House design software

[Star1pup]

Is there a software program that can be used to layout a floorplan?

[MadTripper]

I've used a few different apps to design my house (among other things). I started with Punch Professional which is pretty neat however does cost money and is fairly hardware intensive. I also did my design in AutoCAD which is basically the same as far as requirements. Additionally, there can be a fairly steep learning curve if you are new to it.

When I need to do a layout, be it an electrical schematic or a floor design, I end up using the paint program included with MS Windows. Once you get the hang of it, you can really turn out some pretty detailed designs. Below is a link to my heating system design that I installed a few months back.

Heat System (http://www.madtripper.com/gallery/v/Various/houseconst/heat_sys.JPG.html)

This is the house design I created in paint.

House Design (http://www.madtripper.com/gallery/v/Various/houseconst/modhouse_2ndfloor_final.jpg.html)

There is also a program out called Google Sketchup. It is free and renders 3D models. You can get the gist of it in short time and may be more appropriate for your needs. Either way, good luck!

Tripper

[wittey]

I have looked for years for one that works with a Mac. They all cost way to much.
I would like one that just does simple floor plan that can do it in SCALE.

[MadTripper]

I'm not in the mac loop however I do my floorplans to scale using that simple paint program in windows. There are coordinates that display when you move your cursor. I start at a give spot, set a scale, and build away. I think I normally use 20 units to a foot which gives me room to play and stays pretty accurate.

If I stumble on anything for Mac, I'll let you know. We used to have a bunch of them and moved over to all windows based. We may have some software around however I think it was mainly a graphics lab for web design.

Tripper

[TNDadx4]

You can try Open Officehttp://OpenOffice.org

It's a FREE (and I like free) version similar to Microsoft's Office. it comes with a tool called "Draw" which is like Viso, for templates, layouts, eetc.

I hope this helps!

[CarolAnn]

You might enjoy Sketchup from Google. It's free, it's fun and a kid can use it in about three minutes. It takes grown-ups a little longer.

This is a 3-D type software, and with the 20 minute tutorial, you can do some awesome house plans. It's nice to be able to see the full room, too - from any angle you want. If you're careful, you can draw to scale, and I'm pretty sure there's a version that works on a Mac.

There are lots of paint and texture effects that you "pour" on like the paint bucket in MS Paint.

~~~
I've also used Broderbund 3-D home designer. I got it at the Half Price Books store for about $40. I liked the older version that my sister had better, the newer ones are harder to use. The cool part about this software is that you draw the floor plan to scale, click a button and the house "builds" itself. It was almost impossible for me to do stairs with this one - I couldn't get them to connect to the floor!
The free download is at www.sketchup.com. I love mine, and I use it a lot!

Here's a couple of print screens of my earthshelter:

http://i12.tinypic.com/62zne3k.jpg

http://i15.tinypic.com/5xrw8hs.jpg

[humbug]

I have Punch Homedesigner. I don't recommend it. It is very difficult to use. You are supposed to be able to design your house and be able to do a 3D walk-through. I spent hours trying to learn the program and finally gave up.