Medeek Wall Plugin

medeek

Gable walls with exterior trim (frieze, band, skirt, corners):

The intersection of the frieze board with the corner trim is still a bit of a question for me especially if the frieze were to cut through the corner trim.

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

medeek

Okay, so I don't have the inset outside corner quite right for the gable wall:

I need to adjust it so that it terminates at the plate height of the intersecting rectangular wall, a minor change.

I am still tossing around the auto-corner configuration routines, not sure yet on the final path I will take, it may just be easier to initially disable this for gable walls and require the user to manually set their wall termination configurations.

I will also update the draw tool to only allow the drawing of a single gable wall panel at a time.

I think everyone will find the gable wall module quite useful, it is certainly a major improvement over the manual workaround I provided in the tutorial videos.

medeek

Version 1.5.4 - 07.08.2020

Added the gable wall tool with the ability to draw and edit standard gable walls.

Be advised this is a completely new module with modifications to over 36 files (ruby and html). I have tested most of the features with the gable walls however I am quite positive that further testing will pull out a few bugs or limitations which will need to be rectified.

Please feel free to test out the new gable wall module and report any bugs or other issues that may arise.

The following limitations currently exist and are subject to change in the near future:

The gable wall cannot be used with the wall "move" tool yet. The results might be unpredictable.
Gable walls are limited to orthogonal corners (90 degrees).
Auto-corner configuration is turned off for gable walls, the user can edit the wall once it is created and set the start and end termination conditions.
I will need to add in additional logic for the case of zero wall height (triangular gable walls).
Currently there is no method from switch a gable wall to a rectangular wall.
Termination conditions are: Outside Corner, Inset Outside Corner, End, Terminal, Tee Corner.

medeek

Working on tee intersection blocking for gable walls:

medeek

Version 1.5.4b - 07.10.2020

Fixed a bug with the wall move tool when moving gable walls.
Added tee intersection blocking for gable walls: 3-stud, 2-stud, 2-stud w/ blocking, ladder blocking.
Enabled auto-corner configuration for gable walls.

medeek

Version 1.5.4c - 07.10.2020

Fixed a bug in the gable wall draw menu for metric templates.

*** Critical Bug Fix ***

Download this update in order to utilize gable walls with metric templates.

medeek

Before I move to shed walls I need to get zero height (triangular) gable walls up and running.

Which is the preferred configuration (left or right) of the bottom and top plates?

medeek

Version 1.5.4d - 07.11.2020

Updated the gable wall module to allow for zero wall height (triangular and trapezoidal walls).

I apologize for all of the micro-updates, however when you develop completely new module there is always a fair bit of residual debugging that accompanies it. I will now turn my attention to shed walls.

I've had votes for both the right and left configuration given above however the left configuration received more votes so that is what I went with.

P.S.
The four sided variant (where one side is zero height and the other is some non-zero value) is more correctly a quadrilateral not a trapezoid. Two side are perpendicular but not parallel, to my knowledge there is no specific name for this type of quadrangle, perhaps the correct term would be a "right quadrilateral".

medeek

So much yet to do, and of course never enough time to get it all done. I've actually been pretty busy the last few months however this Covid thing has quite been stressful for me and with all my kids stuck in the house it has been an interesting last few months. However, we have managed to pull through and surprisingly I've been fairly productive with my programming and I've made some major strides.

It would be really nice to get the hip variant of the gable wall done as well, along with the gable and shed walls. This would allow for in-framing the gable ends of attics trusses, something I have been wanting to make happen for a few years now, ever since I enabled attic trusses within the Truss plugin.

medeek

First look at a left and right shed wall:

medeek

Version 1.5.5 - 07.14.2020

Enabled the gable wall tool with the ability to draw and edit shed walls.

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

medeek

Updated todo list (as of July 14, 2020):

1.) Making the Window, Door and Garage Door modules work with generic walls, not just Medeek walls.
2.) Shear Wall module which will ultimately integrate with the engineering plugin.
3.) Presets for Garage Doors
4.) Move the Estimating module to the new Medeek Project extension, and further develop this module as it relates to the wall plugin.
5.) Start work on the integrated Medeek Engineering extension, start with window and door headers for vertical loads.
6.) Additional door and window types as requested (eg. bi-fold closet doors, sliding glass doors, pocket doors, double and triple single hung windows).
7.) Spend some time on the new tabs in the global settings, currently showing an Under Construction sign.
8.) Stair module permutations: U, L, T etc…
9.) Further “idiot” proofing of the plugins: (zero value, nil values, checking for impossible geometry, etc…)
10.) Wall Justification
11.) Interior trim added to Medeek Interior extension.
12.) Resume development of the Medeek Floor extension.

The list has gotten a lot shorter in the last couple of months. I'm excited to finally have a working shed and gable wall type, there is still a lot more work to be done with many more gable variants, but I will attack those as specific requests are made for each type.

I feel it is time to move back to the complex roof module but before I do I may look at the new number one on this list.

medeek

While I am still fresh with gable walls (and the code for this module) I am contemplating getting the hip variant done as well:

I've already got two votes in favor of it (myself and Larry Belk) however I want to put this out to everyone else and find out if it is of any interest, would you use this gable wall type?

It will probably take me about 3 or 4 days to make it happen or I can move on to other items in the list.

medeek

Version 1.5.6 - 07.16.2020

Updated the gable wall module to allow for zero wall height shed walls.
Added triple single hung windows to the window module.

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

medeek

I've been chiseling away at these plugins now for almost 5 years, granted I only started working full time on them since April 2018, but I do think they have evolved significantly even at that.

With that being said there is still much to do. Additional plugins (Floor, Interiors, Decks, Project, Engineering, RC, etc...) are needed to fully flesh out the building and all of its potential elements. At some point the engineering and estimating pieces also need to become a reality, this will take everything to a new level. Sadly I am still working on the design/architectural elements, but if all goes well I should have most of it wrapped up in a few more months and then begin the engineering and estimating pieces. I also want the ability to export elevations and sections quickly into Scenes and then they can be easily moved into Layout, I've got some good ideas on that. A DXF export utility for floor plans etc... would also be nice, there is so much one can do with the API, it is mind boggling.

Every day I get emails from customers and potential customers requesting various features or new plugins, obviously there is a demand for this sort of thing, my email inbox bears this out. Unfortunately, I am so over taxed just trying to knock out the things on my existing todo lists that many of these great ideas go by the wayside (some do eventually make it on to my lists).

For a concise summary of the recent updates:

Medeek Design Inc. - Medeek Wall Plugin Changelog

(design.medeek.com)

As they say though, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, if I get enough demand for a certain feature it tends to move it up the list. Please keep the feedback rolling in, it only makes the plugins better.