Can’t build walls or rooms in The Sims 4

@gpetv0boaux9  Do you have any mods or custom content installed, and if so, does it happen without the Mods folder present?  Please test if you haven't already.  You don't need to save your progress.

@gpetv0boaux9 

Can you describe a bit more about what is happening please?

Is the game freezing or crashing?  Is it with a specific venue type?  I have noticed that when building with the residential rental venue assigned to the lot, that things lag a lot.  I had issues like that during my first build for that venue. I've found that it's best to build those as residential and then at the end, change the venue and assign the apartments.  That venue seems to take a lot longer to save too for some reason. Is your issue something along those lines? Or is it something else?

Hope this helps.

@gpetv0boaux9 

I'm still unclear on a couple of things.  Are you trying to build the lot with it set as a Residential Rental or as a regular Residential?  

When I built my first residential rental, I had much the same experience you are reporting except for the walls not placing.  Extreme lag, not saving, or if it would save, it would go into an endless loading screen when I tried to go to Manage Worlds afterwards.  I also had issues with the curser jumping when trying to draw walls.  In fact, I had to start over 3 times before I could even get the lot to save at all.  I think the walls not placing for you is due to lag based on the other issues you're having.  Not sure on that but it sure seems that way to me.  

I found that to get anything done, I had to build with the lot set to residential.  After it failed to save the 2nd time, I changed the lot venue to residential and was able to build and save.  Even then, it was slow going because of lag.  But, the next day, when I reloaded the lot to work on it some more, it did go back to normal, and I could move along with the build a lot faster and eventually finished it.  Once I figured out that I had to build as residential, the next residential rental went a lot faster.  I didn't have the lag and saving issues I had with the first one.

Based on my experience, I'm pretty sure that there is something different about build with the residential rentals.  I've only had these type issues when trying to build with the lot set as that venue type.  I've done a half dozen builds since of several other venue types and none of them had the issues I had when trying to build with the lot set as a residential rental.  I have no idea what though or why it is that way.  

So, I suggest you try building your lot as a residential and when you've got everything done, change the lot venue to residential rental, assign the rooms to the apartments and then save the lot to your Library and then save the save, not save and exit to Manage Worlds/Main Menu/Quit, just save first then exit the lot via your preferred method.  When you start the build or resume what you've managed to already get done, it might be useful to set the lot to residential (which it seems you've already done), save, exit the game and reload to clear whatever is in memory from whatever is happening with the residential rental venue type based on when I saw with mine.

Have you tried to build something else, like a gym, museum, generic, restaurant, etc. and are you having the same issues there?  If you have tried to build another venue type, and didn't get the lag, wall placement and other issues you've reported, then the issue is with the venue.  If you are still having the same issues with other venue types, then there're a couple of things you can try to see if you can improve the situation.  Those are:  delete the localthumbcache file and run a repair through Origin or the EA App, whichever you use to access the game.  

And if none of that works, come back and we can go from there.

Hope this helps.

This happens on our residential homelot too.

It's located in Morensong/Tomarang and it has been a residential lot by default.

I play without mods and CC.

So what happened very often (~10-15 crashes to build two rooms) was, that I was able to place objects from the buy catalogue without problems.
But when I tried to change roofs, platforms, rooms... in build mode, the game crashed 'slowly'.
Means I could still pick up things or place walls and drag the roofs, but nothing happened.
And I could not place the objects I picked up (from buy catalogue either).
When I tried to go back to live mode or safe the lot, it crashed and on my desktop I had the message that Sims 4 had stopped working.
So far I only had it on this lot but I haven't built that much since.

@LennyOgg 

I haven't had the lag and other issues on any lot venue type that I had with trying to build a residential rental.  While build can be a little laggy at times on a big build on a big lot with lots of objects on it, I've never run into a situation where it crashed once, much less repeatedly.  If you are having that happen on regular residential or other venues, then the only things I can think of is something is either wrong with your game setup such as a corrupted game file, a corrupted save or your computer isn't handling the game well.  As complex as this game has become with all the packs, I have noticed performance issues in my own setup as things have been added and my computer is pushed harder than it used to be when the game was new and there were only a few packs.

