Medeek Wall Plugin

medeek

I have some questions about double wall construction lately.

I don't have a specific double wall algorithm however it is possible to create double wall structures with openings using the Wall plugin in its current state, see model below for an example:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/9341721c-a5e1-4bea-a3d8-acd10fa0ea0e/Double-Wall-Framing

P.S. Note how the window ext. trim and installation is enabled on the exterior wall and then the interior casing is enabled on the interior wall. I then adjusted the casing extension depth in the edit menu of the interior wall so that it extends to meet the window in the exterior wall. No manual editing and everything is still parametric.

medeek

Version 1.7.6 - 12.04.2020

Added a wall justification hotkey/option (Tab key) to the rectangular draw wall tool: Front, Center, Back.

Note, that when the wall justification is set to "Center" or "Back" the draw tool switches from polyline mode to simple line mode, this is by design.

medeek

Version 1.7.6b - 12.05.2020

Added a wall justification hotkey/option (Tab key) to the gable, shed and hip draw wall tools: Front, Center, Back.
Enabled the left and right arrow keys for each of the draw wall tools in order to constrain the tool to the X or Y axis.

The behavior of the draw wall tool is now similar to the native SketchUp line/edge tool.

The right and left arrow keys will constrain the wall to the X and/or Y axis. Additionally the Ctrl key will toggle the wall to the 45 deg. and 135 deg. directions. You will notice that when the constraint is active the primary line will indicate either Red, Green, Blue (45 deg) or Purple (135 deg) and the line thickness will increase from two to three.

medeek

Lately I've had quite a few people asking me where they can find the video tutorials for the plugin. They are listed on the plugin web page but I guess they tend to get lost in all the content. Here is the direct link to that section:

http://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekwallplugin.pl#Videos

Here is also the listing for each video:

The following video tutorials are currently available on YouTube:

Introduction - The Vision (20:58 min.)
Tutorial 1 - Extension Overview (21:58 min.)
Tutorial 2 - Drawing Walls (19:37 min.)
Tutorial 3 - Beams and Columns (15:31 min.)
Tutorial 4 - Wall Presets (8:04 min.)
Tutorial 5 - Multi-Story Construction (19:58 min.)
Tutorial 6 - Custom Material Library (16:11 min.)
Tutorial 7 - Stairs (23:19 min.)
Tutorial 8 - Gable Wall Workaround (17:25 min.)
Tutorial 9 - Split Wall Tool (6:36 min.)
Tutorial 10 - Posts (14:24 min.)
Tutorial 11 - Split Wall Cladding (6:49 min.)
Tutorial 12 - Blocking (12:42 min.)
Tutorial 13 - Stretch Wall Tool (7:41 min.)
Tutorial 14 - Join Wall Tool (5:54 min.)
Tutorial 15 - Quoins (8:34 min.)
Tutorial 16 - Garage Doors (19:17 min.)
Tutorial 17 - Tag/Layer Groups (13:41 min.)

Note, that the Gable Wall Workaround (Tutorial is now obsolete, and gable walls can now be created automatically with the plugin. At some point I should probably indicate this tutorial is deprecated.

medeek

Haven't look at the Shearwall Module in some time and I think it would be important to have it at least able to insert shearwall panels into the wall panels even if the engineering portion is not yet complete.

After some thought and reviewing my AWC literature and my own Shearwall Calculator (Spreadsheet), here are my preliminary list of parameters for a shearwall panel (there can be multiple panels within a given wall).

Basic Options:

Name: Initially set by auto-increment value but can be modified by user.
Start Location:
End Location:
Length: Determined by start and end location
Description: Custom comments or notes by user

Left Post:

Left SW Post: 2x4, 2x6, (2) 2x6, 4x6, 6x6 etc...
Quantity: 1,2,3,4
Species: DF, HF, SP, SPF

Left Holdown: YES/NO
Holdown Type:
Holdown Vert. Offset: in/mm
Holdown AB:
Threaded Rod Length: in/mm
Strap Placement:

Right Post:

Right SW Post: 2x4, 2x6, (2) 2x6, 4x6, 6x6 etc...
Quantity: 1,2,3,4
Species: DF, HF, SP, SPF

Right Holdown: YES/NO
Holdown Type:
Holdown Vert. Offset: in/mm
Holdown AB:
Threaded Rod Length: in/mm
Strap Placement:

