Deck Design Software Tutorial. Regal ideas

Transcription

1 Deck Design Software Tutorial Regal ideas Version 12:00.01 May 2014 The Luxwood Corporation 2014.

2 Getting Started When the software is first installed it will run for 30 days before requiring an Activation Code. If you see the following window and you still have any days left on the timer you may click on the continue icon, and resume using the software. Be sure to fill in all fields in the Luxwood License Activation window shown on right. When complete click the Submit icon. Your application is the automatically transmitted to Luxwood. The process may take a while since your information needs to be verified with Regal.

3 Activation After submitting your information and following verification with Regal ideas, you will receive an activation code via . The activation code will resemble the following: Launch the program from the icon on your desk top. If Days left = 0 then the Activation window will automatically open. If Days left does not equal 0, you may have to force it to open by exiting the program and restart from the desktop icon with [caps lock] on. Copy and paste your activation code into the Activation window. Be sure [Unlock application] is marked and click [continue]. Your application is now activated, and the program will launch.

4 Starting a New Design Start a new design by clicking the New Deck Design button. Customer Information The customer information is not only used in saving the design but displays on the reports. While you may just click on OK without filling in any information and continue with the design, this window will open again when you attempt to save the design or produce reports through the Quote Generator. The 3 minimum fields which must be filled to save the design are highlighted in yellow as illustrated to the right.

5 Preliminary Deck Shape The program displays a variety of shapes representing the 1 st level to be drawn. These are just starting shapes which help you to speedily layout a deck shape. You may not see a shape resembling the one you wish to create, but the program enables you to modify the shape. For this tutorial we are going to begin with the rectangular shape icon at the bottom of the list.

6 Setting the Deck Height Deck height refers to the distance between grade and the top surface of the deck level. Your Regal Deck Design has been set to automatically use the Regal stringers wherever possible. Since these stringers have a fixed rise, the deck heights will be in multiples of 7.5 inches. If you wish to use wood stringers either precut or D.I.Y. using dimensional lumber then click the bottom icon to choose Wood or precut stringers. If you wish to set the deck to a height for which the Regal stringer is not suitable, but keep the Regal stringer as the default for additional levels, then click the [Other] icon and type the height required. Use feet (2 ), inches (24 ), inches and decimal inches (23.75 ), feet and inches (3 4.5 ). be sure to use the and symbols but do not leave any space between foot and inch values.

7 For this tutorial example we will set the deck height to 45 Drawing the Preliminary Deck Shape Since we chose the rectangular option for our preliminary shape, the drawing window opens with the deck starting to draw from the top right corner. Pull the mouse toward you until the dimension reads 14 and then click the left mouse button. The drawing tool now changes direction by 90⁰ and by pushing the mouse to your right, you ll see the rectangle take shape. Keep moving the mouse until the measurement reads 20 and click the left mouse button.

8 The preliminary shape of our first deck level is now complete and the options for shaping the deck are now available. Shaping Tools Chamfer Click the Chamfer tool and you ll be presented with 2 options, 45⁰ and an option to create an angle other than 45⁰. For this design we ll use the 45⁰ option.

9 When the distance equals 7 click the left button to complete the chamfer.

10 Undo To undo the last action Click the large red left arrow. To Undo actions prior to the last, click the X and then on the marked feature. Click the undo button once to remove the chamfer. Select the chamfer 45⁰ tool again and click on the bottom right corner of the deck shape again. Throughout the program you are able to set dimensions manually for increased accuracy. Pay attention to the blue prompt strip at the bottom left of the window. This time we will set the chamfer by entering values manually. As indicated in the prompt strip illustrated above, press the [f5] key on your keyboard. A dialogue box will pop up permitting the manual entry of the offset values. This method is much more precise than the mouse. Since we have chosen a 45⁰ chamfer, there are only 2 relevant values. 1 the side offset, i.e. the distance from the original corner, and 2 the length of the diagonal. For this tutorial design, click in the radial button to the left of Diagonal if it is not already marked, then type 60 in the dialogue box. Click OK.

