Access Structural Construction Details
Author: Jonathan C.
In this article, I’ll guide you step-by-step to access structural construction details in your SketchUp house project. Trust me, it’s easier than you think—don’t worry at all! With just a few simple actions, you’ll have everything set up in no time. This process is quick and straightforward, taking no more than 5 minutes to complete.
I’ll walk you through how to:
- View your roof construction details.
- Access your exterior wall details.
- See and understand your foundation details.
Before you dive into this guide, I just want to say that it’s so easy and straightforward that there’s no need to worry about anything. Think of yourself as someone who already understands it all, and you’ll see that you truly do!
“If you can see it, you can hold it.” – Bob Proctor
Access structural construction details
- First open the SketchUp model you want to view your details on.
- Once you've opened your house model, make sure it is unlocked and exploded. Set your perspective, and turn off hidden geometry and hidden objects so they don't interfere with your view.
- We will first explore our supporting roof structure and see how it is built. So, let's start by hiding everything that’s in the way. Select all the items you want to hide, right-click, and click hide.
- Continue hiding things that are in the way. This should be done in several steps, as our models contain many details.
- We have now hidden everything in the way of our roof structure, and we can explore all the details we need. We can see how it’s built, from rafter to rafter, including ridge details and all related construction details.
- We use zoom or the mouse to zoom in and see how the ridge beam is mounted on the supporting interior wall.
- To separate the details even further, you can, as we’ve done, hide all other non-load-bearing interior walls to focus on how the load-bearing wall is constructed.
- In this final example, we’ve chosen to hide everything and focus solely on the roof rafters.
Exterior wall construction details
- Continue with the same method as with the roof—hide everything that’s in the way of your exterior walls.
- Use the zoom tool again to get closer to the details you want to explore. In this example, we will look at how the top plate is attached. Simply double-click on the group and explore everything you want. Use the move tool to reposition parts to see everything. When you're done, you can press Ctrl + Z to undo your actions and have the walls reassemble.
- Here, we explore the window openings of our exterior walls to see how they are constructed.
- In this final example with the exterior walls, we want to remove the insulation to see the wooden structure itself. Again, double-click on the group, right-click on the insulation layer, and click hide. You can now see all the details without the insulation obstructing your view.
Foundation construction details
- Start by hiding everything above the foundation. Select all groups and click hide to conceal them—we only want the foundation to remain visible.
- Your foundation will now look like this once all other elements are hidden.
- Right-click and explode the foundation group, which consists of the soil, trench foundation, block stones, sand, styrofoam insulation, reinforcement bars, concrete layer, membrane, and foundation plaster.
- You can completely break down your foundation, view all the details, hide elements, or even replace materials with those available at your local hardware store.
- In this final example, we’ve chosen to zoom in on the block stones to see how the corner joints are made, but the possibilities are up to you. See what you want to see.
As a conclusion, I can only say that with this simple method and a Diysketch 3D model, you’ll 100% understand your new construction. See everything and grasp what truly matters: the house’s structure. Will we meet in the next guide, or are you ready to start building simple house designs?
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