Sheathing Exterior:

Ext. Sheathing Material: Ply, OSB, Gypsum, NONE
Sheathing Thickness: 0.4375"
Sheathing Fastener: 8d Common, 6d Common, 10d Common, 8d Galv Casing, 10d Galv Casing
Field O/C Spacing: 6", 12"
Edge O/C Spacing: 2", 3", 4", 6"

Sheathing Interior:

Int. Sheathing Material: Ply, OSB, Gypsum, NONE
Sheathing Thickness: 0.4375"
Sheathing Fastener: 8d Common, 6d Common, 10d Common, 8d Galv Casing, 10d Galv Casing
Field O/C Spacing: 6", 12"
Edge O/C Spacing: 2", 3", 4", 6"

Sole Plate Fasteners:

Sole Plt. Fasteners: YES/NO
Fastener Size: 16d,SDS25412
Fastener O/C Spacing: in/mm

Anchor Bolts (Sill Plate Fasteners):

Anchor Bolts: YES/NO
Anchor Bolt Length: 10,12,14
Anchor Bolt Dia: 1/2", 5/8"
Washer: 2x2,3x3
Bolt O/C Spacing: in/mm
Edge Distance: in/mm
Vertical Offset (default is zero)

Blocking:

Install Blocking: YES/NO
Blocking Size: Single 2X, Single 3X, Double 2X
Heights: 48|96|144 (allow the user to specify the exact height of each blocking line - in/mm)

Top Plate Clips:

Framing Clips: YES/NO
Clip Type: A35, A34,LTP4, LTP5
Cllip O/C Spacing: in/mm

** Let me know if you think I am missing anything.

medeek

First look at some shearwall panels (notice the absence of the shearwall posts/studs and holdowns, that is coming next) and the shearwall edit menu:

I had to take a little break from the programming over the holidays but in a space of a few hours I've mostly got the basic code for the shearwall module put together. Now I just need to sort out a few of the details.

I've also decided to make the shearwall panel sheathing with variable opacity since they are primarily visual in their representation of the actual shearwall sheathing. The color and opacity will be customizable within the global settings (Materials tab).

Initially there will be three shearwall sheathing materials (OSB, Plywood and Gypsum). Each material type will have its own unique color and opacity, all of which can be customized. This will allow the user to visually determine the shearwall sheathing material very quickly within the model.

medeek

Version 1.7.7 - 12.28.2020

Enabled Draw, Edit, Move and Delete shearwall tools for all rectangular walls.
Added four additional parameters to the Materials tab of the Global Settings pertaining to shearwalls.

Note, that the shearwall tools will only work with rectangular walls currently. I will enable them for gable, shed and hip walls but that may be a few more days since it gets a bit more complicated.

Also note that the four items within the shearwall module are currently not active yet and are still in development (probably a couple more days):

Sole Plate Fasteners, Anchor Bolts (Sill Plate Fasteners, SW Blocking, Top Plate Clips

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/b8917534-02ad-447f-8087-e0cd6b4d4e45/Shearwalls-Example-1

As this module is completely brand new I expect there will be a few bugs and items that need to be addressed or corrected moving forward. Your beta testing of this new feature and any feedback is highly appreciated.

pbacot

Impressive! Do you end up with a list of shear walls and identification by type and length?

medeek

@pbacot said:

Impressive! Do you end up with a list of shear walls and identification by type and length?

That would be the next step.

It would be nice if there was a function which created a Shearwall schedule, like I make on my own structural sheets.

medeek

Working on the shearwall (panel) anchor bolts and sole plate fasteners.

First look at some anchor bolts associated with a shear wall:

When a shearwall rests directly on a slab-on-grade then the anchor bolts are typically connected directly to the sole plate of the shearwall, however when the wall rests on a floor as shown then the anchor bolts will anchor the sill plate below the wall and threaded rods with coupler nuts are utilized to extend the holdown bolts up to the HDU holdowns. In this situation the engineer will also typically call out the size and spacing of fasteners that connect the sole plate of the shearwall to the rim joist below it.

To facilitate various wall/floor configurations the vertical and horizontal offset parameters for shearwall anchor bolts are made available for each shearwall, and can be adjusted independently.

P.S.

