software for residential home design / timber design

Hi civil engineers, 

I would like to ask experts on this board who specialize in residential home design / timber design: what is the most commonly used software for residential home design / timber design? A friend of mine asked me because he thought I have a PE and should know. But my PE is in a completely different area ...

Would appreciate any comments / answers. 

Thanks a lot.

Mike

mikeNAME said:

Hi civil engineers, 

I would like to ask experts on this board who specialize in residential home design / timber design: what is the most commonly used software for residential home design / timber design? A friend of mine asked me because he thought I have a PE and should know. But my PE is in a completely different area ...

Would appreciate any comments / answers. 

Thanks a lot.

Mike

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It all depends on what they are using the software for and how much they are relying on software. Some engineers use CAD and then just use beam software to calculate loads and size beams. Simple beam designs may also be done with hand calculations. 

For single family homes, some analysis programs may be overkill and take longer to make sure everything is entered correctly ( garbage in=garbage out) than doing it manually or with basic beam calculator 

for the actual designing of beams/joists/etc, I tend to use forte (a weyerhauser free program) or redspec (a redbuilt free program)

for producing contract documents, that depends what the production person is efficient in, and what the jurisdictions require.

For residential drafting, I see a lot of contractors and home designers using Chief Architect. Then they need a design professional (architect or engineer) to provide the sizing, spacing, details, notes.

For timber design I like the US version of WoodWorks. It can do shearwalls with a little bit of work. But the strength is really in the beam and column design with multiple load scenarios and easy to modify components/spans/spacing. The connector design is quick too, but is not as customizable.

These days, I typically use Forte like @tj_PE. I've also used Enercalc before, but it had some major glitches (that I think have now been fixed) with some of their wood design values in the past.

I also use proprietary spreadsheets formed by my company.

I use BC Calc in addition to all of the other calculation software that had been mentioned already. Each has it's own benefits and issues. The project requirements will help determine what software I'll utilize. Sometimes I'll run it again using anther software if things don't look right with the initial results.

All drafting in AutoCAD.