Roof shape and planes

Pitched roof editor

1. In the project cockpit, on the Roofs tab, click Open editor in the Pitched roof editor card.
2. The Steps window on the right guides you through the steps: background and scale (optional), Footprint, Roof shape, Openings and Done. The open step is shown in the panel on the left.
3. Save each step with its button at the bottom of the panel. Saving opens the next step. A locked step tells you what it is missing.

The canvas, mouse and keys work the same as in the other editors, see Drawing a roof. A pitched roof is created as a separate project, see New project and roof type.

Quick setup

The quickest way for a common roof. An empty roof offers it as the first option in the How would you like to start? card.

1. Click Quick setup.
2. Choose the Footprint: Rectangle or L-shape.
3. Enter the footprint dimensions in millimetres. For an L-shape, also enter the notch dimensions and its corner in the Notch position section. The picture next to the fields explains the letters A to D.
4. Choose the Roof shape: Mono-pitch roof, Gable roof or Hipped roof.
5. Enter the Pitch in degrees.
6. For a gable roof over a rectangle, choose the Ridge: Along the longer side or Along the shorter side. For a mono-pitch roof, choose the Fall direction. A hip roof derives its ridge by itself.
7. The preview appears on the canvas by itself and saves nothing. Save the roof with the Create roof button at the bottom of the panel. Over a roof that is already saved, the button is called Replace roof.

Quick setup creates the footprint and the shape at once and replaces the existing footprint. A drawn footprint stays if you choose drawing instead.

Footprint from a background

1. In the How would you like to start? card, choose Upload an underlay (PDF or image) or Draw without an underlay. In the Footprint step, you then switch between Quick setup and Draw.
2. With a background, set the scale from a known length, see Background and scale.
3. Use the Draw footprint tool to trace the roof outline as you see it in the plan drawing.
4. Click Save footprint.

Roof shape

Planes, ridges, hips and valleys are not drawn. The application calculates them from the footprint and the pitch.

1. In the Roof shape step, mark the edges. Click an edge on the plan or in the list: it toggles between Eave and Verge. The default is eave.
2. Enter the Pitch.
3. Click Save roof shape.

• Instead of marking the edges, you can choose the shape with Enter the roof type manually: a mono-pitch, gable or hip roof and its parameters.
• Edge marking only works for a footprint whose adjacent edges meet at right angles. The footprint may be rotated in the drawing.
• The planes are labelled with the letters A, B, C … They have the same names in the covering, in the take-off and in the protocol.
• If you later edit and save the footprint, the roof shape is recalculated over it.

Openings

1. In the Openings step, click an element type, for example Chimney or Skylight, and draw its outline.
2. You can enter a rectangular element faster with Enter by size: choose the Opening type and enter the real Width (across the slope) and Height (along the slope) on the roof. Then click Place with a click and the position on the roof. The application calculates the foreshortening in the plan from the pitch.
3. Click Save openings.

For an opening, the application shows its real size on the roof, the distance from the eave and from the verge, and the flashing lengths on the eave side, on the ridge side and along the flanks. An opening must lie entirely within one plane, not across a ridge or hip.

Done

• The Done step summarises the footprint, the shape, the number of planes and the openings. You can edit each part with the button next to it.
• The Open covering button takes you on to choosing the covering, see Roof covering.

A more complex roof plane by plane

A roof that cannot be derived from the footprint, such as a mansard or planes with different pitches, is entered in the plane editor.

• Empty roof: in the How would you like to start? card, the By planes (advanced) option and Open the plane editor.
• Saved roof: Split into planes in the Roof shape step, or Split into planes (advanced) in the Done step. The saved roof is converted into planes and you then edit the design.

Procedure in the plane editor:

1. Planes: add a plane with the Add plane button and draw it with the Outline tool in its true shape, viewed perpendicular to it. The dimensions are therefore along the rafter, not in plan. Enter the Pitch.
2. Edge roles: click an edge and choose its role, for example Eave, Verge, Ridge, Hip, Valley, Wall abutment or Slope break.
3. Pairs: a ridge, hip, valley and slope break are shared by two planes. Pair an edge with the Accept button next to the suggestion, or with the Pair by clicking button.
4. Check: the application checks that the planes fit together and lists what does not fit.
5. Click Save planes. Saving replaces the existing roof shape.

• The Plan and 3D window shows the assembled roof for orientation only. Clicking a plane opens it.
• The mansard break has its own row in the sheet-metal take-off. You choose how it is made in the covering, see Battens.
• A roof entered plane by plane does not support openings yet.
• The Pitched roof editor button in the header takes you back to the pitched roof editor.

Rafter length

For a pitched roof, the application gives the rafter length: the real length of the plane along the roof surface from the eave to the ridge. In plan, the plane is shorter, so the rafter length is longer than the drawn line. You will find it for each plane in the Covering module.