ᐅ Software for Residential Building Design

I planned and created everything using Autodesk Inventor. Inventor is available for free to "students" (or anyone who claims to be a student), although the software adds a watermark on every drawing, which doesn’t really matter. Inventor is professional 3D CAD software, and the required skills are not something you pick up casually. If you have some experience with it, a CAD program obviously outperforms any hobby-level home design software by far. I modeled all the furniture in detail and can pinpoint the available space down to the millimeter. I can also generate drawings directly from the 3D models, which I can send to someone right away. I can move my models around inside the rooms and later measure what size certain elements can have, or determine the exact dimensions I want to have.

turhanet schrieb:
I’d like to join in here—what can you recommend regarding planning basics?

-> Definitely check out this post ;-)
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-bitte-vor-thread-erstellung-lesen.11714/

and this one:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/die-grundrissplanung-das-haus-fuers-leben-entwerfen.11693/

Also, feel free to browse through other floor plans in the forum, including older ones...
(YPG has also created a thread on this topic ;-) https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/hausentwuerfe-ich-versteh-euch-zukuenftige-bauherren-nicht.13296/)

@Wastl What is the downside of creating your own design?

We have specific ideas and also a plot of land. I want to create a design and gather opinions and suggestions before consulting an architect. Is this approach really wrong?

Be prepared for the first 40 times not to be good 😀 unless you’re a natural talent (which some say exists). Always post it properly and have it reviewed. It’s a lengthy process, but it can turn out really well.

There are just so many things to consider... rooms, technology, materials, interior and exterior appearance, lighting, wiring, colors, legal aspects, costs, structural engineering, trends, your needs...

I bought the software cadvilla several years ago for our condominium and have since upgraded to the Pro version. During the house construction, we had a good proposal from an architect, which was then planned in more detail. For fun, I recreated this plan myself in cadvilla.

The advantage is that you can virtually "walk" through the rooms, place furniture, and move walls to identify potential issues and verify your own requirements without having to go through 25 iterations with the architect. For a new build, the house is initially hard for a layperson to grasp because it’s difficult to imagine how it will look just from the floor plan. Programs like this are really helpful for that.

The fact is: it takes time and you need to enjoy it, otherwise it’s not worthwhile.

The basis of our planning is the floor plan of a model house that we really liked. Of course, we need to make some modifications. This way, we already have a clear idea of how our house might look.