Ceilings and Floors

Adding and Removing Ceilings and Floors

The program adds the floor and the ceiling when you have drawn a closed shape with walls. So, usually you do not need to add ceilings and floors manually.

The floor and ceiling added automatically will get the default names "AutoFloor" and "AutoCeiling" in the Project Tree. In contrast to manually added floor and ceiling:

Automatically added floor and ceiling get the default names "AutoFloor" and "AutoCeiling" in the Project Tree.
In contrast to manually added floor and ceiling, automatic floor and ceiling:

• change size and shape when you move or resize walls;
  
• split into two parts when a room was broken into two pieces by adding a wall.

The "AutoFloor" and "AutoCeiling" are added as a pair. If you remove one of them, the other will become a regular (non-automatic) item. If you draw a floor over the existing "AutoFloor", the previous one will be removed, and the "AutoCeiling" will become a regular (non- automatic) item. A similar situation will occur if you draw another ceiling.

To add a floor or a ceiling manually, select the corresponding tool in the 2D toolbar. Then click in your layout several times to add corners. And finally, double-click to add the last corner and exit the floor/ceiling drawing mode. A floor and ceiling can be added together.

To remove a floor or a ceiling, select it and press the Delete key.

Selecting Ceilings and Floors

To select a ceiling or a floor in the 2D layout, you should click its outline. Sometimes it is difficult because the outline goes over walls (walls have higher priority for selection). Since all ceilings and floors are listed in the Project Tree, you can select them in the list.

The Project Tree lets you control the Visibility and Lock options.

Moving Ceilings and Floors

To move a ceiling or a floor, select it and drag its edge with the mouse.

Note: The move operation changes the moved ceilings or floors to regular (non-automatic) items: they will not change their shape as you modify walls.

Resizing Ceilings and Floors

To resize a ceiling or a floor, select it and drag a corner handle with the mouse.

The Information bar shows the dimensions of the selected ceiling or floor. If the object is rectangular, and its sides are vertical and horizontal, the dimensions will mean width and height. To show or hide the Information bar and rulers, press Cmd-R.

Materials

Use the Materials tab of the Inspector to apply or change a material. See Applying Materials for more detail.

Ceiling and Floor Representation on the Plan

You may want to make ceilings or floors look differently in 2D in order to reflect difference between materials they are made of. For this use the Drawing tools from the 2D Properties tab of Inspector.

You can use the settings from the Drawing section to change the outline color and fill color, as well as apply fill patterns.

Text Label of the Floor

Unlike the ceiling, the floor has a text label. By default, the label displays the area of the floor. To add your own text, double click the label.

The location of the label in the 2D layout can be changed. For this, drag the label by its handle.