Looking at this image it immediately jumps out at me that a critical component within this shearwall assembly is missing. Note that I am not showing fasteners, they are too small to model for the most part. Let's see if anyone can pick it out.

medeek

Version 1.7.7b - 12.28.2020

Enabled anchor bolts within the shearwall module.
Enabled sole plate fasteners within the shearwall module.
Enabled top plate clips within the shearwall module.

All that is left is the specialized blocking for shearwalls.

medeek

I've seen both ways of handling stacked shearwall panels, however the strap method would make more sense from an economic standpoint:

The main point here is that you have either option at your disposal with the new shearwall module.

Notice the inclusion of the top plate clips on the lower shearwall and the 16d Common fasteners in the sole plate of the upper shearwall. Both of these items are optional however if that degree of detail is required or desired it is also readily available to the designer or engineer.

See model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/3cedfba5-baaf-4e8a-8b36-0357c630b6d3/Shearwalls-2

P.S.
Some of you may be scratching your head looking at all of this hardware that goes into a wall especially at a shear panel... I know, Simpson Strong-Tie isn't a multi-million dollar company for nothing. A lot of old time contractors really dislike us engineers.

Bottom line, when the wind blows really hard or you just happen to be lucky enough to be in a major earthquake, these construction methods will prevent your house from toppling over and potentially killing you.

Engineers like myself are entrusted with making sure the built environment around you is safe and secure.

medeek

Wow, interesting video put out just yesterday:

https://youtu.be/004vhNZFkt0

ajmwd

@medeek said:

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.

Thanks! I just made great use of BOTH of these new features and they worked beautifully.

Q: if I wanted to add triple 'picture' (fixed) windows, is that something I could do by adding to the Medeek plugin library folder?

medeek

The casement window option is probably what you are looking for:

ajmwd

@medeek said:

The Triple Casement window option is probably what you are looking for...

Thanks for the quick response. I didn't think of using the Triple Casement option because we would not actually be ordering casement windows (this is for a set of windows that are very high on the wall and completely inaccessible to operating). However, it does the trick in terms of getting the look. Thanks for the tip!

PS. We are going with Andersen 100 Series. For some reason it appears that the picture window frame is significantly larger than the hung sash frame, for some reason? The Triple Casement match the hung frame size, which will be totally fine for our purposes. Thanks for the tip!

medeek

The casement style window is very similar (identical) to the picture style window in geometry. I guess I probably should add an option for multi-picture windows.

ajmwd

@medeek said:

The casement style window is very similar (identical) to the picture style window in geometry. I guess I probably should add an option for multi-picture windows.

Thanks. I think I should clarify my statement... I was stating that Andersen shows a different glass size for Picture and Casement at the same window width. However, after reviewing their size chart documents, it appears that was just a perception of mine. Andersen size charts show both Picture and Casement windows have the SAME unobstructed glass size of...
Width = window width − 6.250".
Height = window height − 6.250".

So the Triple Casement will be totally fine at representing Triple Picture. Thanks for the information and clarification.

medeek

I wouldn't exactly call this a schedule as much as a CSV or spread sheet with all of the shearwall data contained within it. Regardless here is a first look at the Shearwall Schedule tool (preview menu):

Note that the preview (or HTML menu) only shows limited information. The CSV output is much more comprehensive, listing all of the parameters for the shearwall (ie. holdowns, anchor bolts, clips, blocking etc...)

I still have not ironed out all of the details I want to show or present within this schedule tool so additional feedback will be key as to how this evolves. I will probably dig into my original shearwall calculator and figure out how to best incorporate some engineering into this tool. I think it would be useful for the tool to calculate the shear capacity of the SW given its dimensions, sheathing and nail patterns. I also think additional parameter(s) for the actual applied shear load (wind and seismic) might be useful as well, I will need to give this some more thought.

Note that the tool is smart enough to detect if there are windows or doors within the bounds of a shearwall panel and correctly labels it with a "PERF" designation, which signifies it is a perforated shearwall.

ajmwd

@medeek said:

Wow, interesting video put out just yesterday:

https://youtu.be/004vhNZFkt0

Wow, this is a bit of a crossover for me. I am VERY familiar with Matt Petrowsky from his EXTENSIVE set of FileMaker database development videos on FileMakerMagazine.com. Very interesting to see that he now also has an interest in SketchUp and particularly Medeek. Pretty cool.