Medeek Foundation

Version 1.0.0 - 07.03.2016

  • Created Medeek Foundation Plugin, utilizing SketchUp’s Ruby API.
  • Added slab on grade foundation type (rectangular outline only).
  • Added garage curb and interior footing options.

View model here:

https://www.qrvr.io/p/K7bzyt

The thing that would make this plugin particularly useful is if the user could define a polygon outline for the foundation, that will be next, then onto stemwall foundations.

7 Likes

Link to the plugin web page (under construction):

The toolbar icons:

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If u show the video or animated view how the plugin works it will be more helpful

@atek, why don’t you download the trial version and find out for yourself how it works?

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The slab on grade foundation is so simple it does not warrant a video, at least not yet. You click the toolbar icon, a menu pops up, you click OK then select three points that define your rectangle another menu pops up with some settings (leave as default) and then click OK.

Thats pretty much it for now. Only the 2nd icon actually does anything for now. I’m just getting started on this one. However I like to have people vett the plugin as I develop it so that it addresses the real world requirements of active designers and architects. At least that is the goal.

2 Likes

My wife kindly pointed out that the interior footing might not extend the full width or length of the building, very good point. To correctly specify an interior footing you also need a start and end point, so five inputs total to define this feature:

Direction: X Dir or Y Dir
Footing Width:
Footing Depth:
Start: Measured from first selection point that defines foundation outline.
End: Measured from first selection point that defines foundation outline, must be greater than Start length.

An example of a partial width interior footing:

View model here:

The problem with the basic UI is that it only allows for one interior footing. If I webdialog this input menu I can show the layout of the foundation in plan view and allow for an unlimited number of interior footings as well as have footings running in both the X and Y direction. The possibilities are really endless.

The same methodology would apply for an arbitrary polygon shaped foundation.

This plugin, with a more fully developed UI, will have great potential for use in architectural and/or structural building models. I think that in its current state, it will be less tedious for me to model foundations including interior footings and stemwalls from scratch, but I can see that soon this will no longer be the case.

This effort and your truss plugin will go a long way toward making certain technical aspects of professional work more facile for architects and other designers. I appreciate this.

2 Likes

The ability to go back in and easily edit a foundation without having to recreate it will be crucial to the success of this plugin.

Version 1.0.1 - 07.05.2016

  • Enabled partial width interior footings for slab on grade foundation.
  • Addressed minor bugs with UI geometry menu: Interior footing depth can now be specified.

View model here:

Interior footings quickly complicate things but a well designed html UI should clarify things greatly and make it much more intuitive. That will be the next objective.

In addition to interior bearing walls there are often interior columns that need a pad footing (typically square footing). Within the html UI I need the ability to add an unlimited amount of wall and column footings.

If an exclusion area is simply a hole in the slab then it is probably easiest just to push/pull a hole in the slab. However, if the exclusion area is a large opening with footings required at the perimeter then that is a different matter. It might look something like this:

View model here:

Note how the opening bisects the interior footing, which does potentially complicate any algorithm that would generate the hole and perimeter footing. I will have to give this some more thought…

Version 1.0.2 - 07.08.2016

  • Added stemwall foundation type (rectangular outline only).
  • Enabled post and pier interior floor beam(s) with a strip footing.
  • Added brick ledge option to stemwall foundation.

View model here:

The interior floor/footing assembly is grouped as a component so that adding extra floor beams or moving them is easily accomplished.

When the user selects a type B footing (stemwall foundation) a keyway is inserted between the stemwall and footing:

View model here:

I’m trying to determine which is the preferred method of blocking out a stemwall foundation for garage doors where a slab will be poured in the garage. I’ve seen it done both ways. Option 1 does not typically block all of the stemwall out and seems to be more common in locations where the frostline is deeper (24" or deeper). Option 2 completely blocks out the stemwall at the garage door and then a thicken edge is poured where the slab meets the footing at the garage door. From a structural point of view which is the better method and also from a constructio point of view what are the pros and cons?

Option 1:

Option 2:

I should point out I’ve also seen a sort of a combination of the two options where the blockout does not extend to the footing but a thickened edge is employed at the slab/door interface and the thickened edge is typically 2x the slab thickness, or called out as a minimum dimension of 8".

Option 3:

I’ve only ever seen option 1, …although on site I’m sure I have seen them hold the block 20-50mm down with a timber shutter at the edge so that the finished screed goes right to the front edge.

The blockout methods seem to be all over the board, I’ve even talked with some of my engineering friends and the response is mixed there as well. I guess I just need to provide the option for any of these three configurations within the plugin. Sometimes I feel that I get bogged down in the details but I hope some of this level of detail is appreciated.

The other issue I’m having with slabs within garage spaces is the slope of the slab. I’m trying to determine if is worth trying to incorporate a slope into the slab as it would actually be poured. As far as I know there is not a minimum slope specified for garage floors in the IRC 2015 or earlier only this fairly general statement:

The area of the floor used for parking of automobiles or other vehicles shall be sloped to facilitate the movement of liquids to a drain or toward the main vehicle entry doorway.

Typically the garage slope is 1/8" per foot or 1:96, how critical is this to you the user of the plugin? Flat would be easier to program but then your blocked out entries on the side of a garage would be only theoretical.

Here is a quick study on a garage slab that slopes 3" over about 24’:

View model here:

What to do with the slope at the garage door? I’ve flattened it out but that leaves a line in the slab.

At the side door entrance the right side of the slab is about 3/8" higher than the left side. Entrances that are parallel to the slope will have this property (problem?).

At the rear of the garage the slab is 6" below the top of the foundation and at the garage door it is 9" below the top. Perusing through different plan sets I’ve collected over the years this seems pretty typical for the slope (1/8" in 12").

I think I should probably make the slope an option so those that want to model it can.

Rather than make the slope a percent grade or degrees I think it would be easiest to let the users specify a total rise or drop for the entire slab.

I was playing with the Dibac plugin a little bit today and I really like the wall creation tool or how it works when selecting the 2D wall layout. I think I can program something like this for stem wall creation (polyline) that would allow the user to select any random stem wall layout. I’ve pretty much got it worked out already but I’m trying to figure out how to do that little trick with the tab key which allows the user to toggle the wall justification. Any hints would be appreciated.

Version 1.0.3 - 08.28.2016

  • Enabled interior bearing wall(s) with strip footing.

View model here:

I still need to enable the ability to add framed openings into the interior stud walls. Interior stud/bearing walls can be created with single or double top plates and can be full span or partial spanning as shown in the image above.

Also note that the studs are aligned from the right side of the stemwall foundation edge so that they line up directly under the floor joists.

My new job has kept me away for the last few weeks so that getting anything done on the plugins has been a real challenge. Even so I’ve been giving some thought to stepped footings/foundations and would like some input from the designers and architects out there on what is common practice and what they would like to see available for this sort of feature within the plugin.

View mode here:

Note that I messed up on this model the exterior cripple/pony walls should have only had one top plate so that the combined top plate from the shallow sections and the single top plate would have created the typical double top plate.

Version 1.0.4 - 11.27.2016

  • Enabled rebar and mesh reinforcement for slab on grade foundations.

View model here: