Hey, looking for a good house building program for the computer! It's to play with & get ideals on building a house! I'm not pro but need a good one that
#1 Cheap
#2 Easy to us
#3 has framing details in it!
Does anyone have any good suggestions! BTW, looking for a good garage apartment plan!! & any sites that give simple details on the "Do it U'rselfer" of home building! Hope I haven't posted this before & Thanks for help!!!
I have 3D Home Architect, Broderbund Home Design, Punch Pro, and Chief Architect (older version). Any of of these can do you a good job but I suggest you get just one and INVEST your time wisely learning how to use it. Each of these programs has their plusses and minuses as well as their idosynchratic anomalies.
I used Chief Architect to do the floor plan of my mom's house and then bought the others looking for the "magic bullet." Frequently with design aides folks expect to buy a piece of software, turn it on, and then step back and watch it call the subs and suppliers, issueing orders to all concerned to build what its "telepathy" module discerns is just what you want.
The software is a tool. You must invest time to learn to use it or you will end up taking more time because you tried to save time. I ended up using Punch Pro, essentially exclusively for the design of our new house (see central Oklahoma Farm house thread.)
In this tool you can specify stud thickness and centers, windows sizes, etc. and then in an inset watch the program frame it. It is like watching a Disney time lapse movie in fast forward.
I can't stress strongly enough the need to make haste slowly and deliberately. If you just jump right in without studying the tool (applies to ALL of them) you will find yourself having to tear out sections and redo them just as if you were building a house without proper preparation where you might have to rip out a wall and start over. Investing time in learning the tool wil pay off big time in so many ways.
There are numerous ways to go wrong with any of these tools. I suggest you get a tool like Punch Pro (My favorite by a decent margin) and try to construct a simple 1-2 room practice project complete with windows, roof, doors (interior and exterior), and so forth. Make your newby goofs and learn the tool on something that doesn't have to be "just so." If however, the one or two rooms you do for practice just happen to fit into the floor plan of the "Real Project" by only tearing off a wall or two, that is OK too.
Punch Pro helps with landscaping too with the ability to look at your plantings 5, 10, or xx years later to see how it might look when plants have grown. There is quite a library of plantings included and they have average growth characteristics for their species. I like the virtual walkthroughs with adjustable height of eye to simulate different heights of folks and I really like the external "fly by" where you fly around the house in a helicopter and are able to view it from any angle, distance, or height. The program simulates day and night appearances. It has a fair library of objects such as furniture, appliances, fixtures, etc. It also has a 3D design workshop where you can modify supplied objects to create custom ones or build a shape from scratch.
You can print out an architect's model of the home. You glue the "parts" to construction paper or whatever and assemble it (tab a into slot b style) and voila a scale model of your design, in color.
This is NOT the most full featured program out there but it is an excellent value with lots of nice features for the price (Cheap)
There is a web site for sharing info with other users, downloading free upgrades/new releases, and such.
There is always a learning curve and it is usually steeper the more features there are. Punch Pro gave me the most functionality for the least investment in learning time and is so cheap you can trash it if you don't like it as I did with at least 3 other programs. (Wanna buy a couple programs really cheap?)
Everyone's background, experience, and learning style can be different so there is no guarantee that you will like what I like or that ANY commercially available software will ever please you but I think Punch Pro is a reasonable risk.
No, I'm not financialy involved with Punch Pro nor do I know anyone who is.
http://www.punchsoftware.com/index.htm
Just checked their site to be sure it was alive and well. It was AND apparently they have lots of improvements and upgrades since I bought my copy a few years ago.
Best of luck to you. Let us know what you do and how it works out for you.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Hey Pat, 1st & most important! Thanks for feedback! That's what's its all about! U'r experience can save me time & money! Software programs! Good info & sounds like Punch Pro is U'r pick! I'll buy that ideal & ask a question about Punch Pro vs the 5 in 1 program by same! Is it same program or different?(I will go to web site U suggested & see for myself but still wondering) It retails about 40/50 bucks? not bad for novice that may never learn or use it! U see I'm a gadget guy & have filled every nook & crany with cheap PDA/org. thingy, address calculaters & small message thingys & am tired of spending money on junk I don't use! Was going to get PDA but fought off impluse!!!! Anyway Punch Pro sounds neat so thanks againfor info!
roho627; It may be a little more than what your lookin for, but there is a program called SofPlan. It's quite expensive, around 400 bucks or more. With this you get an actual program that will show your stud, joists, rafter/truss, and anything else you can think of. It will also give you a printed materials list and window and door schedule. I always wanted it but was too cheap to buy it. The programs you're looking at are more for dreaming than building. I've got Chief Architect and anothe one from Sierra. Used them both once, then went back to pencil and paper. If someone has trouble visualizing, the previous programs mentioned can help. I guess I'm looking more at the CAD type programs, probably more than you need/want tho. Let us know what you decide and what you think [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Trucks are red, Tractors are blue.
Hello JohnDay! Yeah sounds a little high UNTIL I get really serious about house, then I don't think it would be if A person was serious! May give Chief Architect a look after this Punch Pro thing thou!! Anyway looked @ u'r bio & seems like a interesting life! BTW does Ole Misguided hippies count as rescuable critters, sounds like a nice place Up in North Woods, hehehe! [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] & again THANKS FOR INFO! roho
roho627; You must have been talking to my wife. She calls me an old grayhaired hippie! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Anything in the North woods is GREAT! Hey, fill out YOUR bio. Where are you located? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Trucks are red, Tractors are blue.
Oh sorry JohnDay, & I didn't talk 2 U'r wife! I'm inoccent(can't even spell that word) but couldn't fill out my bio because of being in special Mars&%@%* Program something about relocation, shu is the word! NoNO Don't repeat that! I will fill in some more! BTW, Warbaby I AM, & the way U we're talking about retiring in a few years, U must be too!, grew older in 60's but am still waiting to grow up!!! Raised in small Central La town, & spent 30+ years around HouTex, BTW have U ever seen a flounder! I was 26 yrs old, 1st one i saw, thought it was a perona! Sorry bout ramblin on, c u later another gray headed x hippy!! hey just kiddin bout relocation program, would hate 2 be servalanct or worse for something as serious as stuffing stuff in mail box w/o stamp! BTW we just sent a man 2 prison for smuggling orcids in country, He was her in HouTex! Again sorry 2 ramble!!! C U later roho
roho627; Well, I was born in 1950, but my Dad was basically a draft dodger, you know, too young for the big one, and hac kids during Korea. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] I guess I'm a draft dodger too, got drafted in '69, joined the Navy because the Marines didn't want me, then put 8 1/2 years in.
Yeah; I've seen flounders, kinda funny looking fish.
Oh' I know what I wanted to say. If you go to Lowes or Home Depot, or any other big box, they usually have a section full of how-to books. Along with those there are many plan books you can order plans from. I get some good ideas time to time from them but devise my own plans. It's cheaper, and more accurate than a lot of plans I've seen. Again, it will cost a few bucks, but if you find a floor plan and building elevation you like in one of the books, take it to an architect than can draw the plans for you.
Like yourself, I was originally thinking of a garage with apartment for a starter upnorth, but then just designed and built a single level cabin. It's not big, 26X26, but it is the first module to be added on when I do retire.
Good Luck and keep us posted. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Trucks are red, Tractors are blue.
my upnorth house before completion [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Trucks are red, Tractors are blue.
photo #2, still not done inside
Trucks are red, Tractors are blue.
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