Even at the very beginning of construction, or rather even at the moment of conception, private developers are faced with the problem of how to draw up a house plan correctly themselves.
A custom-made house plan can be quite expensive for the developer, so in this article we will look at the issue of making a house plan yourself.
Designing buildings and houses is a rather complex and multifaceted issue. Drawing up a house plan will require you, at a minimum, to have certain skills and knowledge in geometry and drawing. You will also need information about the characteristics of the site where construction is planned. Spatial thinking will also help in this matter.
Before starting work on designing a building, think through certain points: how many people the house will be designed to accommodate, how many rooms and bathrooms you need to provide, where the kitchen will be located, etc. Correlate all these data with and get to work.
Today there are several ways to draw up a house plan:
- order a plan for building a house from specialists;
- draw it on paper yourself, i.e. do it by hand;
- use special ones that are installed on the computer;
- use online services.
Let's consider each of the options for drawing up a plan yourself in more detail.
Drawing a house plan by hand
First of all, you will need a plan of the construction site, as well as data on the soil conditions in the area.
You will need a site plan in order to orient yourself and determine the size of the house and its location on the ground. Soil data will help you choose the optimal type.
- Decide on the scale of the drawing and start drawing a plan by marking the central axes of the external walls and each room. It is best to keep your house design simple, without complex design solutions. This will help you bring it to life more successfully and not spend extra money just for the sake of an interesting design solution.
- Mark the interior walls and wall partitions. Plan the arrangement of rooms so that non-residential premises are located on the north side, and residential premises on the south.
- Decide on the location of windows and doorways, be sure to indicate them on the plan. Optimally located so that the living rooms (bedroom, living room, office, nursery) receive the maximum amount of daylight from the sun.
- “Increase” the expected wall thickness on the axis evenly on both sides in accordance with the selected construction material. Do not forget to respect the selected drawing scale.
- Draw the location on the plan (this is especially important for a country house where there is no way to connect to central heating).
- Decide on the location of communications (on, in bathrooms, etc.) and mark them on the drawing.
- Mark the drawing with the main dimensions of walls, partitions and openings.
- Assign a serial number to each room inside the house. Decipher these numbers - determine which room is indicated by which number.
We draw up a house plan using a program installed on a computer
Today, when everyone (at home or at work) has a personal computer or laptop, it is absolutely unnecessary to waste time and nerves on compiling a complete home page by hand. There are a number of software products that can be downloaded from the Internet and installed on your PC. With the help of these programs, many of which are designed for non-professionals, you can solve quite professional problems and draw up a plan for a country house of any complexity.
There is no need to buy specialized software. It is enough to download the shareware product. This kind of software provides access for a certain period of time or for a number of starts.
Architectural program designers are able to create a two- and even three-dimensional model of a house according to given parameters. It is also possible to draw up a house plan with several floors.
One such program is Ashampoo Home Designer Pro 2.0. Installed on your computer, this program will help you draw up a house plan using ready-made templates and design solutions.
When starting work, you will need to set the basic dimensions of the building and the number of floors. Next, doors and windows are applied to the rough layout.
If you have a site plan, you can enter cadastral data into the program. A 3D model will allow you to view your future home and its location on the ground.
The functions of the Ashampoo Home Designer Pro 2.0 program include the ability to design not only the premises, but also the roof of the future home. There is also a function for selecting interior decoration and even furniture arrangement.
Also inexpensive and quite convenient, and most importantly – understandable (even to an inexperienced user), are the software products *Design Studio 3D Home 3.0* or *ArCon Home & Landscape*.
Online services
There are also online programs that allow you to create 2D or 3D models of a house. One of these services is the online designer http://ru.floorplanner.com/.
Lately, many people have been asking the question “how to make a house project”? And this is understandable. Information on the construction of residential buildings is more accessible than ever, construction technologies are known, and building materials can be purchased in any quantity even tomorrow. But when it comes to construction, it becomes clear that you cannot build a house without drawings.
Things to take care of before developing a project
Even the most experienced builder needs plans with dimensions, elevations, sections, etc. The set of drawings is called a “project”. You can make a house project in the program yourself. To do this you need to know 3 things:
- Program for creating a project.
- Understanding what kind of house to design.
- Fundamentals of architectural design.
