Hi guys
I’m a bit stuck on my garden idea.
We have some height differences so it’s not always easy to find the best solution.
Although most of it is already decided, I don’t really know how to make a neat staircase from the front. and how to deal with the ‘rounding’ of the grass.
Sketchup file:
https://we.tl/t-Ftvvp8B7gT
What version of SketchUp are you using? That will help us know what tools you have available to do what you need.
How are you using the model? What information do you need to get out of the model?
Please complete your forum profile with that information.
Hi
Thanks for your quick reaction!
I’m really a super beginner and can’t really work good with sketchup yet.
I’ve already added the file and now I’m going to edit my profile
So before you go on with this file I would suggest you take the time to go through the tutorials at learn.sketchup.com Also look at the Square One videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPuAmFkRzms&list=PL-bndkJaV8A7R2t970OmHY6kPGJwTfGP2
As far as the steps are concerned, the first thing to do is fix the bad geometry. The thick edges are not on the surface.
Erase the edges and draw in a new edge.
Then you can use Push/Pull to pull the steps out.
You have access to the Sandbox tools which will be useful for shaping the ground. See:
and
There seem to be quite a few reversed faces in your model–the exposed blue ones–along with a missing face for the roof. You’ll want to fix those. I would suggest that you delay adding materials until you have the geometry correct.Again, look at the tutorials, first.
Purging the unused stuff from your model will help to keep file size in control. This reduced the file size by nearly 95%.
As you can clearly see, this is indeed purely drawn with no lessons or guides.
As such, it’s not really that important to me in the first place, as long as I get roughly an idea about the looks, it’s basically enough for me.
However, I see that you are pointing out quite a lot of errors from my project. So you possibly also recommend starting back from scratch?
At the moment the garden has priority and I fear that the learning curve might take a bit too much time to make the best possible drawing (the many level differences that are not all drawn now doesn’t make it any easier). But of course I understand that this is an eyesore for someone who has been working with sketchup for 15 years 
Well, I didn’t really want to go that far but it might be easier to start over. I think the key thing is to take the time to go through the tutorial stuff that is available so that you can learn how to use SketchUp correctly. That will make your experience much better and you’ll find it easier to do what you need.
I wouldn’t say it’s an eyesore. It looks like the work of a new user. Not bad for somone with no prior experience but it can be better with a small investment of learning time.
Watch the Sandbox tools videos. You might find that’s not all that difficult to use. As an alternative, you could draw contours on a flat garden shape and then use Push/Pull to pull them up. It would look more like tiers on a wedding cake but might provide the information you need.
Select line, right click. Select, “Hide”.
Push-Pull Tool for stairs. I divided the height ~evenly with the Tape Measure Tool and then drew lines. As another poster commented, the geometry is off in your model. The ‘wall’ next to the stairs is uneven; but close enough for a not-too-close look. The grade was changed a little with the SandBox Tools.
Not too bad for a super beginner. Maybe follow those recommended links and try to re-draw the house later and your next attempt will be super-duper.
That’s a pretty cool idea!
The only problem with that is that it probably just won’t allow two cars to stand side by side right now.
To me it seems kind of sad that most of your garden gets devoted to driving a car to the garage. Is this the only possible arrangement?
You could try drawing some options.
Move stairs over.
Move stairs over, add retaining wall.
Move and turn stairs, add retaining wall.
If you learn to make your steps/walls/drawings into components, you can try different things by just moving them around in your model.
Or, get smaller car?
