Floorplan design program

I am going to be working on finishing my basement here pretty soon and I am looking for a EASY TO USE program for laying out the floorplan. Something that i could enter in the dimesions for the whole area then draw in walls and fixtures and whatnot. Anybody know of any good and free programs?

You could use Google Sketchup for that. There may be something better out there general floor plans but it is a pretty versatile program.

Google Sketchup FTW



As detailed or as simple as you want it to be.

Easy to use? I don't really have the time to learn to use it.

dataz722 said:

Easy to use? I don't really have the time to learn to use it.

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Aside from pencil, paper, and a scale, if you want anything with any level of dimensional accuracy there is going to be some "trial learning" to get what you want.

However, if you are versed in any type of CAD software the learning curve for Google Sketch-up on a 2D drawing is pretty minimal. Beyond that, GS is an extremely versatile program if you want it to be. I know Architects that use this as an alternative to the pricier 3D modeling applications with excellent results.

For floor plans, you can learn it in 10 minutes with the tutorials.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Aside from pencil, paper, and a scale, if you want anything with any level of dimensional accuracy there is going to be some "trial learning" to get what you want.

However, if you are versed in any type of CAD software the learning curve for Google Sketch-up on a 2D drawing is pretty minimal. Beyond that, GS is an extremely versatile program if you want it to be. I know Architects that use this as an alternative to the pricier 3D modeling applications with excellent results.

Click to expand...

I dropped out of my Engineering degree before we got to CAD. I know what it is but no clue how to actually use it.

Sketchup is about the easiest I can think of. It would be nice if there was a way to force 2D drawing though. That's not to say you CAN'T draw 2D, but nothing stops you from drawing up into the Z axis if you're not careful.

If you use the top view in parallel projection it always defaults to the x-y plane. That is the easiest way to draw plan views.

You can hold shift to lock on an axis to it doesn't accidently go to a different one. Sketchup for the win here I love it.

Also some good old fasjioned Grip paper!

make your own however you want it here and print it out.

also the arrow keys lock onto the axes, left red, right green, up blue.

Didn't know that thanks for the tip. This made me think. It seems a lot of us on here use Sketchup. Would a separate thread be welcomed for tips and tricks in the DIY Section?

I drew a rudimentary mansion (with a bomb ass pool on the roof) in sketchup and used it for maybe an hour before that. Note, nothing was in the mansion, it was just an exterior. Pretty easy to learn though.

I picked up a copy of 3D Home Architect when it was on sale at one of the big office supply stores. I used it to draw out the extension I built onto my house and I was able to submit the print out to give to the planning commission. I don't recall it costing much and it was/is easy to use. IMHO.

Drawing in sketchup is pure fun too. I mean, I've sat for hours drawing instead of playing video games. Some advice, if you want certain objects to remain unmodified and separate, create components. If not, adjacent objects will become integrated.

I have ABSOLUTLY NO artistic ability though. Hell I have trouble drawing a stick figure.

Thats whats good about sketchup. It's drawing for geeks. It's not about creativity. It's about numbers and measurments

IrregularPulse said:

Thats whats good about sketchup. It's drawing for geeks. It's not about creativity. It's about numbers and measurments

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Well numbers and measurments I can do. I thought it would be like cad where I take a ****load of circles and cylinder etc and turn and rotate them to make a 3D object

It can be that complicated if you want it to be. It's free. Download it and play through the tutorials. Nothing to lose.

yep, there are a couple tuts on the sketchup website and then YouTube is great for software tuts. I watch a lot of Gimp ones on there.

Its been a year since I used sketchup. The thread caused me to mess with it. i made this in about 40 minutes. SU is uber easy.

IrregularPulse said:

yep, there are a couple tits on the sketchup website and then YouTube is great for software tits. I watch a lot of Gimp ones on there.

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Sorry, I had to

haha You missed one Edit

*yep, there are a couple tits on the sketchup website and then REDTube is great for software tits. I watch a lot of Gimp ones on there.*