Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> floor coverings

davet

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 I'm modelling existing buildings for a client and have been using the method for floor coverings by creataing a second floor on top of the concrete slabs. The second floor is made up of the finishing material only and given a thickness. This way once it is in place on top of the slab, information of date fitted, cost and manufacturer can be assigned to the propoerties of it.

I was told that I should be using the concrete slab and splitting the face of it in to the required finishes. Only when doing this I can't identify the finish type and assign any info to it.

 Could anyone settle a disagreement please.

 Dave

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cadman6735

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Use one floor type and add layers to your floor 

example:

12" structure

1" floor finish

Edit the material for the 1" floor finish and modify the meterial Identiy and Physical tab to suite your needs.

 Use Material Take Off schedule to schedule your finish floor.

 I would not use two floors, one on top of the other for the pupose you discribe.

I agree with the other person telling you to use one floor and use layers, not splitting face of floor,

splitting face means a different term, usualy for painting different materials on one face.  But that is a different topic

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Bm3875

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Splitting faces and painting materials won't allow the finish to be scheduled. That tool is mainly designed for aesthetic purposes; for rendering, etc. If you need to schedule these quantities I would use the floor layering method cadman6735 describes above.

If you don't need to schedule the materials, split face is the way to go. It's quick and easy and it won't add tons of additional family types to your floor types.

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Erik

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I use the princip that I draw how I build.  We tend to lay the structural floor fist (concrete) and later we do finishing

The structural floor (concrete) goes over the whole level.  The finishes floor (tiles, wood etc) goes between walls

I then can easily make structural floor plan by hiding the upper finishing floor, floor finishes plans as well as schedules quantites both finishes and structure

My advice is to use two floors :-)

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davet

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Thats great thanks.

Adding layers to the floor would make sense. However, each floor level has about 4 different finishes on for different offices. So I'm not too sure how you would split the levels on 1 large floor slab.

I've also noticed that under 'Floor' there is 'Structural Floor' and 'Floor'. Could this mean you would place the Concrete slab under structural floor and the floor finish under floor?

Any suggestions?

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cadman6735

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davet

good point about multiple finishes for each room.  I did not think about that.

At this point I would think that you are correct in making a structural slab and then making a floor for each room of different type finishes, say 1/8" thick for carpet or tile...

We typicaly do one floor and paint the materials on the face and use key schedule for a room finish schedule to do our material take off.  It is a lot easier and faster for us.  Because all the keys are set we just pick and choose.

Just remember to offset your floors correctly and set your levels correctly too,  because you will find that if you populate your rooms with equipent, furniture etc...  before you place you second finish layer you will notice that your equipment will be sunk into top finish floor and will look kind of bad in a rendering with the feet of a chair or someting stuck in the floor.

My first thought to your post was if you have to do something twice, you are doing it wrong.  But I do see your thought process and point now.

Each to their own there is always more than one way to do the same thing.  Keep thinking out side fot he box and you will start to see the true power of this amazing software.

Thanks for educating me.

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• Ability is what you're capable of doing.
• Motivation determines what you do.
• Attitude determines how well you do it.

Quote by:  Holtz, Lou

• Life is all about the attitude

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cadman6735

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Davet

forgive me, for I wish-wash a lot, because there are just so many ways to do the same thing and I don't believe one is right or one is wrong as long as you get to the end result.  Only put into the model what you want to get out of the model.  These Revit files can get crazy large and hard to manage or even work with once they get too large.

But I do want to say that after thinking about putting 2 floors down that you may want to think of a different way to get your desired results.

We use Room schedules and key schedules for our room finishes and floor material, it is tied to the room not the floor.  So this alows me to just paint the materials onto the floor quick and easy and have the room itself manage the room finishes.

The reason I don't like the idea of 2 floors is because, one you are doubling your work and two you are adding more massing information to your model, which I believe will increase your model file size.

Just something to think about.

-----------------------------------

• Ability is what you're capable of doing.
• Motivation determines what you do.
• Attitude determines how well you do it.

Quote by:  Holtz, Lou

• Life is all about the attitude

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davet

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That is a good point. I think I'll try that way on the next floor I do, thanks. The model that I am working on is not only for design work and refurb, but it also needs to hold information for my department to use. If I was to adopt your last method would I be able to assign information such as cost, the manufacture and add notes e'g. when the finished floor was fitted, etc to the properties of the element? As the model will be used for maintenance also this will be quite important.

 Dave 

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cadman6735

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Dave

to answer your question, yes, you can build a schedule to display 'most' any information you want to pull from your model.  As long as it is set up right.  (what goes in, comes out)

I say 'most' because I am sure there is somthing that a schedule can't do and I am sure there is a user here in this forum that could tell you all about it, but I have not ran across anything yet that I could not formulate some how.

 Read up on schedules and all the different types of schedules you can make.  I feel you will find what you need.

By putting your information into a room schedule, you only need to deal with room elements instead of (rooms, floors, walls, etc...)  my way is not the correct way, it is not the wrong way, it is only my way of doing things and it works for me, may not work for you and your needs but I hope it gives you an option to think about.

-----------------------------------

• Ability is what you're capable of doing.
• Motivation determines what you do.
• Attitude determines how well you do it.

Quote by:  Holtz, Lou

• Life is all about the attitude

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