These are 3 successful components of any project. It cannot be done without knowledge of the program. Without an idea of what the house will be like, it’s the same. And without the basics of architectural design, you risk making a project on which nothing can be built.
Why does knowing a computer program come before understanding what a house will be like? Because often the idea of a country house is born in the program. Therefore, how convenient and understandable the program is, the better the result of working in it will be. This article will focus on the most popular computer programs for creating country house projects.
Programs for creating a project
Today, without particularly straining, you can find several options for programs in which you can make a project. Conventionally, I will divide them into 2 groups: online and offline. Online - where you can create a project directly in your browser. Offline - where you need to install the program on your PC.
Online programs
I will say right away that there are no full-fledged design programs in this format. There are sites where you can make a house layout, and even look at it in 3D. But everything related to volumetric modeling of a house is not yet available. I believe that such programs will definitely appear soon. Moreover, there are already attempts to create something similar. They are primitive and allow you to create only monotonous “birdhouses”. There is no modeling of the shape of the roof, windows, decorative elements of facades, etc.
If you only need the layout of your future home, the following online programs will help:
Pioneers of online design. This startup appeared before the popular Autodesk Homestyler and quickly gained popularity on the Internet. The program benefits from a convenient and beautiful interface. There is a “demo” and “pro” version. The pro version allows you to add descriptions, photos and videos to the project, create multi-story layouts and, in general, is intended more for realtors who create presentations of houses. You can also download and install the program on your PC for offline work on the project.
Other programs such as Roomsketcher or Planner 5D They do not offer anything new, but simply copy the leaders of this market.
Non-professional offline programs
The main difference from the online version is the installation of such programs on the computer’s hard drive. Those. you don't need the internet to design your home. This option is a little outdated because you, for example, will not be able to design on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet).
FloorPlan 3D- probably the most convenient software at the amateur level. After opening the program, you immediately find yourself in a simple and intuitive interface. By the way, at the moment, the graphics are a little outdated. But this does not spoil the overall impression of this software. The work environment is fully interactive. There are 2D and 3D views. Suitable for untrained users who are designing their own house and plot.In the program you can calculate the area of rooms, design a staircase, apply textures and select furniture from a rather large library. There are good architectural possibilities in terms of designing sloping roofs and protruding elements. The package also contains examples of country house projects and a good block with 3D visualization.
This is probably one of the most successful programs at the amateur level, bringing the result of everyone’s work closer to the level of professional programs.
The powerful program package includes everything from creating layouts and 3D modeling to calculating material consumption sheets. Terrain, room and roof assistants will help you quickly cope with complex tasks. The ability to design multi-story buildings significantly expands the range of designed objects.
Project details such as skylights, railings, balconies, beams, columns, windows and doors all have individual parameters that can be customized. In addition, the program allows you to create videos based on the project, as well as work with formats of other design programs. In general, this is an affordable, powerful program for creating preliminary designs of country houses with elements of a detailed design.
SketchUP- this program stands apart. Recently, it has become so convenient that it has won the love of numerous fans around the world. Convenient downloading and installation from the official website, integration with numerous Google services, a simple interface and millions of library elements available on the official website - all this has attracted the attention of even professional designers. Well, the presence of numerous video lessons on the Internet contributes to almost instant learning of this program.
There is a version of SketchUP Pro for professional work on projects. Thus, the famous VRay plugin, developed by the Bulgarian Chaos Group specifically for SketchUP Pro, shocked the audience with its high quality. Now, even from a simple 3D model it was possible to make a photorealistic picture with shadows and reflected light. And thanks to a wide library of elements, add a picturesque and realistic environment to it.
See how a model of a country house is created,
And what the result looks like after working with the VRay plugin. 
Graphisoft ArchiCAD- this is “our everything” or the most suitable tool for creating a complete project for building a country house from scratch. For a long time it was the leader in the BIM design market, until Autodesk promoted the Revit program, which significantly displaced ArchiCAD. BIM stands for Building Information Model. To put it simply, this is a digital 3D model of a building, from which plans, sections and facades are automatically “removed”. This approach eliminates the need to create each drawing separately, and also speeds up the process of making adjustments to the project.
