Room Obstructions

Obstructions are added to the room to add realism, but they are also very important to call out as they may interfere with components. Obstructions include outlets, switches, soffits, ventilation and ductwork, doors, windows - Essentially anything that may get in the way of a design. They will show up in all views. In the elevation view, they help prevent the user from building into or on top of them.

TYPES OF OBSTRUCTIONS:

Add & Edit Obstructions

Outside of adding an opening in the setup wizard, obstructions are added in the Plan view. They are selected in the Obstructions section of the ribbon toolbar. IMG

Click to select an obstruction and place it on the appropriate wall. They come in with standard dimensions that are determined in the back end of CAD. Left click to place the obstruction.

To add another of the same obstruction, just click on the obstruction icon and add another and it will turn the same tool back on again

Manually move an obstruction across a wall by clicking and holding. They can only be moved along the same wall in which they originated.

Obstructions can be copied and pasted on the same or different walls. Right click on any obstruction to Copy, and right click on the desired wall to Paste.

To delete an obstruction, right click on it and select Delete. To delete all obstructions at once, select Delete All Obstructions (or Delete All Room Objects for floor and ceiling obstructions).

Certain information, such as location and dimensions, will need to be edited based on measurements taken at the customer’s home. Width, height, offsets and more can be changed in the Properties [Obstruction] dialogue from the right click menu.

There may be slightly different options in the properties box depending on the type of obstruction - This page will discuss common fields you will see on most or all obstructions. See specifics on the following obstruction-specific pages.

All obstructions have dimensions that can be adjusted. They are controlled by “locking” the radio buttons on one of the three numbers and adjusting the second. The third number will change depending on the second one.

The Horizontal dimensions determine the width of the obstruction and the right or left offsets (how far from the left or right walls does the obstruction start?). The Vertical dimensions determine how tall the obstruction is and how far off the floor or ceiling it sits (for example, a door would have a bottom offset of 0).

It is best practice to first enter the width or height of the obstruction, lock it by clicking on the radio button to the right, and then change either the left or right, or top and bottom, offsets.

All obstructions have Clearances and Misc headings in the properties dialogue.

The Clearance determines how close to an obstruction a component can be placed. For example, if the clearance for a door is set at 1” left or right, the user can’t place a component any closer to the door than an inch, as illustrated by the arrow on the left. These are set individually and can vary per obstruction.

Under the Misc tab, there is the ability to Display Label and edit the Color. Labels add information to the Elevation view that states what type of obstruction it is, the dimensions (width, height and depth) and the offsets (left, top, bottom and right).

While the Color feature is optional, It is helpful to make obstructions appear more realistic. Users can select from set options or they can customize the color. This can be applied to all obstructions.

If adding obstructions behind parts, like doors or drawers or backing, the user can visibly see it behind that part in the elevation view. This will help to ensure the user does not place partitions or parts directly over an obstruction.

Ignore Obstruction Boundary

When adding components around boundaries, obstructions will be recognized and the user may have to navigate the cursor around an obstruction to properly place it over it. Depending where the cursor is before placing, it may recognize or ignore the obstruction and snap beside it instead of over it.

If wanting to ignore the boundaries to place components around obstructions easily, users can go into the Properties [Obstruct.] of the obstruction and choose to ignore the boundaries.

Check the box next to Ignore Boundary under the Misc subheading.

Place or move components around or over the obstruction, and they will now behave as if the obstruction is not there.

Edit Design Zones Around Obstructions

The user can adjust the design zone offsets to ensure they don’t accidently build over an obstruction. This is common with doors and windows, especially if they are on the adjacent wall where the obstruction isn’t as easily recognized.

See the example below:

If the design zone was on Wall A, it would be more obvious where the component may overlap a door in the Elevation view. However, on Wall B, there will only be a cross section of the door frame – Not the swing.

This requires adjusting the length, offset left, or offset right in Properties [Design Zone]. This can be done in the Elevation or Plan view, and is best done before adding components.

Typically, the offset would be enough to clear the obstruction. For example, if the door is 32” wide, the offset should be larger than that to accommodate the swing. In the example shown above, the left offset was locked so it remains close to the wall on the right (the left/right is based on if the user were in the room looking at that wall).

In this example, a space is needed toward the left wall, closest to the door on wall C, changing the Right Offset to ~40” will clear the door swing.

Since the green block represents the buildable space within a design zone on a wall, there is no way to add a component outside of that space and into the swing of the door on the adjacent wall.

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