New feature idea for the next version. \"Does it fit?\&

Theodore R Fountain · Post by **Theodore R Fountain** » Tue, Mar 06 2007, 7:41AM

Have you ever worried if the piece you designed for a say an upstairs office, would actually fit up the stairs on the day of delivery.

What if there was a way to tell the program all of the entrance points of a clients house, that this cabinet or job would have to pass through to get to the installation location. Maybe using something like wall editor, to define these parameters of the job, than load the cabinet or job and the program would twist and rotate the cabinet in 360 degrees to find if it will fit. Than show you how to carry it up or down to get it in there. I have a job coming up in which I need to bring a semi large built-in bookcase/file cabinet, up a staircase that has 3 landings with 45 degree turns at each. It’s not tight but without bringing a full-size model of the project on site it would be to hard to truly determine if it will fit up there. Does this feature exist on any another software programs? I could see this being real helpful for us. We custom built guys tend to do just that \"custom built\" and sometimes instance's like this arise where you want a nice fit in a breakfast nook, or to divide a bookcase into only two pieces and not three, but need the confidence to do so. What do you guys think?

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Tue, Mar 06 2007, 8:23AM

WOW! That is a great concept. I don't know what it would take to accomplish but I do know it would require a lot of programming.

Mark Hesketh · Post by **Mark Hesketh** » Tue, Mar 06 2007, 1:23PM

i would appreciate this kind of software... since i have built cabinets that won't fit up a flight of stairs and had to be broken apart and re-assembled/repaired at the top... sigh...

the only problem i could foresee would be that you would end up spending more time plugging in building dimensions and layout information than it would take to build a full size mock-up and test it out. you would literally have to plug in every dimension from the front door to the destination... doorways, hallways, any turns, stairs, etc.

Still, love the idea, just not sure how justifiable the time spent on it would be.

Glenn Van Reason · Post by **Glenn Van Reason** » Tue, Mar 06 2007, 5:36PM

I use to work for a truss and frame manufacturer, the software we used had a feature to load the truck. You would stack the wall panels on top of each other with the mouse whose overall length would not exceed the trucks capacity. Nice features like this really make software ! you get the wow factor lol

Joe Dusel · Post by **Joe Dusel** » Tue, Mar 06 2007, 10:57PM

You can just use the Wall Editor to cut a hole in the wall. This should make it easier to get the cabinets in.

Joe

Theodore R Fountain · Post by **Theodore R Fountain** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 6:41AM

You can just use the Wall Editor to cut a hole in the wall. This should make it easier to get the cabinets in.

I new i was missing something.

I can see that it would be difficult to program this kind of feature. And entering in all those values in could be time comsuming. Maybe a stabilized rotating lazer range finder, that you could hold out in front of you while you walk through the home. Than upload and bingo. Where's that peskee \"tri-corder\" when you need it.

Mark Hesketh · Post by **Mark Hesketh** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 7:19AM

i knew i should have been working on getting that holodeck up and running!

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 7:22AM

I'm still a firm believer in the Stihl method of making sure thing fit through hallways, turns and doors: Just use your chainsaw (on the walls, not the cabinet) and it will fit

DaleKern · Post by **DaleKern** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 8:51AM

Another benefit of using Dan's Stihl method is you can now charge more for the job because you are incorporating \"rustic carvings\" into your installation.

Customer -->

Dale

Denis L'Heureux · Post by **Denis L'Heureux** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 9:45AM

Amazing what can be achieved when great minds come together.

Brian Bauer · Post by **Brian Bauer** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 11:10AM

It's probably a good thing customers aren't allowed in here cause if they heard us talking like that

.

I've always thought about will it fit and if it even looks close I will build it smaller or not even take the job. Some jobs are more of a pain in the ass and are just not worth the money if there is even any left after some jobs.

Sometimes one little screw up blows the whole profit margin and leaves you working for habitat for humanity wages

.

My personal favorite as your bringing in the finished cabinetry \"That's not the right color!\" Those are the days you wish you would win the lottery to just walk away from people who don't see color right.

Brian

Michael Yeargain · Post by **Michael Yeargain** » Wed, Mar 07 2007, 5:24PM

Won't fit in the house?

I built a window seat for the upstairs bonus room in one senerio. And in the delivery it would not go up the stair well. (So, I well planned).
I took the window seat back outside and put the cabinet on top of the cargo trailer and backed the trailer up to the window of the upstairs bonus room and hoisted it through the window.

What a chalange that was. I then took a lunch break.