, the program will retain the wall and any changes that you may have made to it the next time the roof and attic walls are rebuilt.

This is helpful because it allows you to avoid making the same changes repeatedly; however, it is important to remember that if walls or roof planes adjacent to an edited Attic Wall are re-positioned, the Attic Wall may need to be manually edited, as well.