How to Use Positioning Lines for Walls in Revit
For those familiar with Revit, walls are a fundamental component of architectural models. Today, we will focus on understanding the positioning lines of walls.
Like other basic building elements, walls in Revit are instances of predefined system family types. These types represent standard variations in wall functionality, composition, and thickness.
The “Positioning Line” property of a wall determines which vertical plane of the wall aligns with the drawn path or the specified path in the drawing area. This feature is especially useful when arranging connected composite walls, allowing precise placement based on key material layers, such as concrete blocks.
No matter the wall type, you can select one of the following positioning options either on the Options Bar (before placing the wall) or on the Properties palette (before or after placing the wall):
- Wall Centerline (default)
- Core Layer Centerline
- Surface Level: External
- Surface Level: Internal
- Core Surface: External
- Core Surface: Internal
Note: In Revit terminology, the core of a wall refers to its main structural layer. For simple brick walls, the wall centerline and the core layer centerline coincide, but they may differ in composite walls.
By default, when drawing a wall from left to right, its outer face (Surface Level: External) is located at the top.
For example, if the ‘Position Line’ is set to Face Level: External, the cursor will snap to the dashed reference line, and the wall will be drawn from left to right along that line.
If you change the “Positioning Line” to Face Level: Internal and draw another wall segment in the same direction along the reference line, the new segment will appear above the reference line.
When selecting a single wall segment, the blue dot (known as the Drag Wall Endpoint control) indicates the wall’s positioning line.
Once the wall is placed, its positioning line remains fixed, even if you modify the wall’s structural type or switch to a different wall type. Changing the ‘Position Line’ property of an existing wall does not alter the wall’s position.
However, when using the spacebar or flip controls to switch the internal/external orientation of a wall, the positioning line acts as the axis around which the wall flips. Therefore, adjusting the “Positioning Line” and then flipping the wall direction may also shift the wall’s position.
Keep in mind that the blue dot’s position will only update after you deselect and then reselect the wall.
【 Related skills search 】Detailed explanation of positioning lines for walls in Revit
Must log in before commenting!
Sign Up