5 Easy Ways To Read Architectural Floor Plans

You may not read blueprints very often in the course of your life, but you can use architectural floor plans when you are building your dream home, you add on to your home or business is expanding. You need not have an architectural degree to read the blueprints, and this article explores simple ways to read floor plans. You will not understand every little part of the plan, but you can interpret the blueprints to learn what the space will look like when it is completed.

  #1: Which Floor Are You On?

 You cannot read the floor plan or blueprint without knowing which floor you are looking at. Check which floor you are reading, and check on the layout of the floor as it relates to its purpose. Read a floor plan with a clear understanding of which floor you see, and imagine what the floor will look like when it is completed. Reading the blueprint without any sort of reference leaves you wondering what you just saw.

#2: How Large Are The Rooms?

 Each room and door is measured on the blueprint. Blueprints are drawn to scale, and each wall has a measurement you can check for yourself. You can see how large a certain room is, and you can compare the size of each door in the building. Small doors are suitable for closets, but exterior doors and office doors must be larger. You may catch problems in the layout if the doors are too small. You can make recommendations to the architect for the size of each room, and you will know what you are doing when you talk with the architect about the project.

   

  #3: Which Way Does The Building Face?

The blueprints you see have cardinal directions printed on the faces of the building. You must have a clear understanding of which direction every wall faces, and you must understand where sunlight will come into the building. The direction that light hits the building could dramatically impact your operations, and you may choose to add solar panels based on the direction the building faces. You get all this information from the blueprint on the first reading, and you may request changes before the project is too far along.

#4: How Are Plumbing And Electrical Fittings Completed?

Plumbing and electrical fittings are noted in the blueprint, and you can see where you will have access to water or electricity in your building. The blueprint shows you how many outlets are to be in every room, where the plumbing fixtures will be located and where the plumbing will enter the building.

 

You may request more fixtures in certain rooms, and you may subtract fixtures or fittings from other rooms in the building. You will be more pleased with the building or home you commission when you know that it will be more functional. Access to electricity helps you use modern technology, and extra plumbing fixtures make the building more appealing.

#5: Ask Questions

All the fine details on a blueprint may seem unintelligible to you, and you must ask your architect to explain confusing parts of the blueprint. You will learn more about the specific design of the building, and you will not go into construction with questions about the project. Your architect is more than happy to answer your questions. Ask your architect to see the blueprint for your next project, and read carefully. There are many items you can glean from the blueprints on your own, and you may collaborate with your architect. Any extra questions can be answered before construction on the building begins.

So You Want to Build a Custom Home? 7 Steps to Create Your Dream Home

If you are looking to build your first dream home, there is no need to worry. Building a custom home from scratch may seem scary at first but there is a process that works (99.9% of the time) and many people just like you have done it. The following are a few steps that you should follow with your architect for creating your dream home.

 

1) Location and Feasibility Study

A feasibility study involves making site considerations and determining the design requirements of your dream home and considering your home's configuration. Work with your architect to perform a feasibility study to make sure he or she creates a home plan that meets your needs and your local government requirements.

2) Preliminary Design

An architect will craft a design that fits your needs as well as your site plan. The architect will provide you with a variety of ideas to assist you personalize your home and ensure your living quarters are just like you wanted. If you need a detailed scale model, your architect will create one that incorporates your home design in 3D. The there are several home plans here that you can get ideas from.

3) Budget and Contract

First, decide how much you want to spend to build your new home and have your architect design a home plan according to your budget. After you have decided what plan works for you, a detailed SOW will be made reflecting what you have specified.

4) Construction Drawings

Your architect will create the final draft of your home according to your requirements and that of the local government building permit requirements. In this phase, your architect will conduct a vegetation survey; provide a salvage report that includes grading, national open space requirements, drainage etc.

5) Owner's Selection

During this time of constructing your dream home, you will be required to decide on building materials: flooring, lighting, appliances, colors and other building material details of your home.

6) Construction

After all the phases have been completed, a home contractor will build your home like you imagined it. Your home should be constructed on time and within your budget. Demand constant communication between you and the contractors to ensure that your home is built according to plan. Always have a third party inspect the construction phases to make sure the contractor(s) is doing what they suppose to do such as quality of work.

 Image source: Houzz

7) Completion

When your home is complete, the next thing is for you to move in but before that, do an inspection first! Hire a professional home inspector to do a final inspection before accepting the final product. After you have moved in to your new home, your contractor should work with you to assist you benefit from the features of your home such as how to use the new features in your new home: lighting, air controls, main water, etc., and to also advice you on how to preserve and maintain the beauty of your home.

Next steps

Click here to get home design ideas or choose already made house plan that fits your needs and let’s build your dream home together.

 Image source: Houzz

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What Color Should You Paint Your Current or Future House?

The most popular colors for homes in tropical environments include vivid reds, muted blues, gray-toned greens, and bright yellows. Painting with green paints that are lower in gas emissions are also trending because they are helpful to the environment. 

Experts offer several suggestions about the best way to choose the right color for new and existing homes. Depending on whether you are trying to blend in with the neighbors should be one of the things that drive the color selection.

Community fit

People who live near other homes or those who are planning to build in a close-knit community might want to consider colors that are muted to help integrate their home in a seamless manner. Choosing colors that are bright or those that do not work well with the surrounding home colors will make the home stand out in an unattractive way.

It can also cause problems with homeowners associations (if any) and the atmosphere of the community because it makes the owners seem like they are not team players. Bold colors can always be toned down with grays and whites to give the color choice the owner wants while still fitting into the neighborhood.

Heat reduction

Keeping the heat from the sun from raising the temperature on the inside of a home is vital in warm, humid climates like those in tropical areas. You can easily find companies in your local market that offer customers a variety of colors in environmentally-friendly paints.

There are many benefits of using this type of paint for a home including reducing allergens if used indoors. Many of the green paint options come in lighter colors like ecru, coastal blue, and pineapple yellow that help reflect sunlight to keep the interior of homes cooler in warm temperatures.

Newest color trends

Shades of greens and blues are timeless choices that will fit in for years to come. Guacamole, mint green, moss, robin's egg blue, cobalt, and periwinkle are favorite exterior paint choices. For those wanting something a little bolder, reds in watermelon, passion fruit, geranium, and berry are attractive selections. Yellows in goldenrod, daffodil, and sunflower work well for interiors and exteriors.

Any of the colors mentioned above is easily lightened to give homeowners the right shade for their home. Experts suggest that people who are not planning to paint for several years and those who are trying to fit into the neighborhood should consider shades of white, tan, blue, and green because these colors often fit into several color palettes. These colors are often chosen because they fit into any style or season.

Choosing the right color should reflect the needs of the family including environmentally safe options and heat-reducing tones. Bright pops of color on the trim, shutters, doors, and outdoor furniture can give homeowners the bold statements they prefer without raising the electric bill because the air conditioner is running on maximum all summer long.