Three Minutes with Floor Sloping

I wrote a reply to a thread at RevitForum.org the other day so this is really just an echo. In the context of choosing a method for sloping floor slabs (or roofs for that matter) see which approach best fits your current situation.

1) Slope Arrow - This is very effective when you know what sort of offset is required from known points but they are not necessarily at the start and end edges of the slab or in the same direction as any slab edge. Slope is defined by the location of the tail and head "endpoints" of the slope arrow. Revit will slope the entire floor according to the offset/slope parameter values you provide, between those points. It is perhaps the most versatile method other than shape editing but it is also a bit harder to become comfortable with.

2) Define one edge as slope defining - This is very easy for slabs that slope consistently overall in one direction, from one edge, and you don't really care where the other edge "ends up", it is what it is. You just pick one edge, set a slope. It is just like roofs except we are limited to one edge defining slope with floors.

3) Defines Constant Height - This too is very easy when the start and end edges of the slab also define the floor's lowest and highest elevations (and what we see as the slope value isn't the priority). You just set two parallel floor sketch lines to the appropriate elevation values, whatever values define the required offset.

Fwiw, for structural floors/roofs - Pick Supports (shape editing) - This will slope a roof according to the structural elements you select.

I took a few minutes to record a video of each approach, embedded here. It also touches on using the cantilever settings to extend the edges of a floor slab beyond the structural support members.

Dept. of Subtle - Sloping Pipe Creates New Pipe

I guess I've never paid close enough attention. When you use the Slope tool in Revit MEP the resulting sloped pipe is really new pipe. Revit recalculates what is necessary to create the slope and reassembles new pipe into the configuration.

I realized this when I was discussing a few options for displaying vent piping differently from the sanitary piping. One technique is to just use the Comment parameter (or some other custom one) to add a "vent" comment. A filter is used to isolate pipes, fittings and accessories that contain the criteria "vent". Pretty straight forward unless you decide to slope the pipe afterward. The sloped pipe loses the comment because it is new pipe and the code that rebuilds the pipe doesn't capture the Comment parameter value. I've posted a VIDEO to help explain this.

Pads and Slope Arrows

I received a question the other day about an unwanted sliver of a toposurface element appearing. At first the assumption was related to Design Options because there was quite a bit going on. Turns out adjusting the pad and its Slope Arrow could resolve the issue. Here's a picture of Pad A and B. Pad "B" obviously has the sliver problem.



Pad A is two pads, one flat and one sloping. Both pads are set at their lowest elevation and the Slope Arrow tells the pad to go UP. Here are the properties of the sloping pad.


And here are the properties of the Slope Arrow for A.


Pad B is also two pads but they are defined a little differently.


Pad B's Slope Arrow properties.


When you need a pad to slope it seems that it is more reliable to define the lowest elevation and work up than in the reverse. At least it helped resolve this sliver.