Hi!
Now, I’ve been struggling with this for hours and I am feeling little dumb now. As I’ve mentioned in my Introduction post, I did use AutoCAD for some time and I expected this to be a walk in the park. However, this is more like walking through thorns while crocodiles are trying to eat me alive…
Now, I do know this is possible and I do believe that there must be a simple way to do it, but I just can’t figure it out. 
What I’m trying to make is a model of my loft that is, hopefully going to be built within next year or so. Now, I did screwed something up with the dimensions (I used centimeters instead of mm and I clicked few times proudly as I thought I knew what I was doing to finish some shapes) so the project is bit offset which I don’t mind as it is quite simple so I can do it more precisely again. But now, what I want to make is a roof covering. So, basically, just a panel, maybe 20cm thick that will cover these beams I’ve made. I can put some material pattern on it afterwards. As you’ll be able to see, one side of the roof is flat while the other one has this… Thing that requires a warped panel to be installed. So, basically, I need to know how to make this thing before i lose my mind. 
Any help would be very much appreciated and, also, if you have any suggestions, feel free to throw it here… 
Thanks!
PS
If you need a photo of how this looks in real life, I can upload it tomorrow as it’s just past midnight here in Croatia now…
PSS
Sorry for this long post and my bad English
Loft.skp (2.5 MB)
Yep!
Looks… Interesting? But it’s not exactly what I need, shapes need to be sharp. Here’s a photo of my roof:
Looks like your existing dormer doesn’ t go up as far as the ridge?
Not sure if you are adapting it to that, but what you currently have is more like this?
You have created a few minor alignment issues which make it harder to ‘built on’.
Not all rafters are in the same plane (besides the dormer rafters), rotated slightly or in line with the opposite.
Though it is sometimes said that you cannot draw accurately with SketchUp it is in fact more demanding with your linework then AutoCad, especially in creatig faces for extruding and revolving etc.
It’s only off by, like, 1/16”… It’s no big deal.
Hi again guys, sorry, I was out all day.
Yes, something like that, but this one is actually one I need:
Thing is, from inside beams that are creating this elevation in the roof are quite complicated:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Ne1x7GN6KC_fBANgOSSVdsGxFJ9Isj0/view?usp=sharing
So I decided to just pull them up all the way to make things simpler.
Yes, I know, that’s why I mentioned this in my first post:
Can someone explain how to make this happen on my roof? Do you suggest that I struggle with those beams and get the design more accurate?
Thanks once again to all of you for your time and effort.
this was what I had under the version I had done.
there is a lot of misalignment, which I ignored. It depends on what you need the model for. If it’s just for visualizing then maybe its as easy to continue “as is”, but if you plan to use the model for construction drawings and more accurate remodeling it might be worth repairing what you have so you’re not fighting with it going forward.
Often it is simpler to trash a defective part (or all) of a model and start over than to attempt small tweaks to get an existing wrong part correct. I’d take a quick attempt at fixing the issues and if it isn’t going easily, erase and start over being more careful.
As to the second question, I have a two-part answer. First, you will find that further modeling will be much easier if you clean up the existing model so that for example places you want to draw a wall or roof surface are planar. SketchUp’s faces are always planar, so you will create a lot of extra work otherwise - most likely more than you would need to redraw those parts. Second, since this is for work on an existing structure, you should view your model as conceptual. You can rest assured that the parts of the existing structure are not perfectly true, square, etc. and would easily go out of your mind trying to capture them exactly in any CAD model! So, get the basic dimensions and orientations right and ignore minor discrepancies. Your carpenters will have to adjust dimensions to fit reality in any case!
Yes, I will definitely go again with this whole model. All of you who took time to check out model I uploaded were able to see that besides these misalignments I also have several shapes that are not properly “cut”, such as roof beams (you can see that on top, where beams are connected). This is something that I was just unable to do right. I’m still struggling with those tools (union, intersect, trim etc…). Do you have any suggestions where should I look for tutorials for it? I do feel like AutoCAD had that sorted much more intuitive, however, I am aware that if I learned SketchUp first, I would say that for SketchUp.
I think it’s just practice and trial and error.
Anyway, I’ll try to create new model from scratch today. Should I open new thread or can I post new questions here as I go?
