How do I attach a footing to a CMU wall style in AutoCAD Architecture 2014?

[DGR Design]

This is my first time ever on AUGI forum!
I have AutoCAD Architecture 2014 Student Version downloaded from Autodesk. I am trying to create different wall styles within a specific project. I'd like to have the 8X8X16 CMU walls be composed of the CMU wall AND a footing to go along with it. I'm thinking that if this is possible then the footings will "clean up" along with the walls and the walls will show up in section views with their footings. Can this be done, and if so, can you give the footings (stem width and height, pad width and height) dimensions? THANKS!

[libbybapa]

Yes, kinda, sorta. I find it easiest to separate out the foundation plan walls so that they just include the footing, stem wall and top course as the various foundation wall conditions often change at times other than when the upper wall conditions change.

Adding footings is as easy as defining the footing component dimensions and materials. Learn how to use the defining points of wall bottom, baseline, base height and top of wall and how to define the width dimensions using the formula of X + Base Width (*/+-) Y. Often the component needs to be defined as offset + Base Width * -1. If you get stuck, post up a file and a description of the actual desire dimensions.

[dkoch]

Assuming that you leave the Baseline of the Wall up at the floor line above, you will also have to specify that the Floor Line of your wall extends down far enough to show the footing. You may want to examine some of the out-of-the-box content that is included with ACA (and which you should have been able to include with your installation; having never installed a student version, I am not 100% certain of that), as well as the associated Wall Tool for those styles.

The imperial CMU-12 Concrete-12x24-footing Wall Style is one such style. It sets the bottom of the footing component a fixed 1'-4" below the Baseline, and the Wall tool sets the Floor Line at that same distance below the Baseline. If you want to have a single Wall Style that can be used for more than a single footing depth, you can locate the bottom of the Footing component at the Wall Bottom, and then set the Floor Line the desired distance below the Floor Line.

Any one Wall instance will have a constant bottom of footing. While you can slope the Floor Line, if you locate the bottom of footing at the Wall Bottom, the footing will be placed at the lowest point of the Wall Bottom and run horizontally from there. If the Floor Line slopes (or jogs) up, the footing component will be truncated (and, if the Floor Line rises above the top of the footing component, the footing component will disappear completely at that point).