Help Files and Tutorials for Computer Users
Making a roof Overhang with Sketchup</ i></ b>
Sketchup is a very 'user-friendly' vector drawing program that is great for creating quick presentation drawings.  It is rapidly being adopted into the architectural community.

When drawing buildings, I have discovered that there are often many different methods of doing the same thing. Following is one method of drawing a house.

Rectangle tool

This tutorial will assume that you have a general working knowledge of Sketchup.
I am going to start with a basic rectangular house 28' x 24' x 9' high.

Push/Pull Tool

 Use the Push/Pull tool to raise the rectangle to the desired height.

Line Tool

Use the Line tool to intersect the top of the rectangle. 

Watch for the light blue dot that indicates when you are exactly at the midpoint.

Move/Copy Tool

 Use the Move/Copy tool to bring the roof ridgeline up to the desired height.

Orbit Tool

 Use the Orbit tool to rotate so that you can clearly see a gable end of the house.

Starting from the peak of the roof draw a line downward about 8" (the width of your facia board).

The  blue  line indicates when the line is moving straight down along the proper axis.

As you are drawing the facia line, touch the edge of the roofline to establish a parallel surface.  Your line will now turn pink  when it is parallel to the roofline.

Complete the opposite facia. 

A green line will appear to help line up the two facias.

Use the Push/Pull tool to extend the roof. I used a roof overhang of 16".

As you create the second overhang move the Push/Pull tool to the first overhang until it snaps into place.  This ensures that the two overhangs will be equal.

Repeat these steps for the opposite gable end.

Next we create the eave overhangs.  To do this, we will draw some temporary construction lines.

Draw a horizontal line extending out from the roof edge the same distance as your gable end overhang.

The  green  line indicates the proper axis.

Draw a line straight down along the  blue  vertical axis.

Next draw the continuations of the gable end facia lines. The  pink  lines will indicate the proper axis.

Erase the extra lines.

This is the first completed roof overhang.

Next, repeat steps for the opposite gable end of the roof.

Draw a horizontal line extending out from the roof edge the same distance as your gable end overhang.

The  green  line indicates the proper axis.

Draw a line straight down along the  blue  vertical axis.

Next draw the continuations of the gable end facia lines. The  pink  lines will indicate the proper axis.

Erase the extra lines.

This is the second completed roof overhang.

Use the Line Tool to connect the edges of the roof overhangs.

As you connect the lines you will see the surfaces of the roof and facia fill in.

As you erase the extra lines you may see the wall surface disappear.  Don't worry - you can easily re-draw the missing wall.

First, use the Orbit Tool to rotate the house so you can see the entire blank area left by the missing wall.

Use the Rectangle tool to redraw the wall.

The rectangle tool should easily snap to the appropriate corners to allow you to replace the missing wall.

Repeat the steps on the opposite side of the house to complete all four roof overhangs.

You should now have a more realistic looking house.

With a few windows and doors from the components menu, it's ready for painting.

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