The Build check, existing structures and spliced long framing
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Check which screws need pilot holes near board ends before checking structural loads, attach new builds to existing walls or posts, and splice framing past 16 feet over a support.
Three updates help when a project moves from a small benchtop piece to real framing: the Build check warns you about splitting wood and colliding screws, existing walls and posts can sit in the scene without appearing on your shopping list, and long walls, decks, and shelters splice their plates and rims over a stud or post when a run exceeds retail board lengths.
The Build check: bench advice first, then strength estimates
The structural report is now called the Build check (under Publish -> Plans and at the end of every generated build guide). It starts with what you need at the workbench: which screws sit close enough to an edge or board end that you should pre-drill to prevent splitting, and whether any two fasteners collide inside a joint. After the bench checks, it estimates structural load and deflection using published design values for your lumber's species group or European strength class (such as C24).
Build onto what is already there
If you are adding stairs to an existing deck, hanging shelves on a garage wall, or bolting a ledger to a house rim joist, you can now mark those existing walls, posts, or beams as existing structure. Sawdust draws them in the 3D scene, checks that your new boards do not collide with them, and lets you drill into them and drive screws or lag bolts into them, without putting the existing structure on your shopping list, cut sheet, or scrap count.
Long framing spliced over a support
When a shed wall, deck rim, ridge beam, pergola runner, or deck board run is longer than the lumber your store sells, Sawdust no longer stops at 16 feet or leaves a butt joint floating in mid-air. Wall plates, rim joists, ridges, and deck boards now splice directly over a supporting stud, post, or joist, and double top plates stagger their upper and lower splices by at least 24 inches so you can frame a 20-foot shed, a 25-foot deck, or a 30-foot shelter out of standard yard lengths.
