Sketchup 101

Sketchup 101: Free 3D Home Design Software & The Practical Guide to Designing a Home

Sketchup 101: Now comes the fun part. We are going now to learn to use a fun free online design program to design our first house. hopefully the first of many. Let's start designing your house using the right tools. But, let's answer some popular questions we get all the time before we start. So how can you design your own house online for free?

Can You Design Your Own House Online for Free?

Yes, you can. We are going to teach you how to sketch like an architect with our step-by-step guide from lines to perspective. While teaching you how to sketch like an architect, we are going to learn the techniques used to design homes, and we will use tips from real projects with illustrations. We will also learn how to use a free online design program. That takes us to the next important point: what programs do architects use to design homes?

What Programs Do Architects Use to Design Homes?

Most architects, in 2022, use AutoCAD, Revit, ARCHICAD, Rhino, and SketchUp, to name a few. However, most rely heavily on SketchUp, and similar programs, in the early stages of design for its ease of use and powerful capabilities.

SketchUp is primarily used as a 2D drawing tool for creating floor plans, elevations, and sections. We need to create all these things when we design or house. The SketchUp software speeds up the drawing process greatly.

Free 3D Modeling Software for Beginners: How to Use SketchUp to Design Your Home?

We will use SketchUp as a free house 3D design tool. We are going to design a house using SketchUp exclusively. We chose SketchUp because it's extremely easy to use. It’s a very rich modeling tool, and has a powerful engine.

SketchUp: The Best Free CAD Software of 2022

SketchUp is a 3D software modeling that is used by many industries from interior design to architecture and even complex industrial design. It’s simple and easy yet very powerful and it directly competes with cutting-edge programs like Blender, 3ds Max, Rhino and even AutoCAD.

Trimble, the owner company, offers a free cloud-based version of the software which we are going to use to model or custom house. SketchUp Free, comes with a great selection of tools that are appealing to beginners as we discussed earlier.

What is SketchUp?

Design a Home with Sketchup 2024

SketchUp is a free powerful 3D design software that makes 3D modeling very easy for everyone. It has a robust toolset that empowers you to create any home design you wish with ease. SketchUp has a free 3d modeling version for beginners and professionals alike.

What Are the Advantages of SketchUp?

Although it's extremely easy to use, it has a well-crafted user interface that rivals the most powerful CAD software such AutoCad and Revit. So, imagine the advantages it gives you by making it easy for you to design like a pro architect in a few clicks?

Why SketchUp? And What Are the Different Features and Uses of SketchUp?

Using SketchUp speeds up to design a house will simplify the drawing and designing process for us. You as a beginner can take advantage of this when you plan and visualize your dream home design. It’s the simplest and most accessible 3D modeler you can find for Free. There is a Pro version of SketchUp that provides additional functionality which is designed specifically to the needs of designers and architects of different levels and needs . However, the free version is more than enough for us to design a complete house.  

What Are the Key Features of SketchUp 2024?

SketchUp has ready-to-use Textures, Lighting effects, built-in 3D models capabilities, 2D models, Layer manager tool, and even Animations to visualize the design. It has built-in essential objects such as walls, doors, and windows that we need. SketchUp also offers specific architectural toolsets to support any type of drawing and design that we are going to create. SketchUp has customizable palettes that make it easy to navigate it. The interface palettes can also be added, removed, and rearranged as needed. All of SketchUp commands can be easily found on the program’s large icon.

What Toolbar is Handy When You Are a Beginner and Learning to Draw in SketchUp?

As we mentioned, one of the primary benefits of SketchUp is its ease of use. However, it also has very  rich modeling tools. For example, SketchUp was the first designing software to implant the direct editing push and pull technology that ensures that you can easily generate objects. SketchUp’s prime feature is the 3D designing which beginners should take advantage of.

Why SketchUp and is it Easy to Use?

We chose SketchUp because it’s a powerful home designing software for you that has all the features you need to turn your designs into a reality. Yet, it’s very easy to use. It wouldn’t take you more than a day to learn all the basic stuff we need for our home designing tutorials we have here.

Do Professional Architects Use SketchUp? And Why Do Architects Love SketchUp?

Architects love SketchUp because it saves them great time to convey concepts and ideas.  I help them with a few clicks to convey ideas clearly to clients. 0Almost all architects use SketchUp in one way or another along with other 3D modeling programs. They, however, architects mostly use SketchUp to  easily communicate early-stage designs. For instance, they use it to quickly convey ideas and concepts before they make an significante key architectural decision.

How to Get Started Designing My Own House Entirely Online?

Designing your own house can be a daunting task, but today's apps and tools let you take an active role in building the home of your dreams.

As we agreed already, designing and building your own house is a very rewarding experience.  To be able to have a complete creative control over the design of your home is indeed satisfying for many. With our help and guidance, it's possible to form your own house design and blueprint. We will save time because you will be designing with a professional architect to show you the way. I will help translate your ideas for the house into a reality.

Draw like an Architect - Essential Design Program & Tips

SketchUp 101: Designing Your House with SketchUp 2024

Modeling Software for Beginners: Sketchup Training 101. Learn how to use it like a professional. In this first tutorial step, we are going to cover the basics of how to design a house with SketchUp. My method of helping you mastering SketchUp is different and more effective than regular methods. I'll first go over the very basics, and then I'll teach you the more complex things while designing our first house together.

This is a powerful way of learning as you will be able to remember more things. This method has proven to be an effective method of learning and it's faster than the regular method. It's more fun this way as you will be doing two things at the same time; designing a house and learning a new 3Ds designing program.

SketchUp makes it easy to design your house. SketchUp made 3D modeling very simple. Therefore, the average user can design their own homes if, of course, they understand the basic rules of designing houses as we explained at the beginning.

So starting from the beginning, this is an introductory tutorial to get you familiar with the software before we get to the part where we use this program to design the house you see below.

Modren House: How to design a house with SketchUp?

How to Design a Complete House with SketchUp?

We will use SketchUp to design this house and again we will cover all the rules we explained before as we learn how to design. Remember it's not enough to learn how to use this software. You need to understand the principles and elements of design.

SketchUp is very user-friendly and it's easy. You can start designing immediately after you open up this free online small design software. In no time, I'll teach you how to design impressive floor plans and 3D models.

In this tutorials series, we'll discuss everything you need to know about designing your house, and not only how to use this software.

There will be basic to advanced tutorials which are divided into sections. These tutorial help you get started with the SketchUp and present the fundamental concepts Such as:

How SketchUp works.

• An overview of the concepts and terms used in SketchUp .
• How to perform common tasks in SketchUp.

This lesson provides information on how to get started with the SketchUp tutorials, including of course detailed instructions of the house design in the tutorials.

NOTE: You may find it helpful to print the tutorials to make it easier to reference the instructions as you work in SketchUp.

What is in the Tutorials? How to Design a Custom House Online Using Only SketchUp

• In these tutorials, you learn how to design a house in SketchUp. The house you will design was a product of a design competition in Vancouver, Canada.
• This house will also be used as the model in the more advanced tutorials.
• The tutorials are designed to follow the typical architectural house design workflow.

You complete the following activities:

1. We will establish a site and also lay it out.
2. We will add basic building elements, such as walls, floors, ceilings, and roofs.
3. We will add more detailed elements, such as stairs, kitchens, rooms, and furniture.
4. Refine the building elements (skylights, solar shades, and interior finishes).
5. Create schedules, views, and sheets to document the project.
6. Finally, we will prepare presentation views such as 3D photo realistic renderings and Walk-Through animations.
7. The tutorials are grouped and presented in a recommended order for optimal learning.

This first exercise is provided for anyone new to the SketchUp. This is not an exercise as much as an introduction to the locations and names of the various SketchUp tools and functions that are used throughout the house designing process.

First Step: SketchUp for Web

Best Online Free Design Software Tool

Open SketchUp For Web’s Interface

Before beginning the exercises, open up the completely online free versions of SketchUp. Before 2017, you could still download SketchUp, and use it on the desktop.

You still can download SketchUp 2017 to your desktop. It’s available for free download here. However, we are going to only use the online free version which is much better than the 2017 old version.

The free version is all you need, the paid one has the ability to export SketchUp projects to AutoCad or other 3ds software, but you don't need this, other than that there is no difference between the free and the paid versions.

SketchUp Imperial and Metric Convention:

The exercises in this guide contain both imperial and metric values. This means that when you see an imperial value, a metric value is displayed in square brackets ([ ]) next to it. For Instance: Draw a 12'' [300 mm] line from the end side of the north wall.

People using the metric measurements please follow the metric values in brackets only; all metric measurements are in millimeters.

Note that the imperial and metric values might not be direct conversions, but rather appropriate values for completing either the imperial or metric project.

