0.5.380: the Wall Tool

One Wall Tool for every common wall, from 2x4 to block. Draw a run of walls once and the plates, studs, sheathing, drywall and the rest come with it.

The goal of this version

Walls are a big part of any framing takeoff, and until now each kind of wall needed its own setup. This version brings one Wall Tool with a table of wall types, so you draw a run of walls once and DimSum fills in the materials for each wall: plates, studs, anchors, insulation, sheathing and drywall, or concrete and block. The goal is a wall takeoff that's quick to draw, easy to read on the plan, and close to what you'd figure by hand.

What's new to try

• The Wall Tool, in the built-in tools under Framing, with six wall types ready to use: Wood 2x4, Wood 2x6, Wood 2x8, Metal Stud, Concrete and CMU.
• Your own wall types. In the tool's Wall types table, duplicate a type, change what it's made of, and give it your own name.
• Draw walls like any line. Each span becomes its own wall, numbered W1, W2… and labelled on the plan. Corners and T's close up by themselves.
• Mix types in one run. Right-click one wall to change its type, so a 2x4 wall or a concrete wall can sit among your 2x6 walls.
• Inside and outside. Trace a room clockwise and the sheathing lands outside. Flip exterior turns one wall around.
• Walls read what's under them. Drawn over a floor, they sit on top of it. Over a slab or a foundation, they get a treated plate and anchors instead.
• Estimating lists each material by wall, so you can see which walls a count came from.
• Also new: a section through the wall in Tools → Assembly, and a Plate Tool for drawing plates on their own.

What we're fine-tuning, and what to look for

• The counts. Take off a set of walls you've already figured by hand. Where do the studs, plates, sheathing or drywall differ from yours, and by how much?
• The defaults. Wall height, stud spacing, the layers on each type: tell us any default you find yourself changing on every job.
• Corners and T's. Try odd angles, short walls and walls that meet partway along another. Does every corner look and count right?
• Concrete and block. If you take off foundations or CMU, does the list match what you'd order?
• Labels and wording. Are the wall labels clear on a printed plan, or too busy? Is the wording in the Wall types table clear?
• Speed on big plans. Draw on a plan with a lot of walls. Tell us if drawing a wall or changing a type ever feels slow.

Known issues

• Doors, windows and headers aren't part of walls yet. They're planned for a later version.
• Cutout by box doesn't make a hole. Draw the cutout point by point instead.
• Report designer: at some zoom levels the page can go blank and can't be scrolled back into view.
• Takeoff Summary can add a " 1" to an item name that's repeated on another sheet.
• Right-click menus: a beam's menu can offer wall commands, and right-clicking a beam inside a joist area can open the area's menu instead.
• Markup menu stays open after you tick an item, and Escape doesn't close it.
• After typing a length, the arrow keys and Enter can stop reaching the plan.
• Switching pages can keep the selection from the page you left, so Properties shows an item from that page.
• Estimating subtotals can add up columns that shouldn't be added, such as Width and Height.
• Roofs with no eave, such as a valley between two gables, can't be laid out yet.
• First install: the installer isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

How to send feedback

The Report a bug and Feedback buttons arrive in 0.5.390. Until then, write to support@planbaseestimating.com: say what you did, what you expected, and what happened, and add a screenshot if it helps. See Beta program for all the ways to reach us.