Unlike all previous programs, ArchiCAD is a design complex in which you can create absolutely all parts of the project. There is no need to use additional programs for visualization, calculation of estimates or design of the project. This is a powerful professional tool. Unlike, for example, Autocad, it is easy to learn and comes with a large number of publicly available training lessons. But to fully work in this program, you must take a special course, and to create a country house project, you must undergo training under the guidance of an experienced mentor. All this is in the main training course on our website Step-by-step training in designing country houses. During the learning process, each student receives examples of projects in this program and albums of technical solutions with the necessary components “for all occasions.”
Every year our design bureau produces more than 20 complete projects for the construction of country houses. All of them are made in the ArchiCAD program. Some of them are posted on this page.
Look at the capabilities of this program (click to enlarge).
Also look at the work of our students in Graphisoft ArchiCAD at this link.
Autodesk Revit- the same program that supplanted ArchiCAD. Its main advantage is its good integration with other Autodesk products, which have managed to conquer many aspects of design activity. Today, this is the most promising program for BIM design, allowing you to completely replace the cumbersome designer tools. After all, in one information model you can combine architecture, structures and all utility networks.
Good engineering graphics, automation of most processes, customizable standardization of projects, automatic calculation of all indicators required by the project, etc. - most likely, an amateur will not need such powerful capabilities. But, if you want to delve deeper into the topic of design and become a professional in it, then learning Revit will be a good foundation for the future.
In addition, many Western design bureaus have long switched to this program. Therefore, it contains the latest developments in the areas of energy saving and Western engineering standards. She is valued and respected in the professional community. There are rumors that Russia will soon introduce a BIM standard for the development and approval of project documentation. If this happens, then most likely Autodesk Revit will be taken as a basis.
The training center website is developing a course “Autodesk Revit for creating country house projects.” Soon you will be able not only to learn this powerful program, but also to immediately create a country house project in it.
The project is prepared before any construction begins. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a large country cottage or a modest-sized country house, all plans and dreams are first realized on paper. Thanks to the development of a country house project, the final cost of all materials and work can be calculated quite accurately, which will allow the construction to be completed on time and enjoy life in the new home.
Today, a large number of companies provide calculation services for individual projects or sell ready-made ones. But their prices are very high, and most self-builders, trying to save money, do not attach much importance to this. Indeed, you can develop a house project yourself, but you need to know what exactly you should pay attention to.
Stages of developing a private house project
Before starting work directly on the house project, you will need to decide on the purpose of the house.
- Will it be a summer cottage, or is a solid house being built for year-round living?
- Number of residents. The number of rooms for family members is calculated, and those who will visit the house on short visits are also taken into account.
- Determine whether there are other buildings on the site. Will there be a separate garage and how many cars is it designed for, the location of the bathhouse, well, septic tank and other objects that affect the dimensions of the house and its optimal location on the site.
- The location of the house will also be influenced by the lifestyle of its owners. Wanting to create a secluded recreation area, closed from prying eyes, the house is located at the beginning of the site, blocking the courtyard. Or, on the contrary, they move it deeper, revealing a beautiful façade and well-groomed landscape.
- The presence of a slope on the site and geodetic research will also make adjustments.
All this is taken into account and, based on the data obtained, a master plan for the site is developed. With its help you can save a lot of time and money. Based on the markings, a parking lot is immediately prepared, a septic tank is installed, a well is drilled, etc.
Development of house and cottage projects
Now the development stage of the house project begins. Its approximate dimensions and location on the site are already known.
Creating a preliminary design
You can do a preliminary design yourself, and in accordance with it, a professional architect sketches out the layout, spatial and style solutions.
These drawings include the building plan, roof and floors of the house. The appearance of the facade, longitudinal and transverse sections of the building are also displayed. It also notes what materials the house will be built from and the design features of all elements. And already on the basis of a detailed preliminary design, a working one is created, which will become a guide for builders.
Development of a detailed design of a residential building
Architectural design stage
An architectural project is one of the most enjoyable moments in planning a house. It outlines the location of all rooms and their sizes, thinks through additional rooms, and also marks the places where windows and doors will be located.
At this stage, the material from which the house will be built is taken into account. The thickness of the walls, the size of windows and doors, and the slope of the roof depend on it. The result is a whole set of drawings with explanatory notes. You can do everything manually on paper or using specially developed computer programs. They will be discussed in more detail below.