Getting Started with SketchUp for Web

SketchUp Environment:

So, the first time you use SketchUp web, you need to sign in. When you open the SketchUp website, you see a welcome screen that looks like the image shown here asking you to sign in. Just create a free account and sign in to choose a template and the preferred measurement system.

Getting Started with SketchUp for Web

Note, if you are in a Primary or Secondary school, you can log in as well with a G Suite or Microsoft education account.

After you're signed in, a Welcome to SketchUp dialog box appears. This is where you choose a template that suits your design. We need to set a default template. After we design a few steps, We will show how to open recent files and browse for existing ones.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before, During & After Each Designing Step:

• How do I change the default template in SketchUp?
• What is the default view of SketchUp?
• How do I create a template in SketchUp LayOut?
• How do I get to SketchUp preferences?
• SketchUp  Template Picker

Setting Preferences and  Customizing SketchUp Web Workspace

Choose Architectural Design - Feet and Inches OR Millimeters ( tutorials use both measurements) , SketchUp open and you see a window that looks like the image shown here.

SketchUp Interface 2024

You can later change your setting: open model/preference on the top right > App Setting

Questions to Ask Yourself  Before, During, & After Each Designing Step:

1. How do you use architectural drawings in SketchUp?
2. How do I show measurements in SketchUp?
3. Where is the measurement box in SketchUp?
4. How do you enter feet and inches in SketchUp?
5. Exploring SketchUp User Interface
6. When the SketchUp window is displayed, you should take a minute to view the different sections.

SketchUp Menu System

Located at the left of the window is the standard based menu bar.

This menu system is like any software from which you can access all SketchUp commands. Icons on the Toolbar are buttons for executing common SketchUp commands.

When working through the SketchUp exercises, you will learn how to perform functions such as:

1. Using SketchUp menus.
2. Using the design functions such as components and ready to use blocks (trees, furniture,kitchen appliances etc..)to add things to the home design project.
3. Using the toolbar tools to modify things with Copy and Move tools.
4. Using the Rotate, Scale, Get Current View, and Move tools to change views.
5. The Toolbar in SketchUp. Getting acquainted with the tools: Getting Started

First of all, go to View > Tool Palettes > Large Tool Set to have access to all the tools we will be discussing.

The toolbar contains all of the tools/menu items necessary to become acquainted with SketchUp.

These tools as shown in the images below are:

Select Tool, Make Component, Line Tool, Eraser Tool, Tape Measure Tool, Paint Bucket Tool, Rectangle Tool, Circle Tool, Arc Tool, Push/Pull Tool, Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Offset Tool, Orbit Tool, Pan Tool, Zoom Tool, and Zoom Extents Tool.

This is an image of a list of all the toolbar that contains all of the tools/menu items that you can drag into the SketchUp interface for easy access.

SketchUp Customize Toolbar

SketchUp Select Tool

Not much needed to be explained about the Select tool which is used to specify the entities you will modify when using other tools or commands. However, we will go over this tool again when we talk about advanced techniques because you can do more than just selecting objects with this tool.

Now we will go over the rest in general but we will cover and learn each and every function while we are designing the house. This is the best method to learn a program and to learn to design a house at the same time.

How to Draw and Design House Floor Plans With SketchUp?

SketchUp: Floor Plans

Now let's design a house using SketchUp. In this tutorial we will create the floor. Now remember, we are going to create the floor based on the bubbles diagrams we created for this house. We have already decided previously how many bedrooms, baths, etc. we need for this house. We also decided how big the land is.

Please read carefully all this information if you haven't already as we need all this information to be able to design the house. Once again, I'm going to teach you how to design like an architect and not immature so please bear with me.

Working with SketchUp is different from other 3Ds programs. Usually in programs like Revit and AutoCad, we architects start with creating walls, not floors. However, for the purpose of this tutorial, we will start with the floor

As we studied in the previous lessons, we came up with a complete floor plan by now. Now we are going to take these floor plans and create/design our house with them. We will start with the first floor.

This section includes information about how to learn SketchUp Architecture and the typical architectural workflows and tasks.

The House First Floor Plan:

Home Free Floor Plan

How to Create a New Project in SketchUp?

Don't worry too much about details, and whenever you feel confused, just use the instructional images as guidance. This is not an advanced project. This is only to get you comfortable with the software and design. Each lesson will be accompanied with a file that includes the design up to the point where the lesson ends. So you can always download the file and use it to practice or to use for the following exercises.

■ In this first exercise,we need first to create and name a new project in which you will create the house shown below.