If your crashing started recently though, there may be another reason.  The patch prior to the crystal jewelry pack introduced some new bugs to the game, one of them is causing crashing in live mode.  I haven't seen any other reports that indicate that it might be affecting build mode though.  But it is a possibility.  Another emergency patch was released yesterday, March 6 to fix that issue.  So, I suggest you update the game at your first opportunity.  It might fix the issues you're having.

If it doesn't, there are basically 3 things you can try.  You can do a game repair through Origin/EA App, whichever one you use to play the game.  That should repair any damaged or corrupt game files.  You can try a user folder reset by renaming or moving the "The Sims 4" folder and starting the game.  A new "The Sims 4" folder will be created.  After making and placing the sim, go to build and try to build something to see if you still have the problem.  Once you know, save and quit.  If you don't have the problem in a new save, then copy your saves folder from the old "The Sims 4" folder to the new one, restart the game and check to see if you still have it in the old save.  If you do, then it's probably something in the save and probably can't be fixed.  If you continue to have the problem in the new user folder/save, then the only thing left is to do a full uninstall/reinstall.

Hope this helps.    

I think I have the same problem. I haven't really tested other lots, but I was trying to bulldoze a build and then build something new on the 64x64 lot in Windenburg (not the island one). I can bulldoze the lot, but when I try to use the build-a-room tool, it will draw the room and then when I release the mouse button, the room just disappears. Same with single walls. I do use a lot of mods/cc, but I have updated all the mods that currently have updates available for the most recent patch, or removed them from my game if they haven't been updated yet. I've done the 50/50 method twice now, both times thinking I isolated the problem (first time it appeared to be cc hair which seemed weird and ended up not being the problem anyway, second time I removed the two random ccs and went back in and the same thing was still happening). I have cleared the app cache, done multiple game repairs, and reset the sims 4 folder. I haven't really tested it without mods in the game because I felt certain it must be mod-related. I have TwistedMexi's mods and have tested to make sure all my mods were compatible with the latest patch, and have also checked for any conflicts and have resolved the 3 that the Better Exceptions mod located. I really don't know what else to try at this point because I've been unsuccessful at isolating the issue with the 50/50 method and have tried everything other than uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Given the fact that this issue only started occurring after the very messy launch of the latest pack and the two subsequent patches, I can't help but suspect the issue is related to that somehow. On the other hand, I haven't seen many people saying they're having an issue building, either, so in that case, it MUST be related to a mod or broken cc? I've just never had the 50/50 method fail me before. Oh, also- after I bulldoze the build and try to build a room and it disappears, I can't go to manage worlds or exit the game. It crashes (it's either a spinning plumbob forever, or I get the main menu forever) and I have to close the game through task manager or restart my computer. 

@LennyOgg 

So, the issue was on that specific lot.  I haven't played that lot or tried to build on it.  It could be the lot, possibly.  I do know that some of the other lots have some oddball behavior though.  Things like they aren't level, etc. which cause headaches when you try to build on them. I know one of the San Myshuno apartments has given a lot of folks' fits trying to renovate it. 

Have you tried any of the other 64x64 lots to see if same thing happens there?  If you are, then it might be that lot size could be pushing your computer hard enough that it can't handle it.  Tbh, I doubt that since you've said it's the only place it happens is that one lot. 

And you really need to test with no CC or mods and the mods folder empty.  If it doesn't happen without mods and CC, then the odds are in favor of a mod or CC item being the cause.  If it is a CC item, then most likely, it will be something in build, not CAS.  And there are still a lot of mods that haven't been updated since the last few patches, the one before the jewelry stuff pack and the two emergency patches after.  That pack did play havoc with a lot of mods so many more than usual broke.  I'm still seeing daily updates where folks are still catching up with updating their mods.  You can check the broken mod list here:  Re: Broken/Obsolete and Updated Sims 4 Mods: 1.105, Feb. 27, 2024 Game Update - Page 2 - Answer HQ

Hope this helps.