Editing Building Pads for an elevator pit

[david_spehar]

I am using building pads for the first time on a project and I think I'm missing something. I am trying to add an elevator pit but with little luck. I tried the following things.

1. We have an elevator family that is floor based (opening cut with symbolic lines for the cab, etc.). When I try to place it the building pad does not recognize it. I tried to remake the elevator family as non-floor based with a void extrusion but could not get the void to cut the building pad using the cut geometry tool (or the floors above for that matter). Is there a way to create a family that will cut both floors and building pads?

2. I created a building pad within a building pad that shared edges and dropped the elevation of the inner one which gave me a pit. I could use the edges of the opening to pick and align the pit walls but could not cut or join geometries so the graphics are pretty weak. Is there a way to clean up building pads other than detail lines and filled regions?

I was searching old threads on building pads and saw something about using the building pad to just cut the topo but dropping it well below the building and insert a floor slab above it. Does this make sense?

a little help!?

[ajayholland]

David,

1. For elevators I have used the shaft tool, placing symbolic lines to represent the elevator cab in plan. If you want something different shown in the pit plan create a detail component. It's a 2d solution.

2. I generally use the building pad just to "push" a topo down to the desired level. I then turn off its visibility, and create a floor slab (in your case for the pit floor).

~AJH

[david_spehar]

David,

2. I generally use the building pad just to "push" a topo down to the desired level. I then turn off its visibility, and create a floor slab (in your case for the pit floor).

~AJH

I was thinking about setting the elevation of the building pad so that it acts as my compacted fill and then the floor slab with granular base will sit on top of it. What you're suggesting seems to make more sense. So if you have 4" conc. on 4" fill do you create an 8" deep building pad to push grade down 8" and then draw the floor over it?

By the way, I'm afraid to ask how long the shaft tool has been in Revit. I hope it's an 8.1 thing to make me feel like less of an idiot.

[patricks]

Yes I'm pretty sure the shaft tool was added in 8.1. I have yet to make use of it.

Over the past several projects I've been using pads as my granular fill below the slab. So I make the pad whatever thickness (4" or 6" or whatever structural tells me), and set it to be 4" below the finished floor level for a 4" conc. slab. You can do something simlar for the elevator pit. Only problem is that you can't have the pad extend out past the edges of the opening in the main building pad, as the pit slab would actually do. There also tends to be graphic problems when you have a slab turndown edge with a 45-deg. slope above the granular fill. You can't join geometries of slab edges and pads, so it never looks correct in section.

[david_spehar]

Over the past several projects I've been using pads as my granular fill below the slab. So I make the pad whatever thickness (4" or 6" or whatever structural tells me), and set it to be 4" below the finished floor level for a 4" conc. slab. You can do something simlar for the elevator pit. Only problem is that you can't have the pad extend out past the edges of the opening in the main building pad, as the pit slab would actually do. There also tends to be graphic problems when you have a slab turndown edge with a 45-deg. slope above the granular fill. You can't join geometries of slab edges and pads, so it never looks correct in section.

Right now I'm trying the other option of turning the pad off and placing a floor over it. I don't know if this will help with any graphics problems since I'm essentially not using it. This is my first go at using pads so it's all trial and error right now. My first impression is that I am not a big fan of pads but they seem to be a necessary evil if you want topos in your model. Maybe 9.0 will address some of this? I'm sure by the end of the day I'll be trying your suggestion too so I'll see what happens. Thanks

[bpayne]

Building pads are generally the flat graded area where your building is constructed. They have never beed designed to host floor based families since it is just dirt. You need a floor slab to host the pit.


Example: Attached is my elevator family with pit. (Warning: It's based on ThyssonKrupp Continental i.e. really big, but it is fully parametric) I also included the door family if needed.

[imaginesociety]

Building pads are generally the flat graded area where your building is constructed. They have never beed designed to host floor based families since it is just dirt. You need a floor slab to host the pit.


Example: Attached is my elevator family with pit. (Warning: It's based on ThyssonKrupp Continental i.e. really big, but it is fully parametric) I also included the door family if needed.

Anyone else having tremendous difficulty opening this file? Every time I try to load it in a project it hangs. If I try to move the file location, it hangs. If I try to delete the file, it hangs.

[need4mospd]

FYI, check the dates on the threads before replying, and certainly before downloading an attachment. ;)