Create a project:

■ Click File menu > Save

■ For File name, enter My First Project, and click Save.

On the menu bar, go to View >> Toolbar >> and check Large Tool Set.

On the menu bar, go to View >> Toolbar >> and check Standard.

Now you will have more shortcuts to tools we are going to use. However, before we start we need to get acquainted with two important tools: The Orbit tool and the Pan tool.

SketchUp Orbit and Pan Tools

We use the Pan tool to either move the view vertically or horizontally. You can activate the Pan tool from either the toolbar or the Tools standard menu.

We are going to use the Orbit tool to rotate the camera about the model from the outside. It can be activated from either the Camera Toolbar (Microsoft Windows), Tool Palette (Mac OS X), or the Camera menu.

We are going to use the Orbit tool heavily when designing and editing our home.

You can always click and hold the scroll wheel on a three-button mouse to temporarily activate the Orbit tool while in any other tool.

Adding Floors to the House in SketchUp 

Now let's create the floors in the house model. To create floors in SketchUp design, we must sketch them first and then apply materials. Because SketchUp is easy, we are actually going to create a wall from the floor as you will see. This is one method of many that you can use to create walls in SketchUp, we will get there in the next tutorial.

Sketch the House Floors in SketchUp:

■ On the Tools Bar, click Line.

As shown on the image, one click near the human figure and drag a line while adjusting it until it becomes red to make sure it's a straight line on the red axis.

Red Axis First Floor Lesson

SketchUp Red Axis First Floor Lesson

Don't second-click, to make the end of the line: directly using the keyboard type 18' (5,486 mm) and then press enter.

Notice on the status bar at the right corner where it says "Length" that the number 18" (or 5,490 mm) appears when you enter 18'. Don't forget to add the feet or mm measurements indicating " ' " if using the Imperial system or " mm " if using the metric system.

■ Tip:

Measurements Toolbar or Length which is located on the right side of the status bar displays dimensional information while you draw. Here you can enter values to manipulate currently selected entities, just we did when we created a line of a specific length.

Continue from the endpoint of the first line and move the cursor up until the line is green this time(the green Axis) to make sure it's a straight line. Enter 9' (2,743 mm) and press Enter as shown in the image.

Green Axis First Floor Lesson

SketchUp Green Axis

Continue from the last endpoint but on the red axis again, enter 18'(5,486 mm)and press Enter. Keep going from the last endpoint but on the green axis again and enter 50' (15,240 mm) and hit Enter.

Now again continue from the last endpoint and draw a line on the red axis : drag the line from the last point until you see a dotted green line that connects the new line with the second 18'(5,486 mm)line as shown.

One click with the mouse when you see the green line and/or when it says "From Point". This is called the "From Point" method and it's a faster method to draw another 18'(5,486 mm) line horizontally.

How to Design and Draw the First Floor of the House with SketchUp?

SketchUp First Floor Lesson 4

Go up again and drag a line from the last endpoint but on the green axis; enter 6' (1,828 mm)and press Enter.

Using the "From Point" method, draw a line that ends with the very first endpoint we created. If the dotted green line does not appear, hover with the cursor over the very first endpoint and go back to draw a horizontal line, this time it should appear. Finally, connect the last endpoint with the very first one to have the enclosed shape as shown.

SketchUp First Floor Lesson Image 4:

Shape using SketchUp 8:

You can download the SketchUp File that contain this shape from the list at the end named "SketchUp First Floor Lesson 1"

1. Sketchup Walls
2. How to Use Sketchup To Add Walls to Our Home Floor Plan

Sketchup Walls; Draw walls on the lower level:

Introduction:

We will learn how to use Offset to create walls that look thick. We will learn how to do the basics first such as activating the Offset tool by choosing one of the different methods to create walls using the push/pulling method.

We are first going to make a floor-plan with wall thickness and then push/pull up the walls. We will assign precise values by typing them and hitting enter. We will discuss in detail the push/pull tool. Double clicking with the tool onto another face will extrude it to the same height which makes it really easy to create walls.

Adding Exterior Walls in the Lower Level House Plan:

We so far have learned how to use the line tool. Now we are going to use the Offset tool.

• SketchUp Offset Tool
• SketchUp Tool Offset

The Offset Tool Introduction:

We are going to use the Offset tool to create copies of lines and faces. We can use this tool to offset edges of faces either inside or outside of the original face.

