Frame a wall opening

Start with the host wall

The main-menu O-framer button uses a black four-pane window icon with an outer frame and reflection marks. Click it to open Opening Framer.

Opening Framer sits after Build and Truss. It stays dimmed until the model contains a compatible main, dormer or extension wall. Hover or focus its icon for help. Opening the tool chooses a valid wall and its matching orthographic view. Deleting the last compatible wall closes the tool; undo or reopening a saved building enables it again.

Opening Framer is designed around a selected main wall or supported dormer/extension wall. It initially switches to a front orthographic view so width and height placement are easier to judge. Select the correct wall before choosing the opening.

Place from guides

The viewport shows references such as wall centerline, sill or base height and upper reference height. Use them to position the opening, then enter exact dimensions where needed. Taper top to roof is available for supported shaped conditions and should be inspected carefully at both edges.

What the tool creates

The committed result cuts the host and adds framing plus a product representation appropriate to the opening type. Window-related geometry can include glass and flashing details. Inspect the structural frame separately from the represented product.

Inspect flashing and trim

Head flashing above windows and doors stops at the outside of the wall battens, or the sheathing when battens are omitted, or the studs on a bare frame. Its rear edge has a 12 mm upward lip.

Window sill flashing extends 10 mm beneath the bottom window frame. Its 12 mm lip seats in a 4 mm wide, 10 mm deep underside groove, with clearance around the metal. Rectangular and sloped-top windows share this detail.

Simplified siding stops 3 mm below the flashing underside across its full thickness. The horizontal sill batten and lower trim also clear the sheet by at least 3 mm. Left and right trim have angled notches at the flashing ends: their upper cuts continue the sloped lining bottoms, while their lower cuts meet the sheet underside with no added clearance below it.

Regenerate an existing building to get these profiles and clearances. Older generated flashing with missing-looking faces is corrected when its project opens, without changing its shape or placement; save to retain that correction.

Work in reversible steps

Openings are recorded in a steps panel so recent work can be reviewed and removed in reverse order. Keep test walls simple, save before a series of openings, and verify spacing between nearby openings. The current workflow is most predictable on straightforward generated walls and conventional roof conditions.

Add and reuse window grilles

Click the grille icon beside a window preset to choose one of six editable patterns. Select a bar to change its position, width or depth, then apply the design and place the window with Set. Under Placed windows, use Add grilles, Change pattern, Edit, Hide/Show or Delete to manage a window’s grille after placement.

To match a window already in the model, click it in the viewport or click its name under Placed windows while O-framer is active. Its opening dimensions, fitting gap and grille become the settings for the next placement, even after you have resized the preview. Copying leaves the original window unchanged. Choosing a preset switches back to the preset’s settings.

See Create, edit and reuse window grilles for pattern choices, individual bar dimensions and the difference between preset designs and placed windows.