Where do I start with designing my custom home? Are there any good software options? Should I have at least a rough design before meeting with an architect?
Turbo Floor plan is a pretty good software if you wanted to have something drawn out before meeting with an architect. But as long as you have a vision that you can properly describe and pictures to support that vision, a good architect should be able to design the home for you, that is their job.
Hi Miss Jenkins,
You asked a great question! There are a number of factors to consider when designing a custom home. Every city has zoning regulations (rules that limit where and what you’re allowed to build). These regulations play a big role in building a custom home. When you determine your zoning regulations (by calling the County) you will then have a better idea of the size and location of your potential home.
Now that we know where and how big you want your home we can then begin designing the house. There are numerous software options to choose from. Since you will be meeting with an architect I suggest getting an inexpensive, user-friendly design program. This will help you communicate a rough design concept to your architect. It’s a collaborative effort. And your idea will be used by your architect to draw a house that meets the latest codes. Before these drawings are submitted to the City for approval make sure you’re 100% satisfied with the design. Any Post-Approval changes can wind up being a time-consuming and very expensive process.
We hope this helps guide your efforts.
Wishing you the best,
FLEF Construction
MD, DC
To be honest, I wouldn’t bother with a rough design before meeting with an architect. All of the architects I have ever met with say that they actually prefer that homeowners come in with ideas and elements that they like, but not a floor plan. When homeowners bring in a floor plan, it’s actually more difficult because now the architect has to try and incorporate what you think you want, with what you actually want. You are not a home design professional (neither am I). You are going to pay an expert thousands of dollars to create a custom home for you! Let him or her do what they have spent years and years studying and specializing in. You wouldn’t go into a restaurant and give the chef a recipe for him to cook up for you.
Make sure you meet with 3-4 architects and talk with them about what elements you love about certain homes. Talk with them about how you live day to day, how you entertain, your specific lot and it’s views and eyesores etc. After meeting with 3-4 architects (and talking with their past clients) you will get a feel for who really has caught the vision of what you hope to achieve. Then let them do their thing. Once they have the basic floor plan finished you will be able to give your input about things that you like or dislike. But for now, just trust their talents and vision. You will end up with a home that is way better than anything that you could have come up with on our own.
We’ve had clients draw a home on the back of scrap paper and provided it to our architectural team and in no time they’ve got it drawn up in CAD and ready to go! It’s great to have a software program to tinker around with and work through ideas but in the end it may be best to just have a professional architect look & listen to what you want and they should be able to put it together very quickly. The design portion of your home is not a place to try and skimp on money, remember that everything starts with the design and once it’s built it’s much more costly & time consuming to make adjustments to a newly built home.