More on walls? Really? It seems as though all we do is walls. Well, that’s because buildings are composed mainly of walls. As you may have noticed, the exterior walls are compound wall structures with reveals and parapet caps. In the west wing, you have a staircase that is completely unsupported. It would be nice to add a wall to make those stairs less spongy. Given the fact that the west wing is a high-end architectural woodwork area, that wall could use some trims that can be added right to the wall’s profile. Also, we haven’t touched on a curtain wall of any kind.Here is what you are going to learn in this chapter:
The first item to tackle is how to develop a wall with different materials. The exterior walls you’ve been using in this model are a prime example of compound walls. The bottom 3´ (900mm) of the wall consists of concrete block, and the rest of the wall is brick. When you cut a section through the wall, you can see that the wall has an airspace as well as a metal stud-wall backup.
Usually, these chapters start with a claim that “the following procedure is so easy a caveman could do it” (or something of that nature). The development of compound walls isn’t the easiest thing you’ll tackle in Revit. This procedure is somewhat touchy, and doing it well takes practice. In this section, you’ll create an interior wall with a wood finish on the bottom along with different wood material on the top. You’ll also extrude a chair rail along the wall.
To get started, open the model you’ve been working on. If you missed the previous chapter, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2012ner. From there, you can browse to Chapter 16 and find the file called NER-27.rvt.
The objective of the next procedure is to create a compound wall from a basic wall. Follow along:
1. Open the Level 1 West dependent floor plan view.
2. On the Home tab, click the Wall button.
3. In the Type Selector in the Properties dialog, choose Basic Wall : Generic – 6˝ (152mm).
4. In the Properties dialog, click the Edit Type button.
5. Click Duplicate.
6. Call the new wall Stairwell 3 support wall, and click OK.
7. Click the Edit button in the Structure row.
8. Click into the Material cell for the Structure row, as shown in Figure 16.1.
9. Click the […] button.
10. In the Materials dialog, select Wood – Stud Layer, and click OK.
11. Change the thickness to 5 1/2˝(140mm) (see Figure 16.1).
12. At the bottom of the Edit Assembly dialog is a Preview button. Click it (see Figure 16.2).
13. With the preview open, change View to Section: Modify Type Attributes.
FIGURE 16.1Changing the structure to a 5 1/2˝ (140mm) wood stud
It doesn’t seem as though you’ve done much, but you’ve set the stage to start building your wall. It’s time now to focus back on the Layers field.
Adding Layers to the Compound Wall
If you’re an AutoCAD veteran, the term layer takes on a different meaning. In Revit, the term layer, as it pertains to a wall assembly, represents a material layer that is assigned an actual thickness as well as its own material.
As you can see in Figure 16.3, Revit understands the difference between interior and interior. For the following procedure, you’ll add materials to both the exterior and interior portion of the wall. Follow these steps:
1. In the Layers area, click the number 1, as shown in Figure 16.3 (it’s the row that holds the Layers Above Wrap field).
FIGURE 16.3 Clicking row 1 to highlight the entire row
2. Click the Insert button. Revit creates a new layer above the one you select; the new layer is always set to Function: Structure [1], Material: <By Category> and Thickness:0.
3. Change Function to Finish 1 [4].
4. Click into the Material cell, and click the […] button.
5. Select Gypsum Wall Board.
6. Click OK in the Materials dialog.
7. Change Thickness to 5/8˝ (16mm).
8. Click row 4 (Layers Below Wrap).
9. Click the Insert button.
10. Click the Down button, as shown at lower right in Figure 16.4. It’s located below the Layers area. Your new layer becomes 5.
11. Change Function to Finish 1 [4].
12.Click into the Material cell, and click the […] button.
13. Find Gypsum Wall Board.
14. Click OK in the Materials dialog.
15. Change Thickness to 5/8˝ (16mm). Your Layers field should resemble Figure 16.4.
FIGURE 16.4 Adding a 5/8˝ gypsum layer to the interior side of the wall
Now that the wall is wrapped with one layer of 5/8˝ (16mm) gypsum on each side, it’s time to start placing the veneered plywood layers on the exterior of the wall.
The objective of the next procedure is to add a 3/4˝ (19mm) plywood layer to the exterior of the wall. Follow along:
1. Click 1 Finish 1 [4] (the top layer).
2. Click Insert.
3. Change Function to Finish 2 [5].
4. Change Material to Wood – Mahogany (it’s the mahogany material that has Plywood for the cut pattern). Click OK.
5. Change the Thickness to 3/4˝ (19mm). Your wall’s layers should resemble Figure 16.5.
6. At the bottom of the dialog, click the OK button.
7. Click Apply.
FIGURE 16.5Adding the 3/4˝ (19mm) mahogany veneered plywood material
Next, let’s go back in and split the wall materials in two. It would be nice if you could have cherry at the top and mahogany at the bottom. Revit gives you the ability to do this.
Adding New Materials by Splitting a Region
If you want more than one material along the face of a wall, you can use the Split Region command in the Edit Assembly dialog. The objective of the following procedure is to add a new material and then apply it to the top half of the plywood face. Follow these steps:
1. Click the Edit button in the Structure row.
2. Click Layer 1 (the top layer).
3. Click Insert.
4. Change Function to Finish 2 [5].
5. For Material, select Wood – Cherry, and click OK. (Don’t give it a thickness. The next procedure takes care of that.)
6.Click the Split Region button, as shown in Figure 16.6.
7. Move your cursor up the plywood face. Notice that the cursor turns into a knife. You also see a short, horizontal line within the plywood: this indicates where the region will be cut.
