15 Practical steps to draw a house plan
How to Draw project house plan like a Architect
S T E P 1 - Size of Plot
Size of plot is defined with its length & the breadth.
S T E P 2 - Setbacks
Setback is defined as the open space in- between the compound wall & the wall of the house which is being planned for.
S T E P 3 - Location & Width of the road
Location & Width of the road will helps to assign a dedicated space for car entry, parking & exit along with entrance gate.
S T E P 4 - North Direction
The direction of north is the best to get an idea about the four cardinal directions (east, west, and north, south) which inversely helps in understanding the local climatic conditions throughout the year.
S T E P 5 - Climatic information
A house needs to be responsive towards the climatic condition at any particular place If taken into consideration it will help in taking more calculated design initiatives for the house planning.
S T E P 6 - Do R&D for sample Floor plan
A bit of online research on house planning and design may not be such a bad idea if it can give you some new perspective to look at modern house designs. Do check sites which showcase floor plans & designs for your region. For India we have:
www.homeplansindia.com
www.housplansindia.in
S T E P 7 - Divide Plot in Grids
Draw the plot boundary and then divide the plot in two equal half on both directions, i.e. vertical and horizontal. Once done then draw similar lines about 2ft or 600mm apart from each other on both the directions. This way you have created an imaginary grid line for developing your house plan further.
S T E P 8 - Make bubble Diagram (2/3 times)
Once you have your drawing ready than list down your entire requirement for the house. Do mention tentative area as the requirement maybe. See example
-Living room
-Kitchen
-Dining, etc
As listed above use these space on the drawing created before of the plot for placing the rooms as per your use and sense. Don’t worry too much in the beginning if certain room / spaces don’t complement each other. This is your first draft & not the final floor plan layout so don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Have some patience and it will evolve with time.
S T E P 9 - Draw the room layout with single line
Once the bubble diagrams is more in order of your requirement then use a colored pen to firm up the lines to indicate walls (9 inch wall). Do show door openings of around 3 ft minimum & window openings which can be anything between 2fit to more. Use the grid below as guidelines for taking the size of the window.
S T E P 10 - Draw with Double Line /thickness for Walls
In the next step place another tracing sheet on top of the original drawing and now consider the walls to be of 9inch thickness and convert those initial single lines to double wall lines.
S T E P 11 - Draw Doors
In a similar way as before indicate the door openings as and where required. Do cretin changes in the floor plan as required for accommodating entry to rooms / spaces.
S T E P 12 - Draw Window Openings
Following the same understanding as similar to doors indicate the window openings on the drawing. Do keep it in mind that cross ventilation is very important. Do check the wind direction for the plot also. Do take rainfall, snowfall & other climatic information under consideration.
S T E P 13 - Use this Layout and draw them using an Online Software
Once you have done this process twice or thrice by using a tracing sheet on top of the the initial floor plan layout then it’s time to evolve & develop the same. The best way is to use any computer generated drawing software which are widely available. Few of these house planning & drawing software’s which we recommended are:
http://www.homestyler.com/designer
http://planner.roomsketcher.com/
http://www.roomle.com/
http://www.sweethome3d.com/index.jsp
http://www.fldraw.com/
S T E P 14 - Place Furniture inside room to get a more realistic actual Idea about Internal space
Once you have transferred the hand drawn layout on to any of the above mentioned online home planning & drawing software, then it’s time to make good use of their furniture library. It quite usual that you will stumble upon an extensive set of furniture blocks of proper scale & size which once placed on the floor plan layout gives a more realistic idea about the floor plan. It may happen that certain furniture may look like that they consume lot of space or they are too little for a large room. This process takes time so do give yourself around 1or 2 hrs each day before you see something more fruitful & a realistic looking floor plan. Drawing a good house floor plan takes time so don’t be in a jiffy. Do remember that few hours of thought today will give you more calculated quality of space for your everyday living and for your investment for the House.
Also a good thinking = A good house plan = Optimal use of your investment to build your house
S T E P 15 - Then render/colors the layout to get at finish look of house
The same software will also help you to colour the floor plans with the floor finish, carpet and other features that you want to consider for the house. This will make the layout look more presentable and readable.
