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The Post Frame module works a little differently from the other modules. When the module is opened for the first time (or when a new Design is required) a default Design is loaded. The default values (which are set by the user) set the Building Length & Width, Wall Height, Roof Pitch, Post Size, etc. which can save you some time if you are constantly designing Buildings that have similar characteristics. At the top of the program lies the menu bar which contains options for the Building such as your Wall Height, Footer Options, Roof Options, etc as well as the various Reports and Program settings. Just below the Menu Options are the buttons to add Doors, Windows and Open Walls as well as to rotate the Design and options to Build or Remove items. Normally when designing a Building you would use the Menu Options to modify the framework then you would use the Opening Options to add any Doors and/or Windows to the Building. The actual Design is created and modified in the drawing window (just below the Opening Buttons). To the Left of the drawing window is a status window which displays the current settings allowing you to quickly determine what has been set and what needs to be changed.
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The first action of any New Design is to set the Building Length and Width (if you don't want to use the default values). Many other settings will use Engineering Specifications based on how certain options have been set as well as the Size of the Building which is why it is important to set this option before any other. Like in the other modules you can use the rulers to set the size or manually enter a value.
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Lets take a quick look at some of the options available to us. Some options (such as the Post Size option example) are straight forward, just select a size and it's automatically changed in the Design. For our example we will use 6x6 Posts all around.
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Other Options (such as Grade Boards) have 2 or more sub-option settings which you need to select. Many of the settings which allow you to select a value also allow the use of a manual entry allowing greater flexibility to the design process.
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Other Menu Options require a bit more information than what can be supplied by a simple Menu selection therefore they are grouped together in a Dialog box. If you selected Wall Metal Skins from the Surfacing Materials menu option you would get the following Dialog box. It allows you to select the Type of Metal to be used for the Walls (which can be different from the Roof Metal), determine if the Metal for the Gable Walls will be 1 or 2 pieces, how high from the Grade to start the Metal, etc. All this is used in the actual Metal calculations.
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There are many Roof Menu Options to choose from. If you look at the Purlins not only is there options to set the Spacing but also to set the Size and how it should be laid onto the Roof. There is even an option to use No Purlins so you can add a non-Metal Roof which uses Sheathing.
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The Building has been set up. Now it's time to add an Opening. The first Opening to be added will be a Single Slide Door which will be added to the Eave side of the Building. When you click on the Single Slide Door button a Green triangle will be visible on a Gable and Eave Wall. Clicking on the Eave Wall will indicate where the Door is to be placed. The first option to set will be the Opening Width and Height. Since the program is Engineered for Openings setting these two options will determine what kind of Headers you can use. Once you have set the Width and Height you have a number of Header options to choose from. If a Header option is selected which does not meet the Engineering requirements a "NOT ADEQUATE" symbol will be displayed and will prevent you from selecting that option. If you stock Engineered Headers you can use them. The example shows a list of Engineered Headers available for the particular Opening.
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Once all the Options have been set the next step would be to place the Opening somewhere on the selected Wall. If you had set option "Position Door on an existing Post" then you just need to slide the door over (using your mouse) to the Post you want and when a "Post on Right" or "Post on Left" display screen pops up (see the example) just click and it's complete. If you don't want to place the Opening on a Post you can use Dimension values shown in the Blue screen (just above the Design) to guide you.
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We will also add an Over Head Door to a Gable Wall. If you have reviewed the Garage Module Demo you will notice that the procedure is the same. Clicking on the Overhead Door button you would first select the Wall to place the Opening then a panel would pop up (as in the example) which contains a list of the Over Head Doors to choose from.
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Once the Door has been selected a Dialog box will load which will look very similar to the Dialog box used to add the Slide Door. In fact it is the same Dialog box but because it's an O/H Door and is being added to a Gable Wall (the Engineering requirements are less stringent) normal Dimensional Lumber is all thats required for a Header.
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Once you have made all the necessary changes you would click on the Build button (the button with the hammer symbol). If any Engineering specifications have not been meet (ie: Posts are to small, Girts are not heavy enough, etc) a Message Box will warn you and give you the option to make changes before continuing. The program will then draw a framed Design (as in the example) showing the details of all the major components.
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Now lets take a look at the various Reports available. Clicking on the Reports menu will give you a list of the various Reports plus the ability to generate the necessary materials for the Design.
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The first Report we will look at will be the Plan View. If you look at the example you will see the overall dimensions, post spacing dimensions as well as the Openings. The Openings are also marked with a number which is a reference to be used in the Header Details Report. As in all the modules you have the ability to zoom in for greater details. A contractor may find this an important tool as this Report (and others) could be printed out to be referenced on the job sight.
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Another useful Report would be the Cut List. A Cut List can be generated for each Wall. As you can see in the example a Cut List has been generated for the Eave Wall of our example which contains the Single Slide Door. The list identifies the component, it's length and quantity required for that Wall. Again you have the ability to zoom in on an area for greater detail.
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The Cross Section View gives you a layout of the Vertical Dimensions of the Design as well as Details of some of the major components.
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Remember the Reference Numbers in the Plan View? When you open the Header Details Report the Numbers associated for each Header refer to the Header location in the Plan View. This Report shows how each Header is constructed. This gives the builder some idea of how the Headers are to be attached.
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Now it's time to generate the materials required for this Design. Clicking on "Review Materials" will bring up the Material options window. Like all modules the options to select and the materials to generate are controlled by you through the Material Control file. The options you select determine what materials will be displayed for the Design. For example this same Design could use a Exterior covering thats all Metal or a combination of Shingled Roof plus Metal Walls, whatever your Customer wants. Another example may include options for different sizes of Sheet Metal Fasteners for the Metal depending on where the Metal is to be placed.
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Once the Material options have been selected the first Bill of Materials to be generated is for the Lumber. Depending on the Size of the Design and the number of options added to it the Lumber B.O.M. could be 1 to 4 pages in length. Each page will give you a Description, Sku number (Product number), quantity, size and Wood Type.
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The next B.O.M. will contain all the Components (non-Dimensional lumber) used for the Design. It will also list the Truss details plus any Footer details. You also have the ability to Add or Delete Components or change the quantity of existing Components.
The next Report gives you the Sheet Metal Details for the Design. It displays the Sku number plus a Description of the Metal used for the Roof and Walls (if no Metal was used in either of these areas it will identified as none) the lengths required plus the quantity for each length, the price and if the Metal was measured per Sheet, Lineal Foot or Lineal Inch.
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The last page of the Bill of Materials displays the price for each B.O.M. plus a total price. It also shows what Wood Types were used for each Area of the Design. Note that this Report (like all Reports) can be printed out as well as viewed.
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You now have completed the Design for your Customer. Since the Customer is both impressed with the price as well as how quickly the Design was created they now want to add an Open Wall to the other Eave Wall. No problem, just a couple of clicks on the Turn button brings you to the Left Wall, another click on the Open Wall button and the Dialog box opens (looks familiar ?). You enter your Opening Width and Height, select the Header Type to use, position the Opening on the Wall, click the Build button and...
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... you have made the necessary modifications, all under 1 minute. All you need to do is regenerate the Bill of Materials. Most modifications to an existing Design require only a few clicks of the mouse. Once you become familiar with the Post Frame module most Designs can be completed in a few minutes.
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