Home Plans And Home Designs - Good building plans with limited cost

I have Microsoft Visio which allows me to pretty well draw out my house, but I am not sure if it will do everything necessary to create legitimate house plans for subcontractors and lenders to go by.

Does anyone know of any free software for doing complete house plans, or have a suggestion for a relatively inexpensive way to get the job done?

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Well can you draw a line at a certain length, write text, and put down a dimension with what you have? Then I dont see a reason why you can't draw up a full set of construction documents. Efficiency isn't really your concern i'm sure, since you wont be repeating this process.

Ohiodraft,

By what you're saying, it sounds like it may be possible to do the construction plans myself? I am unsure of what all has to be shown on the actual plans aside from the layout and dimensions. I am not concerned with time efficiency because my building project is "a ways" out.

well i'll attempt to address your concern with what goes on a set of cd's. the level of detail really can very greatly. first, the size and detail of your intended house will affect this the most. will it be a small simple 1100 sq. ft. ranch devoid of any architectural details inside and out, or a 3500 sq. ft. 2 story with an array of moulding details, unconventional gutter lines, anything atypical really. Basically, your drawings only need to be detailed enough as to ensure that the builder will build everything the way you want it.

I.E. if you want an entertainment niche framed into the living room wall, youll need to provide an elevation of just what you want the thing to look like, dimensions, materials, etc. This sort of thing pertains to other details like, columns, any exterior mouldings, ceiling details (trays, vaults, coffers)...these are all things that usually warrant a seperate detail drawing to ensure the builder will do it right.

I'll try and break it down a bit for you:

Foundation plan: dimensions, beam & post & footing sizes, joist span direction, hvac information & location, stairway information (risers and treads), slab control joints if applicable, etc.

Floor plans: dimensions, door sizes, floor finishes, basic cabinetry layout, stairs, window sizes, bath fixtures, appliances, etc.

Electrical plans: amount of detail here is optional, really just place things to where they are close to where you want them, the electric guy will assume you want the light in the middle of the closet if you show it close to there....you wanna show switches and what they control, all the different types of lights, and outlets.

Structural plans: beams, joist span directions, brick lintels, truss span directions, header sizes, jack posts (optional) etc.

Building sections: foundation wall heights, floor finish height, plate heights

Roof plan: is an aerial view of you home, shows rooflines, eave overhang distances, gutters, vents, roof pitches, etc.

Elevations: this is meant to show exterior finishes and veneers, gutter rake and fascia boards, roof pitches, door and window trims, window and door head heights.

Details: these pages will contain the detail drawings described above in the 2nd paragraph

General notes: These pages are intended to provide the builder with written out information that dont make sense on or wont fit on the plans. Anything from concrete compressive strengths, to subfloor thickness. or lumber grades to amount of soffit ventilation to provide. from hvac brand, and model number to window and door brand names and models, whether the glass in tempered, etc. and even some stuff that the builders already know (like egress requirments in bedrooms) and your just putting it on there so its not your fault if some goes awry. hint: you'll want a version of the IRC. also, see if you cant get ahold of a set of drawings, that will help the most.

well that should get just about anyone at least a start. :eek:

I think that it is very difficult to find good building plans with low costs.:thinker: :coffee: