Graphic Design CoursesContinuing on from the previous blog post on creating external walls in Revit we now want to add internal walls to the ground floor of our building. This blog post will discuss Revit’s wall types and their various properties, and how to add these to a model. In our Revit training courses we customize each class but a brief description of the process is as follows.
Like many other features of Revit, walls are predefined families built into the system. These represent standard wall types used in Australia, with a range of wall functions, materiality, composition, etc. And these default properties may be customized to your own requirements, for example – changing the materials, thickness or layers which make up the wall. Once a wall has been added to your model you can then add sweeps or reveals, as well as add doors and windows.
INTERNAL WALL TYPES:
First of all open your previous model and return to Level 1 Floor-plan. Go to the Architecture tab and choose Wall. Then in the Properties sidebar select Type and notice various wall types which meet Australia Standards. Choose Internal – 135mm Partition (2 hr). This wall has a two-hour fire rating according to certain testing standards.
Also in the Properties panel we can adjust the Height to Level 2 and the Location Line to Finish Face – Exterior, with an Offset of 0. The Location Line refers to the lines we will now draw to describe the wall – we can specify these lines to describe the exterior, interior or centre lines.
Now go to the Draw panel and select the Line tool. Hover over the bottom right corner, move to the left and type 3650, and hit the Enter key. Then move upwards by 4000, to the right by 3500, and hit Enter and the Escape key.
CREATING REFERENCE LINES:
We now create another instance of an internal wall – a small dividing wall in the top right corner at a certain distance from the outer wall. Go to the Modify tab (top) and select Reference Plane (on the far right). Change the Offset to 2500 and choose the Pick Line tool. Next click on East (right-hand) wall – note that this creates a dashed line as a reference line. We will draw over this reference with the Wall tool.
From the Architecture tab choose Wall. Set the Location Line to Finish Face – Interior and create another wall on top of the reference line (see figure right). Reference planes can be deleted later.
Make sure to save regularly: File > Save. And repeat this process for as many internal walls as you need.
EDITING INTERNAL WALLS:
Note that most walls have rectangular profiles when viewed in elevation, but you can modify these (for example adding an arch or a skillion) using the Edit Profile function. To do this select a wall and note the Modify | Walls tab at top. In the Mode panel select Edit Profile. This takes you into a Sketch Mode, signified by a magenta perimeter.
To complete the modification click the Finish Edit Mode button. If there are any gaps in your profile a warning will appear, in which case you’ll have to zoom in and inspect the whole perimeter. Any of the drawing tools can be used to modify a profile, for example the Line, Arc, Trim tools, etc. To restore an edited wall back to its initial shape choose Reset Profile from the Modify | Walls tab.
Note also that you can’t edit the elevation profile of a curved wall – in this instance you would use the Wall Opening tool. More on this in later blog posts.
The AutoDesk knowledge network website is a great resource for Revit tips and techniques – in this instance they have several pages on creating and modifying internal and external walls. In our Revit training courses we take time to teach a wide range of common techniques, relevant to industry practice. You can see many examples of our class work on our Facebook page.
