Modeling a Brick Patio

The information in this article applies to:

QUESTION

I would like to create a brick exterior patio surrounded by brick half-walls. How can I create this in Home Designer?

ANSWER

Creating a brick patio surrounded by brick half walls is easy to create in Home Designer using the Railing tools.

To create your patio room

1. First, launch your Home Designer software program and Open the plan in which you would like to place your brick patio surrounded by brick half-walls.
   
   
   
2. Select Build> Railing and Deck> Straight Railing  or Curved Railing , and in your 2D floor plan view, click and drag out these railings to create a completely enclosed area for your patio area.
   
   
   
3. Using the Select Objects tool, click inside of the patio room to select it, and select on the Open Object edit tool to display the Room Specification dialog.
   
   
   
4. On the General panel, use the drop down menu to change the Room Type to a Slab.
   
   
   
   
   
5. On the Structure panel, set the appropriate Floor(C) Height for your patio.
   
   
   
   
   • For the purposes of this example, we chose 18".
     
     
   • Uncheck the Roof Over this Room option.
     
     
     
6. Select the Materials panel, choose Floor Structure, and click on the Select Material button to display the Select Material dialog;
   
   
   • Locate an appropriate brick material for your patio and click OK to apply and close this dialog.
     
     
   • For the purposes of this example we used the Mixed Brick material which can be located by going to Home Designer Core Catalogs> Materials> Masonry & Stone> Brick> Natural Brick.
     
     
     
7. Once you have completed making changes in the Room Specification dialog, click OK to apply them and close the dialog.
   
   
   

Now that we have created our patio room, we are ready to begin modifying the railings.

To modify the railings

1. Using the Select Objects tool, click on one of the railings to select it, and choose the Open Object edit tool to display the Railing Specification dialog.
   
   
   
2. On the General panel, adjust the Thickness of the railing to reflect the thickness that you want for your brick half walls.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Select the Rail Style panel and change the Railing Type to Solid.
   
   
   
   
   • Set the Railing Height to the appropriate value.
     
     
   • For the purposes of this example, we left the default value of 36" for the Railing Height.
     
     
     
4. Go to the Materials panel and set the appropriate materials for your brick half-walls that will surround the patio.
   
   
   • For the purposes of this example, we used the same material that we used for our floor structure; which was the Mixed Brick.
     
     
     
5. Once you have finished making these changes, click OK to apply them.
   
   
   
6. Repeat this process for the remaining railings.
   
   
   
7. You can now add additional items to your patio by accessing the Library.
   
   
   
8. Finally, take a Camera view to see the results.