Recommended test
Compare a ground entrance beneath a balcony with a roof-and-posts porch over a timber deck.
- Add a porch to a two-storey building, keep its upper balcony floor and enable Entrance / terrace.
- Choose a concrete semicircle, enable a front step and drag a width handle. Check that depth stays half the width.
- Switch to Timber deck, change the width and depth, then disable Include balcony / porch floor. Check the ground deck, continuous roof posts and absence of balcony railings.
- Place an entrance door in Openings, generate and inspect the deck, step and wall gap. Save and reopen a project copy.
In the visual Build generator, open Porch / balcony and select an addition. Expand Entrance / terrace and enable Include entrance / terrace. It starts off and adds a ground-level surface independently of the balcony floor.
Keep the upper balcony enabled for an entrance beneath it. For a ground terrace with only the roof and its posts above, clear Include balcony / porch floor. The entrance remains part of this porch addition; it is not a separate building foundation or a freestanding terrace tool.
Set the footprint and level
Choose Concrete slab or Timber deck. Width and projection initially match the porch, then remain independent. Offset moves the entrance sideways from the porch centre; positive values move it right when facing the wall from outside.
Drop below ground floor sets the surface below the finished first-storey floor, initially 50 mm. Gap to wall finish starts at 10 mm and measures from the ground-storey wall finish. The entrance stays at ground-floor level even when the selected balcony is on the second storey.
The selected entrance shows handles on both sides and its front edge:
- Drag either side to resize the width equally around the existing centre.
- Drag the front edge to change depth while keeping the wall edge and gap fixed.
- Drag in 10 mm steps, or hold Shift for 1 mm steps. A focused handle also responds to arrow keys. Escape cancels the current drag.
Resizing the entrance leaves the porch roof and balcony dimensions unchanged. Check the step after resizing because it retains its own dimensions.
Concrete slab
Choose a Rectangle or Semicircle. A semicircle has its straight edge against the wall and a depth equal to half its width. Its dimensions stay linked when dragging either a side or the front handle.
Set the base thickness. With a front step enabled, this is the concrete below the lowest tread; the upper landing includes the additional step rise. Concrete uses the concrete finish when the generator’s Textures switch is enabled.
Concrete parts record their volume and are excluded from the timber bill of materials. Concrete pricing is not included.
Timber deck
Timber decks are rectangular. Set joist width/depth and maximum CC, then decking board width, thickness and gap. Optional supports add beams and posts; post dimensions and base elevation are configurable. Disable supports when using your own supporting construction. Boards and framing fit around the porch’s existing roof columns.
The tool generates the configured layout; it does not calculate member sizes from loads. Footings are not generated.
Add one front step
Enable Include front step, then set rise and tread depth. Rectangular entrances have a separate step width. A semicircular concrete step follows the whole curved edge. Timber steps include their own framing and decking.
This option creates one tread. Multi-tread stairs require separate modelling. Resolve overlap or boundary messages before generating the building.
Openings and saved settings
Add the entrance door in Openings on the first storey. The entrance keeps the main wall intact and does not create or move doors.
Material settings are retained when you switch material or disable the entrance. Drafts and .strek projects preserve the configuration. Existing porches do not gain an entrance automatically when opened in the updated app.