Now activate the Offset tool from the tool Palette (Mac OS X), the Modification Toolbar (Microsoft Windows) or from the Tools menu, or just use the keyboard shortcut" F ".

Once the Offset tool is activated, place it inside the shape that we just created, and click the left side mouse button and hold it, don't release it yet. While still holding, enter 8" (200 mm) using the keyboard and press enter. Then release the mouse.

External wall of the house

We just established the initial external wall of the house. We will later edit it, but for now we are just using a general external wall thickness (8")or (200 millimeters). Now we are going to create the internal walls of the house.

Draw the Interior Walls in the Lower Level House Plan :

From the top menu, go to Camera >> Standard View >> and choose " Top". Use the Pan Tool and/or The Orbit Tool to adjust the screen as you see fit.

Activate the Line Tool, and starting from the third endpoint that we have already created, draw a line on the green axis starting from the interior line; the one we created with the offset tool, enter 25' (7620 mm).

Tip:

Hover with the cursor over the endpoint , when the tip of the pointer turns to green dot, one click with the mouse to start a line.

With the Line tool still active, move the mouse to the right side until it's red, enter 4' (1220 mm) and press Enter. Move the mouse downward and enter 4' (1220 mm) and press Enter. Finally, close the shape by connecting to the 25' (7620 mm) interior wall as shown. Make sure the line turns to red before you enclose the shape.

Interior Wall

Activate the Line Tool, hover with mouse over the right side of the square we just created until it says " Midpoint" , one click and connect it to the eastern exterior wall (only up to the interior line). Again make sure it turns to red before you connect it.

Now we are going to need to use another new tool: The Tape Measure or the Measurement Tool. The Tape Measure tool is used to measure distances between two points.

SketchUp Tape Measure tool

SketchUp Tape Measure

Select the Tape Measure tool, the cursor changes to a tape measure. Click anywhere at the Right-Northern wall to make it as a starting point. Use the inference tool tip to make sure you click on the exact point.

Move the cursor in the downward direction. Using the keyboard enter 18' and press Enter. A temporary measuring tape line will stretch out from the northern wall.

The Tape Measure Tool in Action

Tip:

• The Tape Measure tool will change color to match axes colors when it is parallel to any axes.

In the main drawing area of SketchUp, click the right endpoint of the right wall where it meets with the measurement line to make it the wall start point.
Move the cursor to the left, enter 11'[279mm], and press ENTER.
Move the cursor up, and select the intersection with the extension of the north wall.
Using SketchUp Eraser Tool:

Eraser in SketchUp 

SketchUp Eraser Tool:

Select the Eraser tool or Type "E". Click on the measurement line entity we created as a reference to erase it as we don't need it anymore.

Tips: you can delete several objects at once by holding down the mouse button and dragging it over several objects to be erased. Once you release the mouse button, All selected items will be erased. You can also instead of erasing lines, hide them. Simply, activate the Eraser tool then press and hold the Shift key and click on objects to hide them.

Type the letter T on your keyboard, the cursor changes to a tape measure. Click anywhere at the Right-Northern wall between the garage and the study area (see the picture of the final floor plan below ) to make it as a starting point.Make sure you make the surface of the external wall from the INSIDE your starting point.

Move the cursor to the left direction. Using the keyboard enter 8' and press Enter. A temporary measuring tape point, not a line this time, will stretch out from the northern wall. Use this point as a reference where you draw a line to make the downstairs bathroom boundary. Refer to the final floor plan and the attached copy of the completed work so far if you are confused.

Final Floor Plan Blueprints

Creating Basic Interior Walls in SketchUp:

Keep in mind that we are designing the basic internal walls. There is no insulation yet. Depending on the building code set by your country or state/province, residential housing is usually 2x4 construction with 1/2 plywood on the outside, 1/2 inch drywall on the inside, plus any additional siding.

We are looking at thickness of anywhere from 4.5" to 5,5" inches total and sometimes more or even less, it all depends. For example, there are 1 and 2 hour rated walls which lead to different thickness. And also, sound-proof walls necessarily means thicker walls etc..it all depends.

Activate the Offset tool Again. Once the Offset tool is activated, place it inside the shape that we just created in the southeast side, and click the left side mouse button and hold it, don't release it yet. While still holding, enter 3.5" (88 mm) using the keyboard and press enter. Only then release the mouse.

Now we have a problem, we have created an internal wall that is directly next to the external wall in the south side of the house. That's absolutely not necessary. Therefore, using the Eraser tool, delete the internal line inside the garage and then just connect the lines to the external wall from the inside.

