Replies

1. 
   bobl_ | May 03, 2001 03:12pm | #1

   *
   Do a search on this site and go over to http://www.JLConline.com and do a search there. Lots of threads on the subject.

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   Mike_Smith | May 03, 2001 03:33pm | #2

   *go to a blueprint shop..... or even an office supply ..buy a 3cornered scale... a set of triangles, a drafting board... and some mech. pencils...and a book on architectural graphic...on a one-off design... you'll be way ahead of the game...the time you spend frustrating yourself with selecting a program, buying it and learning it are better spent drawing....a copy of Architectural Graphic Standards is worth more than any inexpensive CAd program..b but hey, whadda i no ?

1. 
   Tim_Kline | May 04, 2001 12:21am | #3

   *b WBA At Your ServiceMike, You make a great point here steering a novice toward pencil and paper. In a search on amazon.com, Architectural Graphic Standards shows a list of about 30 different books and CD's some out of print and many wildly expensive. Ramsey sure is a popular name there. Do you have a specific title and author and what should one expect to pay for a copy of this book ? thanksTim

1. 
   Nick_Pitz | May 04, 2001 12:48am | #4

   *Mike makes a good point, but if you're determined to use CAD, I would recommend AutoCad LT. It is fairly inexpensive. It is not "design" software, but it is good drafting software. One advantage to either drawing by hand or using a basic drafting program is it forces you to think through the process rather than just plopping things into a drawing.

1. 
   John_Sprung | May 04, 2001 01:06am | #5

   *I did my whole place using TurboCad. If I had it to do over, I'd probably go with AutoCad LT, which you can get for about $580.TurboCad is buggy. I'm using version 5.0 pro, which is the last one that was stable enough to install. I have 6.0 pro, but it screws up the DLL's so much that it's unusable. They're up to 7.0 now. With the cheap programs, first you learn to work around their drawing bugs. For instance, with TCad, you can use multiple layers, or you can use groups, but God help you if you try to use both at once.Then when you think it's all done, you have to convert to an AutoCad file to take it to the plotting service, and you find out about the next big crop of bugs. In my case, everything worked fine except for dashed lines, hatching, dimensions, and text. Basically, straight lines and arcs were the only things that worked right. So, it took two trips to Ford Graphics to get the big prints that B&S wants. I re-made all the dashed lines, hatching, and dimensions "by hand" as collections of simple lines, and just lived with the text and numbers getting converted to a crappy font.Bottom line, if you do manage to build a house, you'll end up spending more time with your CAD program than you can possibly imagine. So spend the bucks to get something good the first time. I sure wish I'd done it that way.-- J.S.

2. 
   Bill_Hartmann | May 04, 2001 01:48am | #6

   *JohnYou don't have to convert it plot it. Find out what device that they are using and then install that driver and select to save the output to disk.

3. 
   Johnnie_Browne | May 04, 2001 03:36am | #7

   *I went this route trying to design/build my house. I finally just ending up looking at other prints that I could change to my liking. That way the plumbing,electrical,hvac will work out to code.

4. 
   Mike_Smith | May 04, 2001 05:16am | #8

   *Tim... i'm still working with the 6th and 7th editions...but on Amazon it lookslike there is a student version which would be an excellent choice for about $95..the Regular edition runs $250...but you'll keep and use this your entire career...here's the Amazon link...http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471348171/o/qid=988945880/sr=2-3/002-8228105-3963206

5. 
   John_Sprung | May 04, 2001 08:19pm | #9

   *> You don't have to convert it plot it. Find out what device that they are using and then install that driver and select to save the output to disk. They're using an oce 9800. Even if I had drivers for it, it wouldn't work. The oce is a pen plotter. AutoCad deals with pens, but TurboCad never heard of pens. They have to open my converted file and then do a pen assignment before they can plot it. This costs an extra $7 per session.It does do nice 8-1/2 x 11's on an HP Laser Jet, though.-- J.S.

2. 
   guy_ak | May 04, 2001 08:21pm | #10

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   I am trying to design my house which I plan to build mostly myself. I've tried a couple of "Home Owner" type design software (typical price ~$50) and I am somewhat disappointed with both. I started looking for more "Professional" type software, but the cheapest is around $1000! Is is really the case that there isn't anything in between, like a "Semi-Pro" type software? Anyone out there with some ideas? Would anyone know of something in the $400-$500 range.

   Thanks, Guy