The Joist Tool lays out joists inside an area on your drawing and calculates how many you need and how long each one is. Pick the joist material, the direction, the spacing and how lengths should be rounded. Togal draws the joists for you, and the quantities appear in the quantity panel and in your export.
It works for floor joists, ceiling joists and grid framing (for example, ceiling framing in both directions).
Before you start
The Joist Tool works on an area that has a classification. There are two ways to get one:
Automatically: Run the Togal button. It detects the areas on your drawing and creates area classifications for you
Manually:
1. Open your project and switch to Edit mode
2. Draw or select an area
3. Assign a classification to the area with Create and assign
If the Joist Tool button is greyed out, assign the area a classification with Create and assign.
Joist Tutorial Video
How to Change or remove Joists
To change the material, layout or spacing: select the area, open the Joist Tool again, change the settings and click Apply
To remove the joists from the classification: open the Joist Tool and click Reset
If you resize or reshape the area, Togal updates the joist quantities automatically. You don't need to apply it again.
How rounding works
Togal rounds each joist on its own, then adds them up. Rounding always goes up to the next length, never down.
Setting | Example |
None | 13.2 ft stays 13.2 ft |
Nearest ft. | 13.2 ft → 14 ft · 13.0 ft → 13 ft |
Nearest even ft. | 13.0 ft → 14 ft · 24.5 ft → 26 ft · 24.0 ft → 24 ft |
Joist Tips
Different spacing on one floor: draw a separate area for each part of the floor and give each its own joist settings
Angled buildings: Rotate the area polygon to match the building. The joists update automatically