8. When you see 3´–0˝ (900mm) in the temporary dimension, pick the point as shown in Figure 16.6. Do not press Esc when you’re finished! If you place the split in the wrong place, click the Modify button, and then select the split line you just created. You can then click the dimension field to edit the location. There is also a direction arrow that specifies whether the split is set from the bottom up (what you just did) or from the bottom down.
FIGURE 16.6 Cutting the plywood at a specific height
You’ve split the plywood. The only thing left to do is to apply a new material to the upper region. You can accomplish this by using the Assign Layers button.
Assigning Material to Different Layers
The Assign Layers command lets you choose where you would like to assign a layer. This is useful in the context of this dialog because you aren’t stuck without the ability to move the layers around the wall as necessary. Of course, when you split the wall as you just did, notice that the thicknesses of the two wood layers are set to 0 and Variable. Revit needs you to assign an alternate layer at this point.
The objective of the following procedure is to assign the cherry layer to the upper portion of the plywood. Follow along:
1. Pick the Layer 1 row (Wood – Cherry), as shown in Figure 16.7.
FIGURE 16.7 Assigning the cherry layer to the upper portion of the wall
2. Click the Assign Layers button (see Figure 16.7).
3. Move your cursor over the upper region of the plywood layer, and pick. Cherry is assigned to the upper portion of the wall, and the thicknesses are set to 3/4˝ (19mm) (see Figure 16.7).
4. At the bottom of the dialog, click OK.
5. Click Apply.
6.Click the Edit button in the Structure row to get back to the Edit Assembly dialog.
7. Pan to the top of the wall in the display, as shown in Figure 16.8.
FIGURE 16.8 Unlocking the plywood to enable independent movement after the wall is placed into the model
12. Click OK.
13. Click OK one more time to get to the model.
14. Click the Modify button on the Home panel.
15. Save the model.
By unlocking the layer, you can move that layer up or down depending on what you need. Another good example of the usefulness of this functionality is when you need to slide a brick ledge down past a foundation.
Some people find splitting the regions in the Edit Assembly easy, while others find it to be more difficult. I found the procedure difficult at first. If you’re like me, this technique will require practice until you’ve done a few more walls. Don’t worry—it gets easier as time passes.
Adding an automatic sweep along this wall would be nice. Come to think of it, a wood base and a chair rail would finish off this wall perfectly.
The concept of adding a wall sweep is as close to actual construction as you can come without setting up a chop saw. That is because when you want to add a specific profile to sweep along a wall, you need to go outside the model, find (or create) the profile, and then bring it into the model. This process is similar to ordering trim and installing it.
The objective of the following procedure is to load a base and a chair rail trim into the model. You’ll then include these items in the wall you’ve been working on. Follow along:
1. On the Insert tab, click the Load Family button.
2. Go to the Profiles directory.
3. Load the files Base 1.rfa and Casing Profile-2.rfa. (Use Ctrl to select both files.)
4. On the Manage tab, click the Materials button.
5. Select the material Wood – Cherry.
6. Click the Duplicate button at the bottom of the dialog.
7. Call the new material Wood – Cherry – Solid.
8. Change the cut pattern to Wood 1.
9. Select the material Wood – Mahogany.
10. Click the Duplicate button.
11. Change the name to Wood – Mahogany – Solid.
12. Change the cut pattern to Wood 1.
13. Click OK.
14. On the Home tab, click the Wall button.
15. Make sure the current wall is Stairwell 3 Support Wall.
16.In the Properties dialog, click Edit Type.
17. Click the Edit button in the Structure row.
18. Click the Sweeps button, as shown in Figure 16.9.
26.Click OK, and zoom in on the wall where the sweeps are, so you can confirm they’re placed as expected.
27. Click OK again.
28. Click OK one more time to get back to the model.
29. In the Properties panel, make sure Base Offset is set to 0´–0˝.
30. In the Options bar, set Height to Unconnected with a height of 10´–0˝(3000mm)
31. Set Location Line to Finish Face: Exterior.
32. Set Offset to -1˝ (-25mm).
33. Draw the wall by snapping to the inside of the stringers, as shown in Figure 16.11. You want to go in a clockwise direction, so start with the northern part of the staircase, as illustrated by the 1 in Figure 16.11.
FIGURE 16.11 Placing the wall clockwise in the model
34. On the Geometry panel on the Modify | Place Wall tab, click the Wall Joins button.
35.Using the Wall Joins tool, go to each wall corner and make the join Mitered.
The wall has been added to the model. Because you’re placing it underneath a staircase, there will be issues with the wall’s profile. This brings us to the next section of this chapter, which guides you through modifying a wall’s shape after it has been placed into the model.
Modifying a Wall’s Profile in Place
Although we touched on modifying a wall profile back in Chapter 2, “Creating a Model,” in this section we’ll take this technique to the next level. You can make a wall conform to any odd geometric shape you wish if you follow a few simple rules and procedures.
The objective of the following procedure is to edit the profile of the new walls to conform to the profile of the stairs. Follow these steps:
1. On the View tab, click the Elevation button.
2. Place an interior elevation, as shown in Figure 16.12.
5. On the Mode tab, click Edit Profile (see Figure 16.13).
FIGURE 16.13 Selecting the wall to be modified, and clicking the Edit Profile button
6. On the Draw panel, click the Pick Lines icon.
7. Pick the underside of the stairs. Follow the profile exactly.
8. Delete the existing top magenta line and the existing left magenta line by selecting them and pressing the Delete key. All you should have left is the profile shown in Figure 16.14.
9. Use the Trim/Extend Single Element command to clean up all the corners. Revit won’t allow you to continue if you don’t (see Figure 16.14).
10. Click Finish Edit Mode. Your wall is trimmed to the underside of the stairs.
FIGURE 16.14Cleaning up the lines so they form a continuous loop
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