ᐅ Looking for house design software suitable for building on a sloped site

Hello everyone

I am currently looking for suitable software that allows me to redraw our existing house and then make modifications. The basement will remain, but the rest is going to be demolished and rebuilt. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have already purchased Architect 3D Silver, but it does not allow drawing a slope. I do not want to spend more than 50€.

Best regards
Susi_90

What exactly do you want to do? Is it more about the floor plans or the exterior? You probably won’t find an all-inclusive package with 3D floor plans, furnishing, and a digital terrain model within your budget. Why else would professionals invest in software that costs five figures?

With a lot of patience and willingness to learn, you can achieve results using open-source tools like Inkscape, Blender, SketchUp, and others.

Maybe you can also design the house with Architekt 3D Silver and import it into the terrain model in SketchUp, or vice versa.

I have also seen impressive recreations in Sims and Minecraft.

For a single project, it’s rarely worth the effort to learn several complex programs; in that case, it’s better to use paper and pencil.

Actually, I’m interested in both—the exterior layout including the garage and so on, as well as the floor plans. But if you say that is very complex and, above all, time-consuming, I’ll focus on the floor plans first. That definitely works with Architect 3D. Or is SketchUp easier to learn for this kind of project, especially if I also want to model the slope?

Thanks & best regards
Susi_90

Focus on the floor plans!
If you find it hard to visualize the slope, use Lego bricks to recreate the terrain and then fit the house as a building block.
Pencil sketches on graph paper can also help for a side view of the terrain.

Susi_90 schrieb:
in which I can trace our existing house and then modify it. The basement will remain, and the rest will be demolished and rebuilt.

Putting the software aside and focusing on the house itself: since the basement is going to stay anyway, it’s not that crucial exactly where the slope line runs in relation to the basement. I would just draw the entire house, not only the parts visible above ground. Think of the foundation slab as the reference level. For orientation, you could color the walls located underground in brown.

Without any improvisation or imagination, b) you won’t stay within budget anyway, which a) isn’t really a big loss. Professional software is not only financially excessive for non-experts but also demanding in terms of the time needed to master its features. For anyone who only wants to renovate or rebuild their own house, investing time in learning such software is usually not proportionate to the ease of work or other benefits it might bring.

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Susi_90 schrieb:
Or is SketchUp easier to learn for a case like this, especially if I could also model the slope there?

Unfortunately, I can’t answer that because I’m not familiar with Architekt 3D. I installed SketchUp once and managed to create some basic models following a few tutorials, but then gave up due to lack of a concrete project and time/motivation.
However, I do believe you can achieve your goal with SketchUp if you are willing to spend some time watching and reading tutorials and experimenting. Just don’t expect to invite your friends on a virtual walkthrough of your new house after only one week.