It would be best if you start new topic(s) each focusing on a specific task that has caused a problem for you. That (and a clear topic title) makes it much easier for people to find discussions later and learn from your example.
Understood.
However, I would really appreciate if someone, like @ecati could tell me how he made this warped shape on my roof so I can conclude this part and not get stuck on it when I get there…?
Hi there! Interesting design you are working with. From your picture I see a roof with a heavy dead load – the tile roofing – and imagine that the snow load could be heavy as well. So you need a strong roof frame and one that is not too hard to build. Some of the drawings here do not look strong or easy to build. Also, building methods vary from country to country.
Do you know someone there who is a carpenter that could give you advice on the best method.
Steady on!. Best of luck
Hey there!
Thanks for your reply, actually, this building is already done from the outside, photo that I’ve posted in post no 3
shows how it looks from the outside. The reason I’m making this model is so I can start finishing it from the inside. I’ve found a interior designer from another city and she told me that I can send her drawings of the loft and photos so that she doesn’t has to come on site to make it by her own which will impact the price very much. So, I decided to make this model as precise as I can, first so that she can make precise project and design, and second, I want to have this for myself. I plan to insert all electrical, plumbing and other installations in it with exact references so that if I need to change or repair something I can find it easily. And, on top of all of that, as I’m new to SketchUp, I find this challenging and I believe it will serve me well to get some more experience.
I’m just about to finish my new model that I’ve made with more precise (fully precise, I hope) measurements so I’ll Upload it here as soon as I’m done. I’m still trying to figure out best way to make this shape of the roof that I’ve mentioned…
There is a technique called photo match which can help if you have a clear x and y axis. It does take practice though to get fairly accurate.
I found that if you take your photos strategically with axis in mind, it is easier to set axis positions and vanishing points more accurately
It seems like its the interior you need to be modeling, while the roof appears like this on the outside, you may ant to finish the interior with different lines?
For modeling, its better to go with the design dimensions, not actual ones. If you don’t have the building’s design documents, use your experience to guess what the architect instructed the builder to do and use those dimensions, not the measurements.
When you rotate something an arbitrary amount, things can get very dicey with the inference engine. For this piece here, you need to decide what, in degrees, is the pitch of the roof and the pitch of the dormer. Using the inference engine to establish this value is going to result in a model with a lot of defects which are not correctable.
It is not necessary or advisable to create geometry for every piece of building material. If your desired result does not show the framing, leave it out of your model.
Make roof component before you rotate the roof into place; you get better results with push-pull if your are using the tool along the components coordinate axis.
Keep at it. Your problems with your model are most likely because you used the inference engine to establish the rotation of the plane of the roof.
Oh, I get it know. Well at least the hard work is done. It is always a challenge getting a model to accurately reflect an existing structure. Sometimes it works to just model what you need as best you can and leave some details out. Would you consider modeling from the inside out – that is just model the connected inside surfaces for your interior designer and fixture location. While perhaps less satisfying, it may give you what you need. In any case, haveing a real project to work on is the best way to learn SketchUp. Confucius say – “perseverance furthers” Good luck.
@julesbuh
Yeah, I’ve seen a tutorial video on that, seems interesting, yet, I don’t think it’s what I need right now.I would just like to get geometries as precise as possible, at least ones that are considering my interior as I would like to calculate how much material do I need for example to cover my floors, walls etc… But when I do get this done, I might just take a shot at that as well.
Ahmmm… Sorry, I’m not sure if I understood that? What do you mean by different lines?
Yes, I realized that, although I can’t remember when I used anything arbitrary, I was really eager to enter all dimensions, select axis and angles when I was making this model, but, apparently, I’ve missed something… Anyway, here’s Mark III, I’ll upload it. Exterior is more or less finished I think. Now I just need to figure out how to put these two beams that are forming this triangle shape (120x120mm) and then make some sort of roof that will act as tiles. I think. Can you check out this model and just let me know if I’m heading in good direction now?
@sproutsradio
Thank you sir!
Yes, that was my main idea, however, for some reason and for already mentioned learning experience, I gave myself some extra work and started to do exterior as well. Loft3.skp (175.1 KB)