# Is there a simple program to draw plans?



## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

I need to build a few small buildings (tool shed, goat house, chicken coop, etc) and I like to have plans to go buy. I usually just do the math and draw them out on graph paper its a pain to make changes so I was wondering.

Is there a simple program out there which will let you design and draw plans then print them out? Something that knows that a 2X4 isn't actually 2X4 and 3/4" plywood isn't so when you want to make something 8' wide it will automatic tell you how long to cut the 2X4 to go between the other 2X4s with the 3/4" ply on the outside (which is 87 9/16 if my math is correct). 

And better yet tell you what angle to cut.


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## BohemianWaxwing (Sep 13, 2014)

I'm thinking expecting it to do any of the calculations for you is probably moving beyond the realm of "simple" program, but others may correct me there. 

I've had good luck with the free version of Google Sketchup when I was doing a lot of this kind of simple design/build work. It helps to see a project in 3-D and from multiple angles. You do have to know lumber dimensions, but that being said, you can build yourself some templates of standard lumber and copy and paste those into the design as you need them if you like. It will allow you to measure angles and dimensions on the finished design if you want to for a printout.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I am interested in the answer also , but I find it much easier to draw with t-square and a table , but then again when I took drafting in high school that is how we did it so that is what I learned 

my brother draws in auto cad because when he got to college that is what they used 

but that was a decade later


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I used this one when I was designing a simple house, but I didn't have to have precise measurements of wall thicknesses -- just a guesstimate. 
http://free-house-plan-software.com/

Smartdraw is also pretty good but it is not free. https://www.smartdraw.com/floor-plan/floor-plan-software.htm?id=44368


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Try draftsight. Its 2d and totally free. For 3d use sketchup trimble.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

sweet home 3d is fairly useful, as is blocklayer.com.

draftsight is handy, but you need to be familiar with CAD or willing to deal with the learning curve.

Revit is what you really want, but i doubt you want to spend that kind of change!


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> I am interested in the answer also , but I find it much easier to draw with t-square and a table , but then again when I took drafting in high school that is how we did it so that is what I learned
> 
> my brother draws in auto cad because when he got to college that is what they used
> 
> but that was a decade later


I've worked with both but have neither. Doing it with ruler and graph paper has become much more difficult because someone has made all the stuff on the paper smaller and the pencil skinnier. It must be that because I have a much harder time seeing the little squares and my fingers start to hurt after holding onto the pencil for a while.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

"Sketchup Make" (free version of sketchup) is a great tool and is worth the time it takes to learn how to use it...which really isn't that much as once you get the feel of the various tools, it's pretty intuitive. 

Of all the tools it has and all that it "can" do, I use the line tool, the rectangle tool, the rotate tool, and the protractor tool for probably 99% of what I've designed in Sketchup.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

There used to be one called Becker Cad that was cheap and simple. I had it when I was first learning to use a computer to draw with. But then simple to me can be different because I've been trained to use both old school drafting (back in the 70's and 80's) and went back to school in 2001 -2003 to learn to do it using AutoCADD. I'm now getting ready to go back again to learn BIM (3D modeling) using Revit and other programs..


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## JohnP (Sep 1, 2010)

You can try searching ebay for an older used version of turbocad. They have tutorials right on the disc. Turbocad Designer Version 7 is what I used first. Lot easier than professional cad but will do the same thing. I don't think you'll find version 7. They're up to 22 now but it looks like 15-17 shows up. Might try amazon too


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## rininger85 (Feb 29, 2016)

I've heard a lot of people who like SketchUp... I downloaded it to give it a try but haven't tried it yet... personally I have access to SolidWorks at work so that is what I use since it is what I'm familiar with. If you or anyone in your family has a college student email (even if not currently a student) you can download a free "student" version of Autodesk Inventor which is very similar to the capabilities of SolidWorks... I'm not sure of the capabilities of SketchUp, but if you are just trying to do some simple stuff it should work from what I've seen.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

rininger85 said:


> I've heard a lot of people who like SketchUp... I downloaded it to give it a try but haven't tried it yet... personally I have access to SolidWorks at work so that is what I use since it is what I'm familiar with. If you or anyone in your family has a college student email (even if not currently a student) you can download a free "student" version of Autodesk Inventor which is very similar to the capabilities of SolidWorks... I'm not sure of the capabilities of SketchUp, but if you are just trying to do some simple stuff it should work from what I've seen.