Do the same using the same measurement to create the other renaming shapes. Erase any extra internal walls that are directly next to the external walls. Erase any small lines that block some of the internals and external walls so that all walls (external and internals are connected).

Using the skills you have learned so far, make sure you get the same results as in the picture using any method you like when creating walls. You can use the offset tool but you may have to delete some lines and draw them manually sometimes. Alternatively, you can just use the tool "line "along with the measurement tool to create them manually. Study closely the picture attached if confused.

Use the attached file of the completed exercises so far if you have to. Don't worry if you can't figure out something now, you will eventually get it as we go along with our tutorials. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. As a matter of fact, I didn't explain the last part in detail on purpose because I want you to make mistakes. Making mistakes is a good thing as it really helps you to learn.

Finally, a tip, I think you will need, if you want to draw 2 lines that are not connected, click on the line sign after you draw the first one to break off the connection.

Make sure you master the " reference point " technique. It's extremely important, and it makes your jobs much much easier. Skecthup will tell you when you've reached the endpoint of another line. Another good tip for you: if you're trying to draw connected lines, click only on the called-out green endpoints when it "snaps to" them. You can easily find the exact middle of a line by hovering over that approximate location and then just watch for a blue dot to appear, that would be your midpoint.

If you have questions, ask them in the public forum so everyone can benefit.

Basic SketchUp Interior Walls:

This next step may be your very first experience in the 3D design world. Here is where the fun begins. This tutorial is about erecting the walls directly in 3D.

Now that we've created our floor plan in SketchUp, It's time to erect walls.

Introducing the Powerful SketchUp Push/Pull tool:

The Push/Pull tool is the most popular tool used in SketchUp; personally it's my favorite tool, and I'm positive you will love it as well. We are going to use the Push/Pull tool to push and pull Face entities to increase or decrease the volume of a certain face.

To have a better handling angle when you move from section to another on the design, don't forget to activate the Orbit tool to change the orientation of design if you have to.

• Activate the Push/Pull tool, or just use the Keyboard Shortcut the letter " P ".
• Hover with the Push/Pull tool over the face of any wall. Get closer using the Zoom tool if you can't clearly see what you are doing. Click once to engage the Push/Pull.

Most walls are at least 8 feet high, But we are going to make out lower level walls 10 feet high. It's just much better, and gives the house a way better looking and it's also more practical.

• Hover with the mouse over the face of the wall. Click once to engage the Push/Pull, and type 10' then release the mouse...Wolla !! Look at that. How easy was that?

Erecting the Walls in SketchUp

• :Home Design in SketchUp Erecting the Walls
• Sketchup Doors and Windows
• SketchUp interface dynamic components doors windows

Installing and Adding the House’s Doors & Windows in to a Floor Plan in SketchUp
Before we create the first level roof, we are going to add windows and doors. We are going now to learn how to use the Components window.

We must first import Components that contain doors and windows from the Google 3D Warehouse. This is a bit frustrating as I remember with earlier versions of SketchUp, those Components were already installed and ready to use out of the box with SketchUp. However, it's really easy to install them.

Select Window > Components. When the Component Browser is displayed, click the Select tab where it shows a small house icon.

Click on "Architecture" under Favorite. Click on DC Doors and Windows. Choose Swinging Door (Number 3 from the right). From the Components window, you'll select the folder containing the desired architectural element.

To add windows,in Components under Architecture, choose windows, the fourth from the left. You simply drag a window onto the face of a wall.

However, we must create an accurate line up. Everything in architecture must be done in detail. You must measure everything. Nothing is left for a chance as later on you have to make a list of all these details for other people who are going to build your home such as engineers and builders. We will use the Tape Measure tool to create precise indication markers.

We will learn how to create a group to secure our design.

Alternatively, there is a way to save components on a local file instead of installing them every time from the warehouse. Simply type Doors on the search bar then click the details button (the arrow next to the search icon). Click on "Save as a local collection".

Navigate to the folder where you'd like to save the components. After you save it, the components listed in the search results will be saved to your folder. The same method can be used to add windows to our model.

Because Sketchup isn't a very advanced designing software, (powerful yes, easy yes, advanced no ! ) we must do some tweaking to make it work for us. Before adding our doors, we are going to make openings on the walls so the doors fit perfectly. On other softwares used by architects such as Revit or AutoCad, openings are made automatically simply when you place them on a wall. These programs, however, are extremely hard to learn for normal people and they are very expensive while Sketchup is free.

