The tee intersection algorithm seems to be working fairly well:
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The current todo list in no particular order:
-
Interior Trim (Crown Molding, Baseboards, Chair Rail, Wainscot)
-
Garage Doors
-
Update door casing for interior walls
-
Gypsum wrap for interior wall openings and end walls
-
Exterior Cladding Corner Option (Lap and Miter)
-
Wall Split Tool
-
Wall Join Tool
-
Gable / Shed Wall Tool
-
Add Glulam Beams to Window and Door Header Options
-
Implement Wall Groups (currently you can assign a group letter or number but it is not active)
and of course any other bugs that pop up along the way.
EDIT:
Ooooohhhhhh, @MikeWayzovski beats me to it,… way back in April. 
I thought I searched this long thread well enough so as to not repeat things. Sorry @MikeWayzovski, and @medeek.
I was wondering about how you might implement shearwalls into your plugin.
Maybe, its not really necessary since their inclusion and placement are going to be driven by engineering decisions, more than the opinions of your average designers and builders.
But it seems this breaks down into two forms:
- Where shear paneling is attached onto the existing stud placements… using the default conditions of your plugins stud layout.
OR,
- Cut Out sections, to accommodate Prefab Shear Walls… e.g. Simpson Strong-Walls as an example, with Metal, or Wood options being available.
I guess with respect to the prefab cutout shear walls, those cutout areas are already quite similar to a door opening—less any header, and cripple studs… so maybe this whole thing boils down to a special case use of a modified door opening.
Just in case my ideas above are so bad, 
that they are simply not worth reading, or responding to. I’m afraid I have another… not intended as further torture, but as an attempt to redeem myself.
RE: Door/Windows:
Maybe an option for Kerfed Jambs (albeit only on exterior doors, to accommodate kerfed weatherstripping… which is possibly also included (…for an extra fee, of course).
I haven’t really gotten (into the rabbit hole) with shearwalls yet. For now they are simply an aside for the engineering types like myself to play with and amuse ourselves. The reason being is that there is no engineering functionality built into the plugin just yet, however it will come.
My idea is to further develop the engineering tools so that a full lateral analysis of a complete structure can done all within SketchUp. Essentially turn the plugin into both a design and engineering tool. Perhaps I am a bit ambitious but given the opportunity I would like to try and accomplish this.
Ladies and Gentleman I give you… The Medeek Wall Plugin
Version 0.7.2 - 05.25.2018
Please do not use the plugin in its current state for any production work. I am afraid that you may loose data given the potential for bug splats and other issues with the plugin being so newly minted.
Please keep your ruby console open while using the plugin and feel free to cut and paste any issues to me via email. As much explanation regarding any errors would also be helpful.
To be honest I don’t feel like I’ve tested the plugin out nearly enough especially while using metric templates however the pressure to release the plugin now, rather than later was quite overwhelming.
Tomorrow I will begin addressing bugs and also I will begin work on the new todo list.
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For those of us who Kickstarted you, should we use the “Download Trial” button, then use the serial number you emailed us instead of “TRIAL”?
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Correct, the Trial and the Full Version are one in the same, the only difference now being the inputting of your serial number.
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OK. I’ve installed mine! Won’t have time to play with it right now though 
.
A couple of nitpicks on your website:
- Now that I’ve installed with a non-trial license, shouldn’t the “installations” counter be at least 1?
- Once I signed in, the “login” links still appear and there is no way that I can find to sign out.
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The installation counter is not real time since that particular page is static html. I periodically update it with installation numbers.
Are you talking about the login link at the top of the page? This icon will always appear it does not change.
There is a logout button within the account manager. It will also time you out after a certain period.
P.S. I just updated the web page to reflect the most current numbers. The interesting thing is that there are 41 registered users (primarily Kickstart Supporters) but only 18 or so installations. I guess it is still too early on a Saturday morning.
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Had an interesting request for Simpson Strong-Walls to be added to the plugin this morning. I may entertain this possibility seeing as it probably would not be too hard to add this functionality.
The addition of elements within the wall other than windows and doors actually is something I’ve been meaning to give some additional consideration to. Right off the top the two items I can think of that are similar to windows and doors (at least logistically or from a coding standpoint) are “in wall” columns and posts and specialized panels such as Simpson wood or steel strong-walls or Simpson Moment Frames. In fact, all of these can be essentially treated as door like openings with their own special set of parameters so the wall geometry creation algorithms are already in place to add these elements in.