Constructive design stage
At this stage, all elements of the house are calculated. What type of foundation to use and how deep to deepen it. How to make a “pie” of walls, interfloor ceilings are selected, the location of the rafters and the presence of a chimney are calculated. As a result, a set of drawings is created with the construction of the walls, with a plan for the rafter system, interfloor stairs, lintels, beams, etc. All materials must be accurately calculated so that all the required quantities can be purchased at once.
Engineering project
This is an important section that cannot always be found on building plans, but without it it will not be possible to build a high-quality turnkey house. It includes the calculation and design of sewerage systems, water supply, ventilation systems, heating circuits and electrical equipment.
This project must contain phased work on laying communications necessary for life support. The detailed design details all the information about the building's design power, the electrical wiring and the grounding system for lightning protection. A separate section includes the installation of a home security system.
House design project
This is the final design stage. It determines the color scheme of facades, roofs, walls, and interior decoration. It is advisable to think about the stylistic design of the rooms and the arrangement of furniture at the design stage.
Creating a project with your own hands for a private developer is more rational if he carries out all the construction work himself. Having received a project from an architect, it will be difficult for a non-professional to understand it and understand exactly everything that is drawn there.
What to pay attention to when developing an individual house project
The project should be approached comprehensively, taking into account all the structural and engineering features of the building. To build your dream home, even at the stage of acquiring a plot of land, you need to take care of the possibility of installing water supply, electricity and sewerage. But no matter how carefully the house project is developed, a non-professional will still not take into account all the nuances. And during construction, moments will inevitably arise when you have to redo or invent individual structural elements on the fly.
Modern materials and availability of information make work somewhat easier for private developers. Thus, a large number of free standard projects are posted on the Internet. But you should understand that no one will give high-quality work for free for everyone to use. All of these projects require serious improvement or are incomplete.
The second option is to purchase a ready-made house kit from the factory. It is a pie made of two panels of OSB boards, and a layer of foam plastic between them. Having chosen a specific frame house project from the manufacturer, it is produced taking into account all door and window openings, and, for additional money, interior partitions.
The customer can only assemble it according to the attached instructions, similar to a construction set. But in any case, the starting point in the development of any project is the construction budget.
Features of the development of a wooden house project
When creating a project for a log or log house, you will have to take into account a number of nuances that will affect the final result:
- timber or logs for a house, as a rule, have a length of 6 m. When building a spacious house, this is often not enough and there is a need to join the logs together. It is impossible to do this on an open wall, so these joints are calculated at crosscuts, which are additionally insulated;
- To ensure proper shrinkage and rigidity of the entire house, the joints are placed in a checkerboard pattern in each subsequent row of logs. In this case, they will need to be distributed over several neighboring cuttings;
- the method of assembling a log house involves only an even number of corners;
- when designing, the correct distribution of loads on all load-bearing elements is taken into account;
- Based on the initial length of the material of 6 m, the project should be created taking into account the minimum amount of waste;
- log partitions of the second floor should be placed only above load-bearing walls; in all other cases they are replaced with lighter pillars made of timber or edged boards;
- with an attic second floor, the staircase should not be adjacent to the wall on which the roof slope rests.
Programs for developing a house project
Modern programs greatly simplify the task of designing a house yourself. With their help, 3D models are created that can be viewed from all angles, zooming in or out. Most of them are adapted for ordinary users and are free. Let's look at a few of the most popular programs.
Perhaps the most popular program is Google SketchUp. It is the easiest to use, but at the same time multifunctional.
With its help you can create a 3D house project, interior design and landscape design. It contains many textures and is very convenient for designing structures that require calculations with millimeter precision. In addition, it is absolutely free.
No less popular Arcone. But you will be able to work with it only after mastering the training material. It allows you to create 3D models of houses and interior spaces. It shows the lighting of the room corresponding to the location of the windows.
It is especially important for project development that the program creates horizontal and vertical sections of the building. The licensed version is available only for a fee.
Another popular program is ArchiCAD. It is used not only by amateurs, but also by professionals. This is a whole set of tools for building design and design. It allows you not only to create beautiful models, but also to maintain all construction and technical documentation. The licensed version is also not free.
To summarize, I would like to say that the development of house construction projects is a painstaking and rather complex matter. You can create the sketch part yourself, but take your time and carefully think through and review all possible options. But the working part is best left to professionals. You cannot do without the help of an architect when preparing a project for the district administration to issue a building permit.
