Development and Updates for the Medeek Wall Plugin

[Medeek]

As a follow up discussion to the multi-story tutorial I was asked a question by a designer regarding installation of a band board between the two stories as shown below:



To be honest I hadn't tried this before but the band board is provided by the 1st level walls and then its height is actually set such that it is actually above the sheathing, cladding and wall height.  It seems this is possible.

On the same token one could use the 2nd story walls to specify the band board and input a negative number to set the band board below the actual wall itself.

In this particular design case, there is more than one way to solve the problem.

The frieze and skirt boards are a little more static, in that they will always be positioned at the top and bottom of cladding respectively.

On a slightly different note you will notice that we are already at revision "h" of version 0.9.8:

http://design.medeek.com/resources/wallpluginchangelog.html

Quite a few updates to this version.  The reason I haven't rolled to 0.9.9 is because I am saving that version for the stair module roll out and then version 1.0.0 will be when I roll out the gable wall module.

At that point I will be taking the plugin out of BETA which in all reality means that I am then paying attention to backward compatibility issues and actively trying to maintain it so that new upgrades do not cause problems. 

Version 1.0.0 also means that I will be further reviewing my pricing structure and my licensing system.  There has been some pressure from various quarters to move to a subscription based licensing system even though I have resisted this move.

If I do move to a subscription system the good news is that all currently licensed users will be grandfathered in so that they will not be required to renew a yearly subscription, their licenses will always remain permanent. 

As an incentive to encourage more early adopters I will be running a "Thanksgiving" promotion on all of the plugins until Nov. 23 (Black Friday).  For all plugins purchased between Oct. 15 thru Nov. 15 your typical two year license will be doubled to four years and your one year foundation plugin will be doubled to two years.

For those who have recently purchased any of the plugins please send me an email and I will honor this promotion by extending your license exp. date.

[Medeek]

*** UPGRADE WARNING ***

One thing that has come to my attention is that when upgrading to the latest version of the plugin (0.9.8h) and you are upgrading from a previous version that did not have the new dimension layers (dim2 and dim3) added, you may encounter this error:

Code Select Expand

Error: #<TypeError: no implicit conversion from nil to integer>
c:/users/dscott/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2018/sketchup/plugins/medeek_wall_ext/medeek_wall_globals.rbs:1445:in `[]'

The quick fix for this error is to reinitialize the layers by clicking on the global settings and then navigating to the Layers tab.  This alone will reinitialize any missing or newly added layers.

In the next version I will add some additional code that checks for this type of situation, so that it is no longer an potential issue in future releases.

[Medeek]

The next release of the plugin will have an arrow as shown to the right of the tabs in the global settings which will take the user to the next set of tabs:



Currently there are nine new tabs planned, most of which will have an under construction sign until I fully flesh them out:



The Updates tab will display the current changlog which is paralleled on the website as well.



Clicking the left arrow will return the user back to the first set of tabs.

If required an additional right arrow can be added to the second set of tabs taking the user to the third set of tabs.

In total there are 12 tabs in the first set and 9 tabs in the second set, for a total of 21 tabs in the global settings.

[Medeek]

Version 0.9.8i - 10.28.2018
- The following tabs added to the global settings: Garage Doors, Beams, Columns, Stairs, SSW, Shearwalls, Estimating, Engineering and Updates.
- Enabled custom materials for gypsum in the HTML wall draw and edit menus.
- Felt + OSB material added to the pre-installed plugin materials.



Felt + OSB is similar to Tyvek + OSB where the outer face of the OSB has the felt material applied.

The felt material application depicts a typical 36" roll with 2" of overlap.

The change to the way I'm handling the gypsum material is a significant upgrade and allows for usage of custom materials from the material library within the global settings.

[Medeek]

The current Wall Plugin ToDo list as of 10/29/2018:

1.) Gable Walls (Standard and Shed) [in progress]
2.) Stair Module (straight run then landings and complex shapes) [in progress]
3.) Estimating [in progress]
4.) Adv. Gypsum (multi-layer gypsum both sides of int. walls)
5.) Custom width of king and trimmer studs for doors, windows and garage doors.
6.) Transom windows above doors (rectangle and arch)
7.) Additional door types (bifold, sliding glass, pocket doors)
8.) Join/Split Wall Tools
9.) Wall Stretch Tool
10.) Wall Grouping
11.) Wall Dropper
12.) Engineering
13.) Levels/Stories Manager
14.) Interior painting of gypsum
15.) Wall justification in draw wall tool.
16.) Gypsum backer studs at tee intersections
17.) Interior Trim (crown molding, baseboard, chair rails, wainscoting)
18.) Global Settings (8 new tabs) [in progress]
19.) Shear Wall Module

Some of these are extremely high priority and some of these are much lower on the list.

[Medeek]

Version 0.9.8j - 10.30.2018
- Advanced layers (headers, kings and trimmers) enabled for door, window and garage door framing.

Somehow along the way I setup advanced layers for the framing however they did not get fully implemented until now.

[Medeek]

With balloon framed gable walls one often sees a lot of trapezoidal picture windows used in these walls:



I need a little more guidance on the most typical way these openings are framed out.  If a header is installed it would have to be inclined and would follow the pitch of the roof.

Any framing details or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Medeek]

Version 0.9.9 - 10.30.2018
- Enabled custom window header and trimmer widths within draw and edit menus.
- Added king and trimmer width parameters to Windows tab of global settings.
- Fixed a bug with insulation positioned above windows where trimmer quantity is greater than one.



This addition was per customer request.  I will probably add the same two additional parameters for doors and garage doors in the very near future.

[Medeek]

On a somewhat related note to the last post I'm looking at various photos of typical residential framing and I've noticed that many framers will include a plate below or above the header or both:



Any thoughts on this?

Do I need to add this in as another option?

[mqbeers]

I just built a house and this was the typical detail for the headers. Since headers out here in the South are not typically framed with solid members anymore, this is a typical detail. 2 or 3 @ 2x10 or 2x12's with 2x4 or 2x6 nailed top and bottom to make the whole assembly flush with the framing front and back.

As far as the peaked windows in the gable ends are concerned, because the rafters are typically carrying the load we just frame the top of the sloped windows with stacked up 2xs, or, if the gap from the top of the window to the bottom of the rafter is big enough, then we would do double 2x header and cripple studs to the wall plate below the rafters.

Hope this helps.

[Medeek]

Sounds like I need to provide the option for a header top plate and header bottom plate, (not sure what the exact terminology for these plates should be).

[mqbeers]

Maybe just call it a "Built-up Header"?

[Medeek]

I can use either one parameter with four possible options or two parameters with two options each:

Built-up Header:  NO|TOP|BTM|BOTH

or

Header Top Plate:  YES|NO
Header Btm Plate:  YES|NO

Which would you prefer?

[mqbeers]

Personally I like the Built-Up Header option.

[saakejam]

I vote Both.