S T E P 1 - Size of Plot
Size of plot is defined with its length & the breadth.
S T E P 2 - Setbacks
Setback is defined as the open space in- between the compound wall & the wall of the house which is being planned for.
S T E P 3 - Location & Width of the road
Location & Width of the road will helps to assign a dedicated space for car entry, parking & exit along with entrance gate.
S T E P 4 - North Direction
The direction of north is the best to get an idea about the four cardinal directions (east, west, and north, south) which inversely helps in understanding the local climatic conditions throughout the year.
S T E P 5 - Climatic information
A house needs to be responsive towards the climatic condition at any particular place If taken into consideration it will help in taking more calculated design initiatives for the house planning.
S T E P 6 - Do R&D for sample Floor plan
A bit of online research on house planning and design may not be such a bad idea if it can give you some new perspective to look at modern house designs. Do check sites which showcase floor plans & designs for your region. For India we have:
www.homeplansindia.com
www.housplansindia.in
S T E P 7 - Divide Plot in Grids
Draw the plot boundary and then divide the plot in two equal half on both directions, i.e. vertical and horizontal. Once done then draw similar lines about 2ft or 600mm apart from each other on both the directions. This way you have created an imaginary grid line for developing your house plan further.
S T E P 8 - Make bubble Diagram (2/3 times)
Once you have your drawing ready than list down your entire requirement for the house. Do mention tentative area as the requirement maybe. See example
-Living room
-Kitchen
-Dining, etc
As listed above use these space on the drawing created before of the plot for placing the rooms as per your use and sense. Don’t worry too much in the beginning if certain room / spaces don’t complement each other. This is your first draft & not the final floor plan layout so don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Have some patience and it will evolve with time.
S T E P 9 - Draw the room layout with single line
Once the bubble diagrams is more in order of your requirement then use a colored pen to firm up the lines to indicate walls (9 inch wall). Do show door openings of around 3 ft minimum & window openings which can be anything between 2fit to more. Use the grid below as guidelines for taking the size of the window.
S T E P 10 - Draw with Double Line /thickness for Walls
In the next step place another tracing sheet on top of the original drawing and now consider the walls to be of 9inch thickness and convert those initial single lines to double wall lines.
S T E P 11 - Draw Doors
In a similar way as before indicate the door openings as and where required. Do cretin changes in the floor plan as required for accommodating entry to rooms / spaces.
S T E P 12 - Draw Window Openings
Following the same understanding as similar to doors indicate the window openings on the drawing. Do keep it in mind that cross ventilation is very important. Do check the wind direction for the plot also. Do take rainfall, snowfall & other climatic information under consideration.
S T E P 13 - Use this Layout and draw them using an Online Software
Once you have done this process twice or thrice by using a tracing sheet on top of the the initial floor plan layout then it’s time to evolve & develop the same. The best way is to use any computer generated drawing software which are widely available. Few of these house planning & drawing software’s which we recommended are:
http://www.homestyler.com/designer
http://planner.roomsketcher.com/
http://www.roomle.com/
http://www.sweethome3d.com/index.jsp
http://www.fldraw.com/
S T E P 14 - Place Furniture inside room to get a more realistic actual Idea about Internal space
Once you have transferred the hand drawn layout on to any of the above mentioned online home planning & drawing software, then it’s time to make good use of their furniture library. It quite usual that you will stumble upon an extensive set of furniture blocks of proper scale & size which once placed on the floor plan layout gives a more realistic idea about the floor plan. It may happen that certain furniture may look like that they consume lot of space or they are too little for a large room. This process takes time so do give yourself around 1or 2 hrs each day before you see something more fruitful & a realistic looking floor plan. Drawing a good house floor plan takes time so don’t be in a jiffy. Do remember that few hours of thought today will give you more calculated quality of space for your everyday living and for your investment for the House.
Also a good thinking = A good house plan = Optimal use of your investment to build your house
S T E P 15 - Then render/colors the layout to get at finish look of house
The same software will also help you to colour the floor plans with the floor finish, carpet and other features that you want to consider for the house. This will make the layout look more presentable and readable.