In this article we will introduce you to several software options for designing a private house. These designers will allow you to create a graphic sketch of a living space yourself, gradually improving the surrounding area with landscape design elements, “attaching” a bathhouse, garage, gazebo and modeling an interior that fully meets your needs. For those who want to do everything with their own hands to the maximum: both build and design.
Free software for designing a private house will help you become an architect of your own home, with which you can create projects both for each room separately and for the entire site. Let's try to start our virtual construction.
Programs for designing houses
There is no need to tell FORUMHOUSE users how important the working design (with the corresponding drawings and calculations) is when building a private house. Its importance is clear to everyone. But not everyone understands that for construction you need to do an architectural design project for a house.
By mastering 3D, creating a virtual 3D model of your future individual housing in an online constructor, you decide to build it yourself from start to finish. Moreover, you work out all stages of construction not in reality, but in a computer program, taking into account all the dimensions of the construction project with an accuracy of up to a millimeter. Programs for building houses allow you to identify all the inconsistencies at the design stage. You will be able to design a project and understand in time that somewhere it is necessary to increase the flight of stairs by 100 mm or simply move the window opening slightly to the side in the next room. In practice, everything will be created somewhat differently than was originally intended. But modern software, capable of taking into account the thickness of each plank, will model the object in advance in such a way that after construction you do not have to correct errors by redoing part of the work done.
Today we will present to your attention a description of several free programs for modeling houses, which allow you to create ready-made 3D models of houses and plots, conduct quantitative calculations of building materials, and even draw up construction estimates.
To begin with, let us give you a few tips that will help you when choosing free software:
- The lack of a Russian version of the selected software makes it very difficult to study its functionality and further work with the program. Therefore, if you are not familiar with foreign terminology, then be sure to choose a program in Russian;
- Before downloading a program, check out its level of complexity and how easy its interface is to use. Try to use reviews from people who have experience with the selected software;
- Immediately determine your needs and the need for obtaining 3D images. If you want to see everything in volume, then choose software with the appropriate functionality.
Having detailed, simple instructions and videos for working with the selected software will significantly save time on learning it. Ideally, reference materials should be provided with the downloadable version of the software.
ArchiCAD is a professional software package for creating virtual models
We will begin our story with a description of the shareware Russified program for creating 3D models ArchiCAD, which has managed to win several awards in the category “Best BIM software for construction.” Precisely from it, because it is very difficult to find a program for the virtual construction of houses with such perfect functionality, which allows you not only to design and construct, but also to count building materials, making simple estimates online.
The concept of “shareware” does not bode well for the user. But in the case of ArchiCAD, this definition does not look so hopeless. After all, anyone can install a fully functional version of this software on their computer, and the program for building a house with extensive capabilities will be available for free use for 30 days. Students and teachers of specialized design educational institutions can receive a free license for a period of one year, and during this time they can design an entire city.
Pan9877 User FORUMHOUSE
I downloaded Archicad, registered on the manufacturer’s website and received a 30-day code for the pro version. By registering, you can receive available video lessons for free. Every day they send you a link to the next online video lesson step by step.
There is one more limitation imposed on the house building trial program, but for the demo version it is not significant: you can save and open saved files only on the same computer. After purchasing a license, this restriction can be removed from saved projects (although, in a month you can “squeeze” everything you need out of the program).
Considering that ArchiCAD is a professional program, its functionality is appropriate:
- The ability to create architectural and construction solutions in the field of landscape design, as well as in the areas of building houses and designing the interior of a house or apartment with your own hands;
- Availability of built-in 3D design technology;
- Creation of 2D drawings and 3D models;
- The ability to determine the volume of building structures and calculate the consumption of materials for drawing up construction estimates;
- Creation of animations and videos that allow you to evaluate what the design of a house and its details look like from different points of view;
- In addition, the program allows you not only to design and “build”, but also to take virtual tours of the living quarters of your future home.
Nergedo User FORUMHOUSE
Archikad is a fairly powerful program for creating houses, focused primarily on creating an interactive architectural model. There are tools for compiling catalogs and tables that take into account the number, volume or any other specified parameter of elements. A technology has been implemented that makes it possible to design the reconstruction of a building. You can make calculations of heating engineering and insolation (though not in accordance with our standards). Calculation of structures is impossible, as is drawing up full estimates with costs and volumes of work.
