which home design software?
Neta Amit
If you are knowlegeable about any of the following products, please advise
me as to
which ones are worthy my money and time.
My needs:
- occasional remodelling / renovation project at home.
- I use metric measurements.
- I sometimes design in detail kitchen cabinets and book cases.
I have no other CAD requirements.
- nice to have: DXF import / export
Products I'm aware of (limited to $250):
1. Broderbund's "3D Home Architect Deluxe"
2. Broderbund's "3D Home Interiors"
3. Sierra Custom Home
4. Sierra Visual Home
5. Sierra Kitchen & Bath
6. Sierra Home Architect
7. Planix Home Design Suite 3D
8. Softdesk Pro Remodeler
9. ???
When you post a reply, please email directly to me as well
(na...@microsoft.com).
Thanks in advance,
--Neta
Jamie
Neta Amit wrote:
>
> If you are knowlegeable about any of the following products, please advise
> me as to
> which ones are worthy my money and time.
I've got Broderbund's. It's a decent product, can be a little annoying
to use but it does the job. The price was right, anyway (I think $20
bucks). I would probably have been willing to spend more for a more
high-powered product. There's not a lot of room for customization
within the selection of objects you get. (e.g. you can't resize many
objects), but you can always substitute things to get the right feel.
Does anyone out there have something useful for desinging decks? This
is outside the scope of 3D Home, but would be useful, particularly for
the permit application process.
Jamie
--
ja...@treworgy.xyz.com remove .xyz to reply
John C. Dechon
> Jamie
Yes, there IS a program exclusively for decks, but sorry, I can't recall
the name. Probably a visit to COMP-USA or Computer City is in order (to
get the particulars, then you can look for it elsewhere at the best price)
now that you know there is such a program. There may be more than one, but I
couldn't say.
Anyway, be sure the program can handle your design ideas...it may not be
able to handle much more than squares/rectangles, or even multi-level decks.
John D.
Brian J. McCarthy
I have Broderbund's "3D Home Architect Deluxe" also and I'll agree
with most of the down-side points already posted (including crashes)
But, given what it does do, if you are not doing anything real
fancy, its a real good chunk of software for the price.
I'll add a few like "let me select more than one similar item". This
would make modifying the roof settings on walls a lot easier (say, for
example you wanted to change from a 6/12 pitch to a 12/12 pitch).
It would be nice if it created the opening in the floor above a stair
way for you (instead of having to do it yourself using invisible walls).
BUT, and that's a big BUT, do NOT expect it to design your house or
addition for you. It takes a lot of getting used to and allowed us to
present the drawings to a real archtect to draw up the final blue
prints for a 'pending' addition.
--
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Brian J. McCarthy | mailto:mcca...@hndymn.zko.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corp. Nashua, NH | DEC C++ Class Libraries
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kflo...@kermode.net
On 4 Nov 1997 16:00:46 GMT, "Neta Amit" <na...@microsoft.com> wrote:
>If you are knowlegeable about any of the following products, please advise
>me as to
>which ones are worthy my money and time.
>
>My needs:
>- occasional remodelling / renovation project at home.
>- I use metric measurements.
>- I sometimes design in detail kitchen cabinets and book cases.
> I have no other CAD requirements.
>- nice to have: DXF import / export
>
>
>Products I'm aware of (limited to $250):
>
>1. Broderbund's "3D Home Architect Deluxe"
>2. Broderbund's "3D Home Interiors"
>3. Sierra Custom Home
>4. Sierra Visual Home
>5. Sierra Kitchen & Bath
>6. Sierra Home Architect
>7. Planix Home Design Suite 3D
>8. Softdesk Pro Remodeler
>9. ???
"3D Home Architect Deluxe" has worked well
for me. Like you, I have no other CAD requirement
and work in metric.
K
Jeffrey Palmer
I recently built an Energy Crafted Home. According to specs, it is
quite airtight (less than 1/10 air exchange per hour) and has a heat
recovery ventilator to keep the air fresh, extremely well insulated and
a pleasure to live in.
It's winter and we would like to have either a fire in our fireplace
(which was built with an external air supply) or a wood stove in our
basement (also with external air supply). It won't take much to heat the
house as the current thermal source is a geothermal heat pump with
easily handles the load here in Connecticut. Why the wood stove?
Sometimes, it's just nice to be toasty.
Because there is insufficient draft using an inside air supply (which
we would never want anyway), the outside supply will fuel combustion.
The only problem is that I need to find either a sealed-combusition wood
stove or an extremely tight fireplace door to contain the combustion.
If anyone has an address or name of a supplier, I would be
appreciative....and warmer this winter.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
John Galbreath Jr.
Jeff. Wood stove made for mobile homes are required to have outside air
by HUD. On a fireplace, I think you should go with a direct vent. Look
in your local market and look at them burn. If you would like me to
recommend some, e-mail me and I'll answer you Monday from work where I
have my reference information. Have a good day.
--
John Galbreath Jr.
ABSCO Fireplace & Patio
http://www.ABSCOFireplace.com
mailto:Jo...@ABSCOFireplace.com
Andrew Lovell
> > ja...@treworgy.xyz.com remove .xyz to reply
>
> Yes, there IS a program exclusively for decks, but sorry, I can't recall
> the name. Probably a visit to COMP-USA or Computer City is in order (to
> get the particulars, then you can look for it elsewhere at the best price)
> now that you know there is such a program. There may be more than one, but I
> couldn't say.
>
> Anyway, be sure the program can handle your design ideas...it may not be
> able to handle much more than squares/rectangles, or even multi-level decks.
>
> John D.
I am an owner/builder, and have used Floorplan Plus 3D($50?)for a few
years, and it has never crashed or lost a drawing. I'm sure it's missing
some features I would want, but it is quite up to the task of producing
a residential blueprint. It has the all-important lasso feature where
you can select an area of a drawing. I was able to take the drawing on
disc to the blueprint shop and have it printed out on their big
printer. It must have worked, because my plans came back approved as
submitted, with no red ink on them. The drawings can be printed out on
regular paper on your own printer, and can be zoomed in if you want to
make a larger scale dwg for use in a smaller area. The 3D part is less
than thrilling, but it can give you some idea.
Andrew Lovell