Floor finishes

[bgauthier]

I need help. It might look easy for some of you, but I need to find out how to make a floor with different finishes. On the same level of a house, you can have ceramic tiles, wood floor and carpet. I tried creating the rough part (floor trusses + sheathing) and create another floor that is 1/4" deep for the finishes. The problem is that the components will be on the rough part, so their are few interferences with; casing, bathtub, toilet, doors, etc.
Thanks

[aaronrumple]

In general - if you set the rough carpentry to your level and then apply the finish floor over the carpentry - things will work fine. Just remember to take any vertical dimensions from the level line rather than the finished floor. Having objects sitting on the rough carpentry like casework and plumbing fixtures is no big deal. They will just intersect the finish floor and generally not cause any issues with drafting.

If you really must set it all perfectly - lower the rough carpentry to accommodate the finishes. Or as an alternative - adjust your casework and plumbing fixtures' elevation up to set on top of the floor finish. You'll then need to remember to dimension to the correct surfaces.

[cphubb]

I would also look to see what your goals are. Are you creating a rendering of the space, or do you need to schedule and do material takeoffs? Aaron's method works well in the latter case, in the former the paint tool works well. I normally do not advocate the paint tool but for pure visualization it is the fastest option.

[bgauthier]

Thank you. What thickness would you give the finishes? Would you draw them within the wall?

[cphubb]

If I were modeling the finished I would use the approximate thickness. Carpet I use 1/8" Ceramic tile 1/4" sheet goods 1/8" terrazzo 1/2" etc. I generally consider these finishes to be ABOVE the finish floor and they are separate floors so that the room can be subdivided. However in some simple change cases we have split out a portion of the entire floor and changed the top layer to a different finish. Easier to manage but a little less accurate. I usually make a decision based on the expected outcome and time alloted.

[aaronrumple]

I use 1/4" for all surfaces. I found that to be a good size to be able to see/select the surface - but not too big to interfere with CD's. We never use the actual thickness for detailing transitions - as we just use drafting details for those. Having one thickness just made it simpler to manage all the finishes.

[SCShell]

I use 1/4" for all surfaces. I found that to be a good size to be able to see/select the surface - but not too big to interfere with CD's. We never use the actual thickness for detailing transitions - as we just use drafting details for those. Having one thickness just made it simpler to manage all the finishes.

Hey there,

Ditto here.
Steve

[brd]

I picked up a suggestion at AU a few months ago to draw floor finishes with ceilings. It sounds weird drawing a floor with a ceiling, but ceilings can be drawn by room. If you just set the height of the ceiling to 0" and apply the right surface pattern. I haven't tried it yet, but apparently it doesn't have the issue of making floor hosted elements disappear. Has anybody tried this method, I was curious about how it works.

[Scott D Davis]

yeah, it works! Its hard to get over the "naming" of the tool, so I told the developers to "copy' the ceiling tool, rename it "Floor Finish" and set the default height to 0.

Makes more "logical" sense that way!

I actually wish some other tools could do something similar...like the paint bucket. The paint bucket can automatically select the face of a wall, or a "split" area...so wouldn't it be cool if the material you "painted" on could also have a thickness? If this were true, I'd probably build my walls as just the "core" and then go around and apply all the finishes by paint bucket! (as long as they showed correctly in section and detail!)

[aaronrumple]

...start by making a ceiling. (or maybe you have one already.) Edit the ceiling. Copy the sketch. Start the floor command. Paste in the sketch to the same place. Done.

[sfaust]

just was working on this and came up with the same solution. works ok for now, but it sure would be nice to have a "floor finish" tool that works the same as the ceiling tool...

[sfaust]

ok, for anyone doing this workflow, what are you doing for wall base? If I use a floor, it's kind of annoying because you have to go through several steps to get the floor. Either you create it by picking walls, etc. or you create the ceiling and copy the sketch like Aaron suggested. Neither is nearly as fast as just using a ceiling. However, I can add trim to a floor very easy with the slab edge tool. I have to modify to go around doors which is kind of time consuming, but not that bad. With ceilings, however, I have to create in place sweeps which is slow. any suggestions?