Working with this online constructor, the designer creates a perfect 3D model of the building. He has the ability to “build” a house on a computer screen, starting from the foundation and ending with the roof and elements of the surrounding landscape. For the virtual construction of a building, tools are used that are an exact embodiment of real objects: walls, windows, external lighting devices, building floors, stairs, etc. Using this program, it is impossible to calculate the load on elements of building structures. But programs that would combine such extensive functionality, in fact, do not exist.
Leo060147 User FORUMHOUSE
The desire to find a program that will do everything for you: come up with a design and calculate all the structures, draw and make an estimate - this is still an unfulfilled desire.
We will return to the issue of software for calculating loads later.
Google SketchUp is a free program for developing 3D models
Google SketchUp is a professional software designed for modeling, creating three-dimensional models of construction projects, furniture and interiors.
Its main advantage over ArchiCAD is the availability of a completely free version, adapted to the needs of beginning designers, architects and planners. This application has a built-in localization language, so Russian-speaking users can quickly understand the features of its interface. Convenient application. It simplifies the design and construction of a house.
Clearance User FORUMHOUSE
SketchUp is a simple, intuitive and convenient program that even a beginner can master in a short time.
Program features:
- Creation and editing of 3D projects (we are talking about projects of houses, interiors, the surrounding landscape and all kinds of architectural objects, designing a bathhouse or designing a garage). The program is intuitive, designing for beginners is allowed.
- The presence in the designer of simple tools that may be familiar to users from the interface of the simplest graphic editors: “pencil”, “eraser”, etc.
- Ability to convert graphic files and created 3D houses into most common graphic formats: PNG, JPG, etc.
- An abundance of detailed reference information and tutorials on working with the program.
- In addition, the program is capable of generating statistics on the consumption of building materials, practically drawing up a plan for purchasing building materials needed to build a house.
The disadvantages of Google SketchUp include the lack of functionality for designing 2D plans. Its main purpose is 3D modeling and design of houses. There are other programs for creating.
Leo060147 User FORUMHOUSE
If for myself, then I would recommend the free program Sketchup 8. In it you can create any designs with great precision (millimeters) and with any detail. All this can be created in 3D. If you want to draw flat drawings, you can do this in the free version of the NANOCAD program.
Since we're talking about the nanoCAD program, let's briefly talk about its capabilities.
Free version of nanoCAD
Being the best Russian development focused on automatic design of drawings, the program for creating houses nanoCAD has its own free version, which has quite a wide range of capabilities:
- Creation of complete plans and drawings during the design of various construction projects;
- Registration of a full package of documents in Russian, included in the detailed construction project;
- Ability to work with dwg files, compatible with other applications belonging to the AutoCAD category.
Free development allows you to solve the main problems that arise when designing construction projects and drawings of average complexity.
Specialized program for interior design – Sweet home 3D
The narrowly focused functionality of the Sweet home 3D program is aimed at users who want to simulate the interior of a room in accordance with their needs, but do not want to learn complex professional software. The program has a Russian-language version and a special service for online design. It features a user-friendly interface and flexible settings.
ELITE83 User FORUMHOUSE
I came across such a wonderful design program as sweet home 3D. Yes, this is a program for design, not design, but 90% of the planning can be done in it in a matter of hours, and it has quite full-fledged design functionality!
Key features and functions of the program:
- Availability of detailed documentation and training materials in Russian;
- Possibility of simultaneous work with a two-dimensional and three-dimensional model of a room;
- A huge list of items for designing the environment (furniture, household appliances, doors, etc.) and a wide range of settings (at your discretion, you can change sizes, colors, textures, etc.);
- The program allows you to view designs in various modes: “top view”, “virtual visit”, “view from anywhere in the room”, etc.
Free program for load calculation - "LIRA-SAPR 2013"
Since the topic of our article is devoted to the design of a private house, let’s talk about a program with which you can calculate the load on building structures. Load calculation is a task for professionals whose experience and qualifications go beyond the novice home designer. To implement it, you need to know the theories of resistance and construction calculations. Free programs for calculating loads exist, but not everyone can master them.
Rufus86 User FORUMHOUSE
The most understandable calculation systems with a large number of manuals and reference literature are, after all, SCAD and LIRA. They are based on the finite element method, but knowledge of the theory in size - “more or less” is not enough to master them.
