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Bulkheads and soffits — the boxes above your cabinets

Add the ceiling-hung boxes real kitchens have — over cabinets, ductwork, or plumbing runs — and see their true clear height everywhere.

2 min readUpdated 2026-07-20

Real ceilings aren't flat: kitchens have soffits above the uppers, basements box in ducts, bathrooms hide vent runs. A Soffit / Bulkhead in RoomSketch3D is a real ceiling-hung volume — it lowers the clear height where it hangs, shows up sliced into your elevation views, and prints in your exports.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Place the bulkhead

    Build Panel → Soffit / Bulkhead, then click where it goes on the plan.

    The bulkhead's footprint on the plan — drag and rotate like any item.
  2. 2

    Size the box

    In the inspector, set the width and depth of the footprint and the drop — how far it hangs below the ceiling (a typical duct chase drops about 12 inches).

  3. 3

    Check it in 3D and elevations

    In 3D the box hangs from the ceiling; in Elevation views it appears sliced with the reduced clear height visible below it.

    The dropped box reads clearly in 3D.

Tips

Run it wall-to-wall

A soffit can run the full length of a wall — stretch its width to match the wall for the classic over-cabinet look.

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