LuaCAD Help

Example 1 – A bathroom

From the empty floor plan to the annotated pipe in 3D: the bathroom of an apartment on the 1st floor of the sample project, with lavatory, toilet, shower and washing machine, the shaft at the top right. Each step has one sentence, one picture and the clicks – the light blue numbers in the text are the numbers in the picture above. Variants, notes and the standard are collapsed under "More details".

1. Open the palette

Level and system at the top of the palette apply to everything you insert afterwards.

The General routing page: level (1) and system (2) at the top, the tiles Stack down (3) and Fixture (4), Insert line (5), Generate 3D (6)
The General routing page: level 1 and system 2 at the top, the tiles Stack down 3 and Fixture 4, Insert line 5, Generate 3D 6

Ribbon › LuaCAD tab › Drainage 3D – the palette opens on the General routing page.

More details
  • Level: the level you are drawing in. In a project drawing the list is locked.
  • System: it sets layer and color. Lines of different systems or levels never connect.
  • Leave everything else as it is for a start: slope 2 %, standard DIN EN 12056-2 / DIN 1986-100 as default (for Switzerland choose SN 592 000 under gear › Options › Sizing).

2. Insert the stack and fixtures

The connectors are the start and the end of the drainage network: the fixtures bring the water, the stack in the shaft takes it away.

The bathroom in plan with the five connectors (circles with arrow): the stack down in the shaft (1), lavatory (2) and toilet (3) at the in-wall carrier, the shower (4) and the washing machine (5)
The bathroom in plan with the five connectors (circles with arrow): the stack down in the shaft 1, lavatory 2 and toilet 3 at the in-wall carrier, the shower 4 and the washing machine 5

If a connector has to sit exactly, for example the lavatory with its center 300 mm from the wall: press A at the cursor and type the distance – see Enter distance (key A).

The dialog boxes when inserting

With the check box "Show the dialog box before inserting" (Connectors/Offset page, on by default) the dialog box of the connector opens after every click. For this bathroom OK is enough – the values come from the template.

The Stack down dialog box: diameter of the stack pipe and the outlet (1), the main fitting (2), the elevation (3), the collapsed property fields (4), OK (5)
The Stack down dialog box: diameter of the stack pipe and the outlet 1, the main fitting 2, the elevation 3, the collapsed property fields 4, OK 5
The fixture dialog box, here the toilet: the template (1), the short name for annotations and lists (2), the diameter (3), the main fitting (4), the elevation (5), the drainage fixture unit DU (6), the property fields (7), OK (8)
The fixture dialog box, here the toilet: the template 1, the short name for annotations and lists 2, the diameter 3, the main fitting 4, the elevation 5, the drainage fixture unit DU 6, the property fields 7, OK 8
More details
  • The template brings the drainage fixture unit DU: lavatory 0.5, toilet 2.0, shower 0.6; for the washing machine you enter 0.8. Every field of both dialog boxes: Stack down, Fixture.
  • Without the check box every click inserts the connector right away with the values of the template. You change values later with Edit (Editing connectors).

3. Draw the plumbing lines

The plumbing line only says where the pipe runs – a sketch in plan. You draw it from the fixture to the stack or onto a line that is already there.

The four plumbing lines and their clicks: from the lavatory (1) via the corner (2) to the stack (3); from the toilet (4) onto this line (5); from the washing machine (6) onto the first line (7); from the shower (8) onto the line of the washing machine (9)
The four plumbing lines and their clicks: from the lavatory 1 via the corner 2 to the stack 3; from the toilet 4 onto this line 5; from the washing machine 6 onto the first line 7; from the shower 8 onto the line of the washing machine 9

Click Insert line (step 2 on the palette), then:

More details
  • The line snaps to the connector; a click on a connector or on a line ends it there. It is horizontal – the slope is a property and only takes effect in the next step.
  • Exactly one line ends at the stack – all others meet a line that is already there.
  • Space switches between snap to angle and free, A opens slope, elevation and wall offset while drawing. More under Inserting a plumbing line.

4. Generate 3D

The sketch becomes pipes and fittings – sized to the standard, with slope from the stack.