Remember that many many architects actually use SketchUp to generate ideas before finalizing the design using smarter and more advanced softwares. I know some architects that Sketchp is the only program they use, and they make it work for them.

To Be Continued... (This Course Will Soon Reach Its Exciting Conclusion in 2023!)

But fret not, my eager learner! We're not leaving you hanging. We are committed to delivering the remaining chapters of this fantastic course. So, buckle up and get ready to dive into the upcoming content. You won't want to miss it!

Make sure to stay tuned and keep checking back for the thrilling conclusion of this epic Sketchup Tutorial. We promise it will be worth the wait. Your journey to mastering Sketchup is about to reach new heights, and we can't wait to guide you through it.

So, hold on tight, sharpen your virtual pencils, and prepare for the grand finale. More invaluable knowledge and exciting tips are just around the corner. Get ready to level up your Sketchup skills and become the ultimate design guru!

Stay tuned, my friend. The adventure continues soon!

IV.Developing the Modern House Drawings Design

Developing the House Architectural Design

This is the fourth phase of the design process; things such as dimensions are added to the drawings. At this phase, everything must be organized and specified and easily read by professionals such as engineers, contractors, builders, and everyone else involved in the design-build process of your house. I'll help you develop your scheme/concept into a completely dimensioned drawing.

By now, we will have a clear conceptual design. Our scheme will already be chosen. We will also decide on a clear theme. Every door and window will be on the right place and documented and specified clearly. Every door and window will also contain detailed information on the document sheet such as the size, fire rate, and make.

You don't have to pay a professional to draw a "Site Plan" of your property, including elevations and sections, I'll show you how to do it by yourself.

Then I'll show you the process of shaping up the prints. Still yet, there are more important duties involved in managing your dream home.

V.The House Construction Documents

Preparing the House Construction Documents

Final Stage: how to make construction documents, construction proposals, specification documents and draft plans.

This is the last phase which architects call "Construction Document Phase". At this stage of the architectural design process, the focus shifts from design to communicating the design and providing all information necessary for construction.

You will design your first draft plans which will be a fully detailed set of plans that you will use to build your house, or for the city approval and construction workers to use to build your home.Here are some examples of construction documents that we are going to learn how to make later on.

Construction Document, Elevation Plan

House Sections:

• House Sections Plans
• House Site Plan
• First Level Floor Plan of a House
• Seond Level Floor Plan

You will also find details about the following important subjects that you need to know at this phase when we finish designing the house:

• House Plans
• Open Floor Plans
• Construction Proposal
• Specification Document
• Construction Terms
• AIA Document
• Construction Agreement
• Construction Checklist
• Construction Contracting
• Construction Example
• Construction Procurement
• Construction Process
• Construction Forms
• Construction Planning
• Construction Managers
• Construction Contractors
• Construction Services
• Document Template
• Plans and Designs
• Houses Plans and Designs

As we discussed earlier, a house plan is simply a set of construction drawings or blueprints that are made for people involved in the design and build process of a house or a building. Those documents are usually made by an architect for civil engineers, structural engineers, plumbers, contractors, builders. and owners.

On those blueprints all aspects of design are defined; construction specifications such as dimensions, materials, layouts, installation methods and techniques are detailed.

Usually you will find on the drawing set detailed information  about spaces and rooms. open floor-plans, and references. These construction drawings usually consist of lines and symbols.

The information provided in this series set of blueprints drawings are:

Site Plans Detail
Those plans contain information about the exact location of a home on the property and its surrounding. It is an overview of the whole construction site. It shows the house and its boundaries a lot.

Site plans are made counseling the building code and that depends on the country where the house will be built. For example, in Canada: the National Building Code of Canada is the body that is responsible for making the set of rules called the Building Code. In the Canadian version of the building code, Part 9 is the section that deals with Housing and Small Buildings.

The house drawing must define and show in detail the location of things such as utility services, setback requirements, easements, location of driveways and walkways.

So, the blueprint of the floor plan is an overhead view of the completed house after it has been designed by an architect or a designer.

We must use parallel lines that, for instance, scale the width of walls and windows. Dimensions must be drawn between the walls to specify room sizes and wall lengths.

In the floor plans, we will also indicate all spaces such as rooms, doors and windows. Also, any built-in elements, such as plumbing fixtures and cabinets, water heaters and furnaces, etc must be indicated. We then have to add a lot of notes to specify finishes, construction methods, or symbols for electrical items.

