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rjpeek

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I'm looking at buying a house that only has one bathroom, I want to add a second bathroom and move the master bedroom to the other side of the house. I'm looking for Remodeling Software that allows me to construct (draw) my house as it currently is (with one bathroom & bedrooms next to each other), then rearrange (redesign) the floor plan to meet my needs. The software would show me before and after floor plans and calculate what changes need to be made. For example adding a second bathroom requires adding walls and maybe removing a few walls or changes to existing walls, adding drains for the toilet and shower and running water and electricity. It would also calculate a bill of materials, etc..
 
Software can't show you where load-bearing walls are or what must happen if you move them, nor can it tell you what changes need to be made to the plumbing drain system. Those things may be simple, cheap, and easy or cost you hugely.

What seems simple on paper or a computer screen usually isn't when you add in reality.

Phil
 
You will mayby find a software that will give you square feet and a material list. But all the technical stuff like bearing walls and foundation and roof design will be up to you.
 
How old is the house?

Have you been to the municipality to inquire about obtaining the original permitted plans, or if they even exist?
 
I'm only wanting to remodel (move) the interior walls. I didn't think about the bearing walls, thanks. Something else I would like to do is change the two garage doors into one big garage door by removing the center support.
 
How old is the house?

Have you been to the municipality to inquire about obtaining the original permitted plans, or if they even exist?

It was built in 1962. I've thought about getting a copy of the original plans but haven't searched where to go yet but it's on my list.

oldHouse.jpg
 
The garage door change will cost a little for a beam that big.

You have a beam and a 2 plates above it and sill under it. the best you could hope for is the new beam will fit in that area. If your beams are 2x10 and you have one sill and 2 plates. \all that takes up about 14" and the beam will have to reach all the way to to where the door studs are now, likely 18+ ft. So you could get a price for a 19 ft 3 1/2' x 14" beam and then try that plan with the city, They may be happy with that or ask for something a little bigger or ask for an engineers report.
 
Before you get started there are some things you need to know first.
Set backs is the distance from the property line you have to keep clear, City rules.
If you have a septic system , where is it and how big is it. If you have one it will need to be made bigger,

You will not likely find any original plans for the house..

A quick look in the attic and you will see that the wall that runs down the center of your house is a bearing wall.
 
I did what you are talking about and used my sign software to do the drawings. (Basically just a CAD program). When it came to loads like the garage door header (I did a 2 wide garage door like you're proposing) I took my drawings to an engineer and got the specs. I probably overbuilt some stuff, but I guess that's better than under built. I learned what little I know working for my Uncle building houses, when I was younger, much younger. He was one of those, "Do it right the first time so you don't have to do it a second time" types, and I'm glad he was.
My advise is, get to know the inspectors that will be doing the inspecting and ask them questions, get their advise on specific areas you are unsure about. Keeping them in the loop sure makes the inspections go smoother. I did everything but the foundation & flatwork and had 0 problems at inspection time.
 
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It was built in 1962. I've thought about getting a copy of the original plans but haven't searched where to go yet but it's on my list.

Pay visit to the planning and building dept., they may have a handout covering "buildable" lot restrictions.

The retention of building plans has been an evolution from physical plans tagged and stored to having the categorized photographed and stored on microfiche.

Short of that, your dwelling appears to be a slab on grade construction and establishing structural elements will be fairly straight forward.
 
I use Google Sketchup for house modeling. It takes a bit of practice and you pretty much have to draw the floorplans out and then you can use the pull tool to raise the walls up to the specific height. It won't tell you material lists or anything, but you can get a general idea of the space and how things will look.

Keep in mind that for plumbing changes, you will need to make sure that you have room to run the new drain pipes as well as the new vent pipes and make sure that the vent pipes can either merge with the main vent stack or exit through the roof in another area. There are rules about the distances the fixtures (toilet, shower, sink) have to be from one another and/or walls. Toilet needs 15" from center to sides for any solid obstacle. Same with the sink. Shower/tub needs at least 21" of clear space in at least one part so that people can get in and out easily.
Sinks need to have a GFCI outlet within a certain distance (I'm blanking on the distance right now bc I'm tired). Power outlets and electrical fixtures are not allowed within I think 24 to 36" horizontally of a tub/shower unless they are specifically rated for it. Like a bathroom vent fan in the ceiling can be closer if properly rated.
That's another thing-- to prevent too much moisture build up-- you will need a vent fan that will carry the damp air outside so you will need to run ductwork for it (and it must exit the house-- not terminate in the attic).
Depending on what plumbing code you are under, the vent pipes for the toilet, sink, shower/tub etc must be within a certain distance. IPC allows longer trap arms than UPC.
You will need to make sure that the floor and its supports are sturdy enough to hold full bathtubs (if you plan to put in bathtubs).

One more thing. You can use MS Paint and do a sketch of the layout and just scale the number of pixels with the inches. I like to do 4 pixels per inch (so multiply the inches by 4 when sketching it out).
 
I came across a program called Chief Architect Home Designer Professional which sell for $500.00 or you can rent it for 12 months and you own the program. It works with layers, one layer would be your As-Built (before), add a second layer on top of the first layer and construct your Remodel changes (after). Using the layers you can create a bill of meterials and building plans. Watch the Remodel videos on there website to get a better understanding.
 
Everything that you see on-line, which pro-ports to make your life easier, has a learning curve.

Keeping in mind your time spent thus far, your $ spent renting this program and the time learning how to competently operate within it, you can access a reasonable value of your time.

Price that against the cost of hiring a local draftsman to compose an existing floor plan for you, that you can then play with.
 

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