Creating a Carport

The information in this article applies to:

QUESTION

I need to create a carport. How can I create that in Home Designer?

ANSWER

Creating a carport, or outside structure which has a roof held up by columns instead of walls, is easy to create using the Room Divider tool (previously called the Invisible Wall tool).

To create a room using invisible walls

1. First, launch your Home Designer software and Open  the plan in which you would like to create the carport.
   
   
   
2. In order to specify a roof over an area, we need to create a completely enclosed room within our plan.
   
   
   
3. Select Build> Wall> Room Divider  and click and drag out walls to completely enclose the area. 
   
   

   We could also use a Railing and then specify each one that you place as Invisible on the General panel of their specification dialog.

   
   
4. Once we have created a room, we can use the Select Objects  tool to select it, and click on the Open Object  edit button to display the Room Specification dialog.
   
   
   
5. Since our carport is not a traditional room requiring a floor, on the General panel of the Room Specification dialog, we will change the Room Type to a Slab.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Select the Structure panel in the Room Specification dialog. 
   
   
   
   
   • Lower the Floor Height to -11" so that it will be only an inch above the Terrain.
     
     
   • If you only want a roof, and do not wish to see the Ceiling displayed in your carport, remove the check from the Flat Ceiling Over This Room option. 
   
   
   
7. Go to the Materials panel and set the appropriate asphalt or concrete material for the slab room's Floor Structure.
   
   
   
8. Once you have finished making changes in this dialog, click the OK button to apply and close the Room Specification dialog.
   
   

Now we are ready to manually place the columns that will hold up the carport area. 

To manually place columns

1. Select View> Library Browser  to display the Library Browser.
   
   
   
2. Navigate to Home Designer Core Catalogs> Architectural> Millwork> Columns.
   
   
   
3. Depending on the type of column that you want, you may also want to look at the Shapes> Boxes> Closed item in the Library Browser.
   
   
   
4. Continue browsing the library until you locate the type of column  that you want to use, then select it, and click in plan view to place the column.
   
   
   • Use the Select Objects tool to select the column and click on the Open Object edit button to display the Millwork Specification dialog (or the Geometric Shape Specification dialog) and change the Width, Height, Depth, and Floor to Bottom values for the column as well as the materials that it has applied to it.
     
     
   • You may also find it helpful to resize the column in a Full Camera view.
     
   
   
   
5. You can adjust the position of the column once placed by using the Select Objects tool to select the column, and use it's center square Move  edit handle to move it in to place.
   
   

   If you have difficulty placing the column precisely where you want, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard while moving it to allow for unrestricted movement (Command Key if using a Mac). 

   
   
6. If other columns will be identical to your original column, use the Select Objects  tool to select the column, and click on the Copy/Paste  edit button.
   
   
   
7. Click on the Sticky Mode edit button to be able to paste multiple copies of the column without having to select Copy/Paste each time. 
   
   
   
8. Click in plan to paste copies of the column until you have the appropriate number of copies.
   
   
   
9. Use the Select Objects tool to exit Sticky Mode. Click on a column and use the Move  edit handle to move the column into place.
   
   
   
10. Take a Full Camera  view to see the results.