The bathroom after "Generate 3D" in an isometric view (pipes only): the horizontal branch with slope (1), a wye with elbow at each junction (2), the stack (3), the elbow below the toilet (4), the connector of the lavatory (5), the drain of the shower (6), the connector of the washing machine (7)
The bathroom after "Generate 3D" in an isometric view (pipes only): the horizontal branch with slope 1, a wye with elbow at each junction 2, the stack 3, the elbow below the toilet 4, the connector of the lavatory 5, the drain of the shower 6, the connector of the washing machine 7
More details

LuaCAD sizes the pipes to the standard, builds up the slope from the stack and places pipes, elbows, wyes and reducers from the catalog – in the product line of the stack (welded PE or a push-fit system, see Fittings). The plumbing lines and connectors then lie hidden under the 3D. More under Generate 3D.

5. Read the result

The window tells you whether everything was built and where each diameter comes from. It opens only if there is something to say – not with 2 % slope everywhere. In the picture the line of the washing machine is drawn with 0.5 %:

The window "Generate 3D - Result" with the line of the washing machine at 0.5 %: the header "without errors – 2 notes" (1), "Calculated to" with the standard DIN (2), the figures of the drainage network (3), the collapsed notes (4) and the sizing per section (5)
The window "Generate 3D - Result" with the line of the washing machine at 0.5 %: the header "without errors – 2 notes" 1, "Calculated to" with the standard DIN 2, the figures of the drainage network 3, the collapsed notes 4 and the sizing per section 5
More details
  • Everything about venting (missing vent, length, changes of direction, drop height or slope of a fixture drain) is a note, not an error: the 3D is created, and you decide whether to add a vent or route the pipe differently. An error (for example two stacks in one network) also appears as a red marker in the drawing.
  • If LuaCAD suggests a different slope: Apply – it is set on the line and the network is generated again. More under The result.

6. Change: drag a line with its grip

You always change the sketch – then you generate the 3D again.

After "Delete 3D": the plumbing lines are visible again; the line from the lavatory to the toilet is selected and shows its grips at the start (1), in the middle (2) and at the end (3)
After "Delete 3D": the plumbing lines are visible again; the line from the lavatory to the toilet is selected and shows its grips at the start 1, in the middle 2 and at the end 3

Delete 3D (footer) and click the network – the plumbing lines are visible again. Click a line, then:

More details

"Delete 3D" removes pipes and fittings, plumbing lines and connectors stay. The line shows grips at start, middle and end like a CAD line. The CAD commands MOVE, ROTATE and COPY work the same way. More under CAD commands.

Changing the slope of a line

The Plumbing line dialog box: length and elevations (1), level and system (2), slope with unit (3), diameter "calculate", drain type and "Carries" (4)
The Plumbing line dialog box: length and elevations 1, level and system 2, slope with unit 3, diameter "calculate", drain type and "Carries" 4

Click Query and edit properties (general) in the footer and click the line; Enter. In the dialog box:

  • 1 length and elevations are only shown, 2 leave level and system.
  • 3 change the slope, for example to 3 %, and click OK.
  • 4 let the diameter "calculate".

Then Generate 3D – the network is created with the new slope. More under Editing a plumbing line.

7. Annotate and output the list

Material and diameter at the pipe, the slope as an arrow and the invert as a spot elevation – sparingly: once per pipe, at the fixture and before the branch. The bill of materials counts the parts.

Video coming soon: Bathroom step 7: annotation and list
The bathroom in plan, annotated: "PE 56" on the line of the lavatory (1), the invert at the lavatory (2), the slope (3), "PE 90" before the stack (4), the invert before the branch into the stack (5), "PE 63" on the line of washing machine and shower (6) with its slope (7)
The bathroom in plan, annotated: "PE 56" on the line of the lavatory 1, the invert at the lavatory 2, the slope 3, "PE 90" before the stack 4, the invert before the branch into the stack 5, "PE 63" on the line of washing machine and shower 6 with its slope 7

Output page, each time Single:

More details
  • With All and a click on the stack every pipe of the network gets an annotation – usually too many for a drawing; rather place them one by one at the start of the pipe and before every branch.
  • Place texts so that leaders do not cross and no text covers another – a text can be moved with its grip.
  • The annotation is attached to the pipe: after "Delete 3D" and generating again it finds its pipe again. More: Annotation, Spot elevation and elevation, Parts list and bill of materials.

Next: example 2

The video shows example 1 once more as a whole; then continue with these pages.

Video coming soon: Quick start Drainage 3D
Other ways