[ LONG POST ] - I'm a new user, hoping to ask if SketchUp is the best program for my use-case

So much typing! Shortest answer: SketchUp Pro (desktop version) plus some extensions will probably serve your needs as well or better than others.

SU is a general modeler, so can model just about anything you can imagine. BIM programs like REVIT, ArchiCAD and Chief Architect automate a lot construction elements involved as long as you stay within the limits of what they imagined you to need. You can get some of that functionality in SU with extensions like Medeek BIM (Medeek Wall, Truss, etc.), and then what it doesn’t cover, you can make from scratch with SU’s native tools. I like this “best of both worlds” type of solution. See this example case where the conventional stuff was all made by the extensions, but the steel moment frame and elevator cab/rails/motor were all scratch build with native tools.

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