The freely distributed version of the LIRA-SAPR 2013 program allows you to solve many problems related to the calculation and design of buildings:
- Calculate objects with different numbers of loads.
- Create and view design diagrams and models.
- Access the designer's help system.
- Gain access to program help and training materials.
- Create working drawings automatically (stages of CM, QL, etc.)
Material calculation
If designing doesn't interest you, or all you need is to calculate the amount of materials that will be needed to build a house, garage or other structure, then mastering the use of complex software is not at all necessary. To solve such problems, there are many free interactive services (construction calculators) that can be found through any search engine. They will help you plan the purchase of the necessary materials.
You can find out more by reading the opinions of FORUMHOUSE users in a special section of our website. After reading, you will easily learn how to work in one of the most popular programs for 3D modeling of houses, plots and interiors. A thematic video from FORUMHOUSE will help you understand why a properly designed house allows the future owner to receive a lot of advantages during construction.
Preliminary work before building a house includes several stages: the preparatory period, drawing up sketches, creating working drawings and communication diagrams. How to design a house yourself? Let's look at all the stages in detail.
Preparation period
Before construction, a site diagram is drawn up in the form of a configuration, with the terrain, marking trees and other elements. Diagrams of communications passing through the site (water supply, cable, gas pipeline) are drawn.
General layout of rooms
Projects of houses and cottages are carried out with numerous rooms for different purposes. First of all, we need a detailed study of the layout of the rooms. The following factors must be taken into account:
number of residents and presence of separate families (adult children, parents);
presence of small children;
the expected number of guests and the possibility of their comfortable stay in the house and on the site.
The layout of the hallway, living room, office, bedrooms, the presence of separate entrances, toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, boiler room and workshop, parking lots and garages, and stairs to the upper floors depend on these factors. It is necessary to decide where the sauna will be: in a separate building or in the basement. If the family loves plants, then you can place it in the house or attach a small greenhouse to it. Perhaps the attic will be built without heating and designed only for the summer period. All premises must be located optimally and at minimal cost.
House facade sketch
Many house designs are created with a beautiful façade appearance. It should be drawn on each side, then combined and linked with the internal layout and placement of windows. The type of foundation depends on the material of the walls. You should also decide whether a basement or cellar is needed. To do this, you need to know how close the groundwater is. You immediately need to choose the shape of the roof to make the house look beautiful. Too complex a shape can lead to leaks from precipitation. Windows should be large to give the house lightness and make it brighter inside. At the same time, you should not be afraid of the cold, since you can install modern ones. They can be ordered in any shape and decorated with carved shutters or forged flower trellises.
An important place is the main entrance. You need to determine what the porch will look like and whether it will be convenient to climb onto it. Where will the front door and the canopy above it be? What will be the entrances to the garage, the type and location of gates for cars to enter? How to enter the courtyard and from which rooms? How to protect entrance doors from precipitation? The house must be harmoniously combined with the landscape of the site.
Detailed study of room layout
How to properly design a house with rational use of premises? Let's consider each of them separately.
Hallway
The hallway is usually common to everyone. If there are several families in the house, you need to think about how to enter it so as not to disturb each other. From the hallway it is convenient to make exits to the living room and to the garage. It is necessary to determine the location and design of the stairs to the second floor. It should be located inside the house so that in winter you don’t have to clear it of snow.
Living room
The first thing you need to do is make your living room as functional as possible. To do this, it must be a place for receiving guests, sharing leisure time, and a dining room. You can place a fireplace in it, which requires a separate foundation. The living room should be properly divided into functional areas. Often there is a staircase leading upstairs.
Kitchen
The kitchen is planned in such a way that it is spacious and comfortable enough for cooking and eating. It is divided into zones for cooking, hot processing and eating, as well as washing dishes. It is possible that a large family will need two kitchens. The room should easily accommodate appliances: stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, refrigerator, and various electrical appliances: meat grinder, juicer, mixer, coffee grinder. Everything should be located freely and compactly so that the hostess can reach it with her hand.
Bathroom
In your own home, the bathroom should be spacious and comfortable to accommodate everything you need. This requires an area of at least 5 m2. The bathroom can be located in a separate room.
Bedroom
The bedroom should freely accommodate a bed, dressing table, chest of drawers and bedside tables. It may also contain a desk, a TV, armchairs and a wardrobe. There may be several bedrooms.