The "free" student version does expire after a time. I had it for Solidworks and after 6 months (if I recall correctly) it no longer worked, saying my time had expired.. Now I only had it to familiarize myself with it, so it was no big deal.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

JohnP said:


> You can try searching ebay for an older used version of turbocad. They have tutorials right on the disc. Turbocad Designer Version 7 is what I used first. Lot easier than professional cad but will do the same thing. I don't think you'll find version 7. They're up to 22 now but it looks like 15-17 shows up. Might try amazon too


 TurboCad LTE runs about $180 new. About as basic as you can get with still having full drafting capabilities. But I feel it would have a large learning curve if the OP isn't familiar with full scale drafting programs.

WWW


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## rininger85 (Feb 29, 2016)

beowoulf90 said:


> The "free" student version does expire after a time. I had it for Solidworks and after 6 months (if I recall correctly) it no longer worked, saying my time had expired.. Now I only had it to familiarize myself with it, so it was no big deal.


The free SolidWorks expires yes... I don't think the free Inventor expires although I haven't tried it after installing it at home because I just remote in to my work computer to use my SolidWorks instead... 

The only thing I recall from installing Inventor was that it required a valid school email and it prints a big watermark on any drawings you try to create that way you can't use it for professional uses.

I can't tell if this link works or not, it doesn't show up right on my work computer but we're blocked from a lot of stuff at work so might work better outside our firewall...

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/all


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## rininger85 (Feb 29, 2016)

correction: just checked the email that I received from Autodesk when I downloaded the student version of Inventor..it says "Your product will run for three years after successful activation."


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

rininger85 said:


> The free SolidWorks expires yes... I don't think the free Inventor expires although I haven't tried it after installing it at home because I just remote in to my work computer to use my SolidWorks instead...
> 
> The only thing I recall from installing Inventor was that it required a valid school email and it prints a big watermark on any drawings you try to create that way you can't use it for professional uses.
> 
> ...



Unfortunately I can't remote into my work computer from home.. My bandwidth is limited due to the only having the option for satellite internet.

But on the good side I don't to work off hours either.. 
I just got handed Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2016 this morning.. I guess I'll be going back to school to learn Revit etc in the near future.. I imagine it will be 4 days worth of familiarization, just so I will know where everything is in the program.. I'm looking forward to it.. But i guess I have to install the Building Design Suite first :cowboy:.. That won't be till Monday at the very earliest, I've got to many drawings to do before I can take time to upgrade/crossgrade..


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Right now CAD programs are over kill. I don't want to draw out a complex piece, I just want something that will let me quickly draw out simple wooden structures and, if possible, tell me how long each piece will be. That way I can take the wife's ideas and make them into plans I can follow w/o all the time and effort of using graph paper, ruler an calculator.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Menards building kiosk ?


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

My DH designed our latest house with this http://www.sweethome3d.com/

The furniture is sized for European rooms so may be smaller than what you really have. 

I love our house. We gave the plans from Sweet Home to an architect to meet code.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

watcher said:


> Right now CAD programs are over kill. I don't want to draw out a complex piece, I just want something that will let me quickly draw out simple wooden structures and, if possible, tell me how long each piece will be. That way I can take the wife's ideas and make them into plans I can follow w/o all the time and effort of using graph paper, ruler an calculator.



They have to be overkill.. As you stated all you want is something that will give you a BOM (Bill of Materials), yet all I want is something that will give me a collision report (a report that shows where piping collides with ductwork, beams etc). So they have to put it all in one program or have numerous single programs that don't do all of what you need or want..

Using BIM (building information modeling) to draw can be a challenge because of all the information it has.. As I stated in a previous post I just got AutoCad/Autodesk Building Design Suite 2016 and loaded it on Monday. I've played with Revit 2016 and have been finding some fun tools, but will need some training to learn how to really take advantage of the programs features.. All I can say this is easier then my T-square and rule and different then using AutoCAD (still 2D drawings). But it will be fun drawing in 3D


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Sketch up, Free and all the tutorials you ever wanted on you tube. I have used it extensively, but I can tell you the learning curve is short and like I say, you can look at you tube videos which explain in detail anything you want to do with it. Also, did I mention it is FREE. You can download it today and be using it in an hour if you so choose with no investment what so ever, you do not like it? Delete it from your computer and receive a full refund of your purchase price!


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