J. Bird Song
"Alan Baker" <alangbaker@telus.net>wrote in message news:alangbaker-B7CE0E.13275924062013@news.shawcable.net...

Alan Baker
In article <kqa84d$7mv$1@dont-email.me>, "J. Bird Song" <JBSong@gmail.com>wrote:

J. Bird Song
"Alan Baker" <alangbaker@telus.net>wrote in message news:alangbaker-0AD29C.10382424062013@news.shawcable.net...

Alan Baker
In article <f9ebec4c-f8bf-451c-b7f4-c7aa8f078b87@googlegroups.com>, ed <news@atwistedweb.com>wrote:

ed
On Monday, June 24, 2013 10:16:25 AM UTC-7, Alan Baker wrote: ...

Alan Baker
The plan is to do stuff for my own projects and make it pay by doing architectural drawings for general contractors (not actual design, mind, just the drawings).

ed
i don't know if it's changed in the last few years, but solidworks was not real solid (ha!) for architectural drawings a few years back- a lack of architectural symbols and the like. you can download them (or create them yourself), but it wasn't really designed for architecture and it wasn't a strength.

all that said, you have my curiosity piqued- is there a market for this type of work? why wouldn't whoever is doing the design do the drawings?

Alan Baker
They will, but it's a bit like the law business: you need the exorbitant rate for the actual legal expertise, but they bite you with that same high rate for EVERYTHING.

The reason I'm now trying to do this is that my girlfriend's general contractor related to her what it had cost him to get construction drawings done after the design was completed.

If I can do a creditable job using SketchUp Pro and LayOut (which I already have done), then I'm pretty sure I can work out the necessary to do it in SolidWorks.

J. Bird Song
On a serious note:

On a structural redo or addition, an architect is needed and they draw the plans which are submitted to a building inspector. It's not a simple matter of "I think we can throw a 2 x 4 in here" as I'm sure you're aware of.

On a simple interior upgrade, Kitchen / bathroom, usually this stuff is laid out with dedicated CAD software - like at Lowes or Home depot or high end cabinet operations. And that works great.

On a complex interior structural redo, moving load bearing walls etc., again, an architect is needed, who supplies the prints etc.

Alan Baker
And charges for it... ...a lot more than is necessary.

J. Bird Song
What is the concept here? Is Joe the handyman going to hand you a sketch for you to draw out? If so why? He should know where he's going.

Alan Baker
The concept is for an architect to design the house and provide a 3D model (in most cases), from which I would produce construction drawings.

J. Bird Song
Do you have draftsman experience in addition to the software experience.

Alan Baker
Not all that much experience, no. But an experienced contractor has given me his seal of approval (as it were) for the work I've done and for my attention to detail.

It's the fact that he often has to pay a lot of money for what he feels I'm already capable of doing that has driven me to consider this.

J. Bird Song
Do you think your GF's "contractor" is blowing smoke? It's always great to explain away high costs to customers who are ignorant, by blaming the high cost of materials, labor and services..

Alan Baker
Nope.

J. Bird Song
As I said; on a serious note.

Alan Baker
Thanks, Michael. It's good to see you can make a reasonable and civil post.

I am aware of the necessity for the involvement of licensed architects and structural engineers for various parts of the design process. I've just gone through this exact thing assisting my girlfriend on the design and approval of her own house.

J. Bird Song
My brother did the initial design

Alan Baker
concept, an architectural firm known to her preferred contractor reviewed the design and with the assistance of the correct engineering resources, structured it...

...but the drawings they produced were terrible; riddle with simple errors...

...such as the house suddenly changing width by a half inch from front to back...

...such as the foundation wall structure being completely misplaced,

such as no consideration given at all to the fact that the basement is a living space and there needed to be better routing of the HVAC systems to maximize headroom where the people were going to be).

What it boils down to in this case is that the architect did the big picture work and it's fine, but when he handed off the drawing work to a junior in his firm, it was terrible... ...but they still wanted to charge as if the work was quality.

Even if the source is 2D drawings for permit, as long as the dimensions are appropriately given, I know I can do a good job of translating them into the drawings necessary for construction. And I can do so for a rate that makes me good money while offering the contractors a better price than architectural firms seem to want to charge for the grunt work.

And simply, I like the work. I'll freely admit, I have a hard time creating from a blank sheet of paper--that's just not a strong suit with me, but given a work that already exists, I'm a really good editor. I can see how a design can be improved, tightened, made more efficient, etc.

So I can do work I like, that I'm good at, that I can charge good money for.

Why wouldn't I do it?

J. Bird Song
Sounds like it could be interesting.