Children's room
In a children's room you need to ensure maximum functionality. It should be spacious, comfortable for sleeping, relaxing, playing and a sports corner. Toys and clothes should be put away in closets.
Cabinet
The office contains a desk, an armchair, bookshelves and office equipment. It is advisable to provide space for a small sofa for relaxation. The spacious office is convenient for business meetings.
The general appearance of the house should be linked several times to the layout of the rooms. Sketches of facades and placement of rooms can be done in different versions, and then choose the best one.
The main parameters of the house are summarized in one table, which indicates the overall dimensions of the house, the number of rooms, their area, ceiling height, number and sizes of doors and windows.
Working draft
There are special computer programs on how to design a house yourself. It is not necessary to be able to draw. The program does all this. With its help, you can visualize any house designs in three dimensions. A photo of one of them is shown below.
Drawings are drawn up from sketches, and then builders will build the house based on them.
The master plan of the site contains the house and other objects being built, as well as paths, gates, a cesspool, gates, gazebos, a greenhouse, and places for plants. The plan is oriented according to parts of the world. The dimensions of each element are set exactly to scale. According to the plan, the places for supplying communications and the location of the drainage system are better determined.
Foundation design
To determine the type of foundation, you should have geological data on the composition and properties of the soil. The load on the foundation is calculated based on the mass of walls, floors, roofs, foundations, snow and temporary loads. Temporary and snow loads are calculated according to the average indicator - 100 kg/m 2. Based on this data, the type of foundation is selected. Typically, a strip or pile-strip reinforced concrete foundation is chosen. It must have holes for entering communications. You can find many options on how to design a house yourself with such foundations.
Wall and ceiling materials
The advantages and disadvantages of materials for building walls is a separate topic. Brick is best suited for long-term construction. Recently, foam concrete, aerated concrete, slag concrete and other similar materials that have sufficient strength and durability have become popular materials.
Their undoubted advantage is their low thermal conductivity, which makes it possible to build inexpensive and warm houses. Numerous projects of houses made of foam blocks show that they are cheaper and lighter than those made of monolithic concrete, and have less but sufficient load-bearing capacity. It is better to cover walls made of porous concrete with wooden beams, the loads from which they can easily withstand.
Roof design
House designs mostly involve the construction of gable roofs, and for small houses - single-pitched roofs. Timber is used for rafters, and boards are used as sheathing.
The roof is made with the possibility of vapor barrier and ventilation to ensure its protection from moisture. Its material can be a metal profile, a popular type of which is metal tiles. Soft roofing and Euro slate are also used. The metal profile is protected by a zinc coating, as well as a layer of polymer, which looks beautiful and does not collapse under the influence of the atmosphere.
Wiring of electrical networks
When implementing an electrical project, the total power of consumers is determined. It is performed by licensed enterprises. Lighting and electrical wiring serves as technical specifications for the project.
Water supply and sewerage
Before you design a house yourself, you need to find out what resources are nearby. If there is a central water supply nearby, you can connect to it. In this case, a counter is installed at the main entrance. Water supply and sewerage are designed depending on the maximum number of people living in the house, the number of floors and the area of the house. Sewage pipes are discharged into a central wastewater disposal system. If it is not there, it is drained into a drainage hole.
In the absence of a centralized water supply, a well must be drilled or a well built. The source is included in the project along with the autonomous supply scheme.
Heating system
Projects of houses and cottages are created for autonomous heating systems. The boiler for the home is installed in a separate room. Its power is selected depending on the total volume of heated rooms. The type of boiler depends on the fuel used: gas, electricity or coal. For each heated room, radiators with the estimated number of sections are selected and a water supply pipe layout diagram is drawn up. It indicates all the necessary equipment and its characteristics: boiler, pressure tank, pump, filters, fittings.
Ventilation system
Ventilation of the house is ensured by natural and forced air outflow from the premises. To do this, a system plan is drawn, which indicates the distribution of pipes, their diameters, installation locations of gratings and service hatches.
Author's supervision of construction
After the creation of the project, monitoring should be carried out to ensure that the technology for constructing the house and laying communications is followed. An agreement is drawn up with the builders with reference to the project. This document is used to monitor the correctness of the work.
Conclusion
How to design a house yourself? To do this, it is necessary to carry out the work step by step to create the working drawings necessary for construction, and then monitor the quality of the work based on them.
