We had a good one this week.
Episode 155 of the Designers Show was all about diving into a real remodel plan submitted by Elliot and Jen from Dreamer Remodel—part of the team at Vertical Works, the same folks behind Utopian Villas (those awesome tiny homes you might’ve seen online). They joined us live as we picked through their Chief Architect file, tackled some common challenges, and shared ideas to make their plans cleaner, tighter, and easier to work with.
We always get a lot of great feedback when we do live plan reviews, and this one was no exception. These episodes give you a chance to see how we think through problems in real time—what we check first, what red flags to look for, and how to get unstuck when Chief doesn’t behave.
To start things off, we welcomed a few new faces—Mary, Chris (who we found out is Deb Purvis’s daughter—small world!), and gave a quick update on the crew. Robin was off at the zoo with her grandson, and Kevin skipped the show to attend “Chief training.” Turns out, it was Kansas City Chiefs training camp. Nice one, Kevin.
Back to the plan review. Elliot and Jen are working on a pretty cool remodel project, and like a lot of plans, it had a few areas where things just didn’t line up right—literally. We saw a few common pain points, like walls between floors not aligning, stairwells not cutting through like they should, and roof planes doing their own thing.
One of the first things we tackled was wall and floor alignment. This is something that trips up even experienced users. If your walls aren’t snapping to the main layer, or if the floor heights are off by even a couple inches, it throws everything out of whack. I showed how to use the “Edit Area All Floors” tool to move sections when needed, but also explained why it’s important to check your connections afterward. It’s powerful—but dangerous if you don’t keep an eye on it.
From there, we moved into roof cleanup. The plan had some transitions that just weren’t making sense with auto roofs on, so we switched to manual mode. I walked through how to isolate the issue and start building roof planes by hand, and John jumped in with a few tricks to keep everything looking right in 3D.
We also spent some time on stair placement. If you’ve ever struggled to get your stairs to cut through the floor correctly, you’re not alone. This one had an invisible room blocking the stairwell from forming the way it should. We went step by step through defining the stair opening, adjusting the room settings, and making sure Chief understands what you’re trying to do.
Another tip we shared was about using reference layers. They’re not just for presentations—turning on the floor below or above is a great way to catch misalignments or missing walls. A quick peek can save you a ton of frustration.
We wrapped up the show with live Q&A from the audience. Lots of great questions, especially around how to clean up framing views, how defaults affect existing plans, and what to do when Chief decides to surprise you with a weird elevation or room label.
Bottom line—this was a practical, problem-solving show. We didn’t just talk theory. We showed you how to dig into a plan, figure out what’s not working, and walk it back to something solid. If you missed the live episode, definitely go back and give it a watch.
And hey—if you’ve got a plan that’s giving you grief, send it in. We love doing these reviews, and everyone learns something new every time.
👉 Watch the full episode:
🎓 Want more hands-on help?
Join us in Bloomington, MN this October for in-person Chief Architect training. It’s four days of focused learning, real-time feedback, and “aha” moments you just don’t get from YouTube videos. Register here.