11 While the resulting 60 diagonal is not dimensioned in the above drawing, the layout measurements required to result in the exact 60 diagonal are displayed.

12 Pull Section Pull section is used to extrude or indent a portion of the side of the deck. An example might be to build the deck around a chimney. To do so in our tutorial deck click on the pull section icon, and then choose the side on which to locate it. Click on the upper 20 side in our deck shape. Click on the minimum 4 in the Width of section menu.

13 We are going to position the pulled section exactly 4 from the right edge of the deck which will be the starting point of our chimney. Slide the mouse back and forth until the distance From right = 4 as in the illustration below, and click the left button. Moving the mouse toward you, pull the outer edge of the deck in 1 6 and then click the left button. Pull Edge The Pull Edge tool is commonly used to move a side of the deck thus re-dimensioning the shape. In our present design we have placed an indentation for a chimney which is presently 4 wide by 1 6 deep. To resize this we are going to pull a side to result in a dimension around the chimney 1 6 deep by wide. We want to maintain its position of exactly 4 from the right side of the deck so we 1) click the Pull Edge tool and then 2) click the left side of the indentation and 3) press f5 on the keyboard. Notice the prompt at the bottom of your screen.

14 We have chosen to move the left side. To decrease the size of the indentation we are actually increasing the area and must make sure that Increased is chosen. 4 minus = so enter that value in the dialogue box and click OK.

15 To finish this operation click the right button Add a Level To add another deck level, click the [New] icon under the Shape Deck options. In this Regal version you have 2 options for attaching a new level. 1. Stairs. Stairs will separate the levels by a distance equal to the total run of the stairs. 2. Steps Steps will keep the 2 levels of the deck Immediately adjacent to one another resulting in the steps being built on top of the lower section. For this design choose Steps After choosing the steps option, a number of options are allowed as seen below. Choose 2 steps down.

16 Next click on the 3 sides as indicated below and then click the right mouse button to indicate you are finished choosing locations.

17 The program automatically adds a new level 8 wide to the sides previously indicated. Click on the Pull Edge tool and resize the new level. As shown below pull the right edge out 4 and click the left mouse button

18 We are finished shaping the deck so click the Green [Go forward] icon. Show the House Wall Locations Add Walls Start by clicking the Build icon in the Walls menu Click on each location where the house walls are located. In our design click on all of the locations across the top of the layout. Note: The program assumes the house will be located to the left, right or top of the window, never to the bottom. In an upcoming step the program will automatically shoot a 3D image of the deck taken from the bottom of the screen. To accommodate this automatic feature the house is never located at the bottom of the screen.

19 When all locations are selected click the right button to finish. Choose a double full pane door from the door menu.

20 Click the left button to place when it is positioned where you want it. Place another door if you wish and then click the [Go forward] icon. Rail Configuration

21 Click on [View] to set the view to perspective if you wish. Click on each of the menu options and observe the changes. In the sample below the two choices for Post Caps have been set to ball. 1 st post cap choice is for corner and end posts, 2nd is for line posts. When you are satisfied with your choices click the [Go forward] icon.

22 The program automatically places the handrail on all open sides of the deck and displays the Accessories menu. Accessories The accessories options are used to make precise revisions to the design to match your customer s requirements or to upsell. The program permits us to revise the design without having to start over, so revisiting this menu is a common practice with our users who wish to present alternatives to their customers. This is also where we place stairs. For our preliminary design we will replace some of the steps between level 1 and 2 with glass panel railing and place stairs which will span the entire front edge of the deck. To begin click the large red X

23 Click the two locations marked as 1 and 2, then click the right mouse button to finish. In the Accessories menu click on the Insert handrail icon. For our tutorial design we ll click on [Deck-edges] indicating we ll be placing a hand rail along the entire side. We would choose [Sub-section] if we wished to place a specific hand rail in an area less than a full side of the deck.

