Basework Diagrams

The Basework diagram feature of Roofwright could save you hours of work every week. As a design is created in RoofWright, accurate Basework information is generated as you work.

Every time a doorway is added or a wall length changes, the base plans are instantly updated. This tutorial explains what you need to do to get accurate basework sizes.

Configuring Basework Defaults

When a new job is created, the basework information is loaded from the System Preferences. This means that you can configure your system preferences to your standard brick dimensions, as show below.

The information regarding pallet quantities is used for the basework statistics described later (you can probably guess why!).

As well as the brick sizes, it is also useful to set up the default wall information, as shown below:

The external thickness, cavity thickness and internal thickness should all be set to your normal sizes.

It is possible to choose to not use an internal course (this is sometimes the case in other parts of Europe).

The "DPC Height" field specifies the height of the brickwork to be shown below the Damp Proof Course.

Basework Rules

Different installers build using different basework methods. For example, on corner facets some use squint bricks, and use some cut-and-bond bricks. Also, the way in which corner joints at doorways is handled differs considerably. When producing basework diagrams, these differences used to be difficult to specify, so we introduced basework rules.

Deductions for door frames and squints on corners can be changed via Maintain -> Basework: as you can see, each tab gives access to the behaviour of where a wall of one height meets another, e.g. when you place a door adjacent to a 135 degree angled facet in a Victorian design, we can specify that squint bricks are to be used.

RoofWright allows alternative sets of Basework Rules to be created and used as required - this means if you have two or more different building styles for different materials this can be managed. A good example is where squint bricks are used for brickwork, but returns are used for stonework.

On screen, Basework plans are available from RoofWright's 2D menu; for example, here is an External Brickwork view of a wide fronted Victorian design with a french door on the left side. This information is sufficient for a builder to construct the base.

Note that there are dimensioned lines from every corner, from the projected corners and to each side of the door opening - all these can be turned off or on in the System Preferences to suit. These views can be printed as required.

And For Our Next Trick...

In addition, the material quantities, conservatory volumes and relevant areas of the conservatory construction are also immediately available under View -> Design Statistics without any further action or input on the user's part. If you've ever tried to calculate the internal volume of a complex conservatory, you'll appreciate how this single feature alone can save you hours.

Any of this information, pictorial or numerical, can be added to Printouts through Print Designer Express, a subject we will cover in a later tutorial.