What other “in wall” elements am I missing here?
With regards to walls and beams, I’ve often seen situations where the beam is dropped below the floor joists above and is set in a a “beam pocket”:
In the situation shown above I probably would have carried the king studs next to the column all the way to the bottom plate but I think the idea his clear. Some inwall columns are the full height of the wall with the beam resting the on the top plates and some are similar to the situation shown, both must be made available.
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Lets start with the columns:
I will need a new Wall Column Toolbar with the following icons and functions:
- Draw Column
- Move Column
- Edit Column
- Delete Column
The possible parameters for the column will be:
Column Name: Set by Plugin, not user definable (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3 etc…)
Column Location: Distance from origin of Wall
Column Size: (2) 2x6, (3) 2x6, 4x6, 6x6, 6x8 6x12, LSL3.5x7.25 etc…
Column Height: Measured from base of wall (default would be FULL which would make it the same height as the studs in the wall. A height less than the wall height would create a beam pocket arrangement with two king studs next to the column.
Beam Pocket King Studs: This option only applies in the situation where there is a beam pocket, NONE, 1, 2, 3.
Vertical Offset (Bottom): Allow the column to project below the bottom plate so that it can bear more directly on foundation below, see window wall below. Default value would be zero which would frame it flush with the bottom of the rest of the wall studs.
Here is a window wall I detailed out a couple of year ago, notice the PSL column running the full height of the wall. One could argue they are not columns but actually the king studs next to the windows, I agree that is a bit of a grey area. Also notice the use of the Simpson Wood Strong-Walls, cut to suite for the raked wall and the beam pocket for the central glulam beam that bear on the window header. Note that this detail is not complete since a number of callouts are missing, probably a screen shot about halfway through the detailing.
It would be nice if the wall plugin were capable of handling a window wall such as this, with stacked windows, columns, beam pockets (that can interact with windows and doors below) and Simpson Strong-Walls.
Version 0.7.3 - 05.27.2018
- Fixed a bug which limited window height to only 48 inches.
My first use of your Wall Plugin will be to play with the framing of my future Tiny Home on Wheels. The “Foundation” will be the trailer frame, which from the POV of structural support are gaps at the wheel wells.
I plan on dealing with this by specifying walls that are the full length of the sides of the trailer, but with very short, wide “doors” that will serve to bridge the wheel wells.
Do y’all think this should work OK? Other ways to approach this?
The trailer frame should (must) support the construction above it by itself, not the other way around or in conjunction with the wall framing.
Can you share a hand made sketch to go with your text above? Just to clarify the text.
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Not at home to do a sketch. The bulk of the wall will be supported by the frame - except for the portion above the wheel wells. So I’m going to put a header above the wheel wells, supported on either side. Just wondering if adding a “door” whose rough opening is only as tall as the wheel well would be a way to accomplish this in the Wall Plugin.
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Send us some screenshots, a picture is worth a thousands words here.
How about a model in the warehouse?
In other words, I finally got home and started playing with the plugin. Since I don’t yet know the details of the trailer, I just used the rectangular footprint of the load bearing area that I’m most likely to use. The red boxes represent the wheel wells - which can’t bear a load. I “Spanned” the wheel wells by creating a “Door” 1" taller than the wheel wells and 2" wider - centered on the center of the wheel well.
Details NOT shown is that the trailer I’m most likely to use has a sunken area in which to build an insulated floor that doesn’t extend to the edge:
I used double bottom plates because I plan to have my floor joists project 1-1/2" above the plane of the trailer - so I can at least put a bit of insulation between the steel and the subfloor around the edges. The subfloor - not shown or accounted for - will go between the two bottom plates. Thus when I actually model things, I’ll lay a perimeter of 2x4’s flat and have 2x6 joists anchored to the sides of the sunken area and 1-1/2" proud of the plane of the steel. The subfloor will go over all of that and I’ll use the Wall Plugin - this time with a single bottom plate - to frame the walls.
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Have you gotten into the global settings and turned on layers and materials?
I should have put out that when I released the plugin. By default all of the advanced options are generally turned off and you need to enable them.
Toolbar Menus and Icons for the upcoming Columns and Simpson Strong-Wall modules:
With the Strong-Walls the plan is to offer both the steel and the wood varieties.
I’m creating separate toolbars that way if you don’t need or require specific components in your wall such as Simpson Strong-Walls, then you can easily turn off this toolbar and unclutter your workspace.
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