When working on a building project in Revit, one of the most essential responsibilities is coordinating vertical openings. Whether it’s for a staircase, an elevator shaft, a duct chase, or a plumbing riser, every multi-level building relies on carefully placed openings to allow circulation and services to pass from one floor to another.
If you’ve spent any time working in Revit, you already know that floors are much more than flat surfaces. They are systems—sometimes simple, sometimes complex—that influence everything from load distribution and fire ratings to finishes, drainage, and even how spaces feel. Yet for many new (and not-so-new) users, navigating Revit’s floor tools can feel like stepping into a maze. Which floor type should I use? How do layers actually work? What’s the correct way to add a finish? And how do I create slopes without accidentally tilting the entire building?
This post breaks down the essentials: structural vs. architectural floors, compound structures and material layers, and the proper workflow for finishes and slope creation. Whether you’re modeling your first building or refining your BIM workflow, the goal here is clarity—so you can model smarter, faster, and with greater intention.
If you’re new to Revit, creating floors is one of the first modeling skills you’ll use again and again. Floors tie the building together—literally—and understanding the different ways to create them will save you a lot of time as your project grows. In this post, I’ll walk through the basics of creating floors, the two main methods you can use, and how to control levels and thickness so your model stays clean and consistent.