floor plans work flow

[Anonymous]

Extremely new to Revit, and just trying to learn as I go..

I've drawn my main floor plan first. Is there a way to now drawing my foundation plan? I can't seem to see how I can "project" the main floor plan down to that level.

[chrisplyler]

I usually do my foundation plans right on Level 1. This is because most of the structural families will place with a DEPTH instead of a HEIGHT. In other words, you can stay on a Level 1 plan and the foundation items you place will extend down below it.

I usually just duplicate my Level 1 floor plan, and change its Discipline parameter to Structural, then use concrete slabs, beams, footings and columns to model the foundation.

Now in the same way that walls can have a height that is either unconnected or fixed to a higher Level, structural columns place with a depth can hve their lower constrain be either unconnected or fixed to a lower level. So you may want to create a Level called Bottom of Piers or similar that's down low. You could do something similar for grade beams if instead of using a concrete beam, you create and use a concrete wall type set to be structural...in this way you can restrain it's depth to a Level you call Bottom of Beam or similar. Then maybe you want to reset your piers top constrain to be at Bottom of Beam also, then if you move the Bottom of Beam Level up or down, you will be moving the tops of the piers underneath it also.

So anyway, my main view for the foundation plan will be one that is on Level 1, is set to the Structural discipline, is set to the Hidden Line graphics setting,  has the view's Hidden Line parameter set to the By Discipline option, and has the View Range set so the bottom and the depth are both Unlimited.

[KKProssick]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Extremely new to Revit, and just trying to learn as I go..

I've drawn my main floor plan first. Is there a way to now drawing my foundation plan? I can't seem to see how I can "project" the main floor plan down to that level.

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There are a few ways to go about this ...

1. Reference planes ... create and lock reference planes to your walls, this is a good habit. (I personally like to attach them to the outside face of the CORE) The reference planes will carry up through all levels. Then in your foundation plan, you will see the location of the above walls and layout the foundation walls along them, and lock them. This way you can move the walls on either level by just moving the reference plane in any level view. Learn as much as you can about reference planes and practice with them alot, they are your best friends, especially in families. When your model becomes more complex, they make it easy to manipulate things and also keep your bearings in the model. I also create a special sub-category (new in 2017) for reference planes I attach to walls and make them a separate color and thus easier to see. You can create the sub-categories in the Object Styles button on the Manage Tab.
2. View Properties - Underlay ... In your foundation plan you can go to the View Properties and set the underlay to main level and the walls above will display in halftone. You can then insert the walls by simply using the arrow to pick the walls above. (Again here I use Extreior CORE face as my aligning plane, but you can use whichever as long as you always maintain that plane.)
3. Stacked Wall - Revit allows you to create a stacked wall, in this case, a foundation wall with a stud wall above. Search your help files for >>> How to create a stacked wall.