House Design Elevations: Normal House Front Elevation Designs
Elevations represent the faces of houses. Architectural Elevations are the vertical distance between reference points.They are drawn to scale as a non-perspective view of the house designs. Usually elevation plans are taken of the front, rear and both side elevations. Details in the elevations include ridge heights, exterior finishes, roof pitches, the positioning of the final fall of the land and many other details.

How to Design the House Front?

We are going to design our modern house front elevation which is part of the home exterior wall design. The goal is to get a modern house design front.

House Sections:

A section is a cut through the design. The position of these cut through is marked on the floor plan. Sections are important as they describe how the building will be constructed. Also,they are made to show in detail the internal finishes such as ceiling height, ceiling type (flat or vault), and window and door dimensions.

In general the set of architectural drawings include:

Foundation Plan: Detailed information about foundation plan and its dimensions and locations for footings.
Framing plan: Detailed information about walls and sizes of the lumber to be used - usually 2x4 or 2x6.
Sub-floor Plan: Detailed plan that gives details of how the Sub-floor will be constructed and how services will be arranged.
Roof plans: It includes the type, pitch and framing of the roof plan.
Interior Elevation Drawings: This is detailed information about the interior walls.
Detail Drawings: These drawings include details about things such as built-in shelving, moldings, and columns.
Schedules for elements such as windows and doors.

Structural layouts.

Electrical and Telecom Drawings: This is to show every location of every outlet, switches and fixtures, etc. Also information about which switches operate which lights, and where the electric lines should be run is included.

Plumbing Schematic Drawing: Information about plumbing fixtures and piping.

Lines and symbols

The following lines and symbols are used in buildings plans to explain the relationship between objects:

• Dimension lines:they are solid lines with a mark at either end; where spaces between the two marks equals the distance noted next to the line.
• Wall : Architects use thick solid lines to indicate walls.
  Partial height wall: low wall that is not connected to the ceiling.
• Thin solid lines: architects use these lines for built-in structures such as cabinets and plumbing fixtures.
• Thin dotted lines: we architects use those dotted lines to indicate overhead features. For example we can use dotted then lines to indicate wall cabinets in a kitchen.
• North arrow: obviously it's important to mark with north in order to be able to read any map including the architectural site plan of a house.
• Doors Signs and Types: We have many different kinds of doors that we use, and we must indicate clearly on the map what kind of door we are using. Doors types include: door swing, Bifold doors, Passage(hinged) doors, and Sliding glass doors.

There are also many different kinds of windows and each space in a house has a specific window that is designed for that specific space.

There are also signs that are used in the map to indicate toilets, bathtub, shower, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, kitchen range, refrigerator, washer/dryer, tree, shrub.

House Spaces and Rooms:

Depending on the size and type of house, the house plan of any house should include some of the following features:

Outdoor spaces such as Patios and a roofless inner courtyards, and terrace.

• Garages
• Dining Rooms/Spaces
• Porch
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Kitchens
• Breakfast nooks
• Living rooms
• Fireplaces
• Basements
• Home offices
• Closets
• Attics
• Hallways, Entryways, Lobbies
• Bonus rooms such as studies, libraries, home cinemas, and many other internal spaces.

Open House Plans

In modern home designs open floor plans are popular because it makes entertaining family and guests fun and easier. Many people prefer a home design that combines the kitchen and living room. They prefer spaces that are open and appear larger. To create an open floor plan, simply combine the living room with the kitchen and sometimes even with the study area. Some people even prefer completely wild open spaces where there are no internal walls at all.

I believe this is not a very good idea as sometimes internal walls are important for many reasons. For example, bedrooms should always have walls to control sound. I strongly recommend that you keep the study area and bedrooms in their own enclosed space to provide a quiet place for such activities.

Combining the kitchen and the living room gives you a spacious feeling and it makes the house look modern.

This kind of design offers a flexibility that allows you to change your home around easily. For example you can add movable walls to divide spaces or to provide privacy whenever you need to. This way, you will be able to change around your house design and look and feel in a matter of seconds. You will never feel bored with your house. Also,it's much cheaper to design a house using the open floor concept.

Open House Concept:

Completely Open House Plan Concept:

Modern Living Interior Design Open Concept

Other Related Links:

• Home Design Tools and Softwares
• Free Home Design Software
• Architectural Design Media
• Interior and Exterior Architecture Design Courses
• Stone House Design
• Home Exterior Design