In this video, I will cover placing and editing ramps in Home Designer.
The stair ramp tool is available in both Home Designer Architectural and Home
Designer Professional.
The Professional version of the product has a few more ramp options,
which I'll cover at the end of the video.
I'll begin by opening up a completed plan and take a 3D view by using the 3D
camera to create a perspective view. Then,
I'll tile my screen so you can see both the 2D and the 3D views.
To tile the views I'll click and grab the 3D window and drag it out until I see
the blue area indicating where the view will be,
and then I can drop it into place.
I'll also zoom in on the plan and 3D view using my scroll wheel on my mouse to
zoom in.
In the plan view I'll choose build, stairs, ramp.
Ramps are drawn and configured similar to stairs.
With the ramp tool selected, I can click and drag to draw a ramp.
The ramp will draw at a 1 and 12 slope,
which is the typical ADA requirement for ramps.
I can then increase,
or decrease the size of the ramp by either selecting the ramp and adjusting the
edit handles or by double clicking to open up the ramp and typing in the length
and the width. Either way, the slope should remain at 1 and 12.
So if I draw a 10 foot ramp that's 120 inches,
the overall height should be 10 inches.
To create an L shaped ramp,
I'll use the ramp tool and click and drag an additional ramp.
Notice in 3D, both ramps are at ground level. To connect them,
I'll, use the ramp tool and click in a space between the two ramps.
The program will then automatically create an automatic landing to join the two
ramp segments.
The ramp landing will use the thickness and material of the ramps so it will be
concrete at the ground level.
You can shape ramp landings as your design may require.
With the ramp edge selected,
in the lower edit toolbar I'll use change line to arc to curve the landing edge
for a larger turn radius.
To edit both of the ramp segments.
I'll select the first ramp and hold down my shift key and then click to select
the second ramp. Then in my lower edit toolbar,
I'll use the open object tool.
In the ramp dialog you can change the width and length of the ramp.
If you see no change, it's because the values of these ramps will vary,
you can simply type a value in to make the adjustment when that's the case.
In Home Designer Pro you will find added height and slope control for the ramps,
and I'll cover that here in just a minute.
You'll find a setting for your ramps to be open underneath,
the ramp thickness, and an option to add a tread to the ramp.
On the railing panel, you can set the height of the railing,
control the railing for the right and left sides,
and then the type of railing.
For this ramp I'll use an open style and remove the bottom rail.
On the newels and balusters panel,
you can change the style of the railing and on the materials panel you can
adjust the materials for the various ramp components.
As I close the ramp dialog you'll see all the changes that were applied in 3D
and because I changed the ramp width, I'll need to adjust the landing to fit.
Once I do, it will automatically reconnect the landing to this ramp segment.
Let's create a new ramp.
Earlier when I created the ramp by clicking and dragging. For this ramp,
I can just click outside the porch railing and Home Designer will draw the ramp
at the exact length that needs to be to reach the porch from the terrain and
maintain a 1 and 12 slope.
It will also automatically place an opening in the porch railing.
I can use the edit handles to move its location.
To make the ramp integrated seamlessly into the porch I'll re-position it and
I'll need to lower it to the ground level.
The ramp will want to sit on top of the porch so I can either reshape the porch
room or I could create an open tableau room inside the porch,
like you would for a stairwell.
To create this stairwell type of approach I'll use the room divider wall type
and then open up the room dialog and change it to an open to below room,
which will then remove the floor platform and allow the stairs to drop to ground
level.
I'll adjust the opening that was created in the railing and make it wide enough
for the ramp.
Home Designer Professional includes added ramp features for more control over
the height and slope. For example,
if I open up the previous ramps upper segment and remove the automatic height
setting, I can make some manual adjustments. In this case,
I can change the top height, press the tab key,
and you'll notice that the slope will automatically recalculate.
In Home Designer Professional you have the manual controls over the location of
the ramp and I can create shallower and steeper pitches as a situation may
require. To learn more about ramps,
please see our built in help file and our support articles available on the Home
Designer Software website, and thanks for watching the video.