24 To place the hand rail click the two locations as indicated below replacing the hand rail which we removed earlier. Click the right button to finish the selection. The Rail Configuration window is now displayed so you can choose the rail style to use on the two sides you have selected. Choose the Glass Panels option resulting in the following display. Then click the [Go forward] icon

25 Add Stairs Click on the Add stairs option in the Accessories menu. Click the side at the bottom of your screen (front of the deck) As shown below. The following preview window of the stairs about to be placed permits the editing of the stair dimensional values You are able to edit each of the following values and will receive a warning if you enter a value which is more or less than the allowable limits. The [Total Rise] indicates the distance from the deck surface down to grade. If for instance the height at that location is more or less than the indicated value you may edit it accordingly. Typically stairs will rest on a concrete slab or pavers which may be an inch or more above grade. In our design, the total rise is 2 7. Circumstances at the site may permit us to alter that value. Since there are 4 rises, decreasing the Total rise will by one inch reduces the rise per step to 7.5. The program immediately recognizes that this rise can be accommodated by the

26 Regal stringers and replaces them accordingly. The same result can be achieved by changing the rise per step to 7.5 Preview with all values generated by the software. Preview with Total rise reduced by one inch resulting in a 7 ½ rise per step. Stringers are automatically replaced by Regal stringers. To accept the changes and place the stairs click the [Go forward] icon. Setting width of Stairs

27 You can set the stairs by clicking a value between 2 6 up to MAX (full width) or by clicking other to type a value somewhere in between. In our example we wish to place the stairs across the entire width of the deck, so click MAX. We will make no more changes for now so click the [Go forward] icon

28 To attach the deck to the house click the [ATTACHED] icon. This structurally attaches the deck to the house and will influence the direction the joists will run. Choose the size and wood type for the planking and click the [Go forward] icon. In the full version of Deck Design many planking libraries can be installed resulting in many choices of both lumber and manufactured planking materials.

29 Choose a perimeter board using a different wood type for our design, to make it more visible. Choose the planking direction for level 1

30 Choose a different direction for the planking on level 2 Congratulations you have created your first deck design using the software.

31 After reviewing the design let s make some changes. 1. Close in the space between the deck and ground identified by the number 1 below, with an apron using Lattice. 2. Close the gap between the 2 levels identified by the number two below, by constructing an apron using 1x6 lumber placed vertically. 3. Add another set of stairs centered in the side identified by the number 3 To start these revisions click the Revision icon in the Design Complete menu. Then choose Accessories.

32 First choose Add/Remove Aprons in the accessories menu and then choose lattice apron from the Apron menu. Click on each of the 4 locations indicated below and then click the right mouse button to finish.

33 Next choose the vertical apron option from the apron menu. since we are building an apron using vertical pieces of lumber the program prompts us to choose both the size of the lumber and any spacing between the slats. For our design we ll choose 1x6 with a spacing of none.

34 click on the last 2 locations available for the placement of apron and then click the right mouse button to finish. With all the apron in place click the [Go forward] icon.

35 Add Stairs In the accessories menu click the Add Stairs icon. Click on the location indicated below to place the stairs

36 The preview window shows the stairs using Regal stingers since we set the height to 45 when we started the design Click the Go forward button This time we ll choose 4 for the stair width and click OK

37 The stairs can then be slid back and forth with the mouse to the desired location. Notice the prompt in the bottom left of the window. Press f5 and manually enter a distance or click the right mouse button and automatically center it. For this design click the right mouse button. Since this was a revision to a previously completed deck, and we made no changes effecting walls or planking, click the GoForward button to finish. The completed design.

38 The Deck is visually complete but needs one more crucial step to create an accurate Bill of materials. From the completed design click the [Go forward] icon. Click on [Review materials] This will produce the following Bill of Materials. Click [Close] and you can now click on print reports and choose the reports to print.

39 For additional Tutorials and manuals, call Luxwood Support toll free at or To receive information about other Luxwood software, or to upgrade to the full version of Deck Design, please call our sales dept. at Visit us on line at