Before The Architect - Home Floor Plan Design Layout

Floor Plan Designing

BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – HOME DESIGNING BACKGROUND – UNIQUE HOME DESIGNING ARTICLES

FLOOR PLAN DESIGNING

YOU MAY FREELY QUOTE THE AG WITH PROPER ATTRIBUTION

You can’t talk with my partner. #12 of The 19 Deadly Sins by Before The Architect

· · · · · · ·

Introduction

This e-article is about how to layout home floor plan designs

Pics To Ponder

Comment: This custom home designer most often splits up really complex floor plan designs into 2 sheets, in order to keep down the clutter and potential confusion from a welter of dimension statements crowding for space on a heavily annotated floor plan.

Floor Plan, Dimensioned, Plan View

Floor Plan, Annotated, Plan View

Comment: In these plan views (scaled in ARCH D 36 linear inches x 24 linear inches) – one for dimensions, one for annotations – note the keys to abbreviations and spaces both interior and exterior, the legend, the banner explanations, cross-references particularly in the second sheet, among other important design elements.

The How-To of Home Floor Plan Designs

Floor plans shall be

By level, including

Basement

Crawlspace

Attic

Dimensioned

On the exterior

Running uninterruptedly from outside faces of perimeter sole plates or mudsills at each articulation

From perimeter outsides of face to on-centers of perimeter elements and features including but not limited to

Windows

Doors

On the interior

Running from outside face of perimeter sole plate or mudsills to

On-centers for all interior features and elements, including but not limited to

Windows

Doors

Presented with framing members drawn to true and not nominal

Comment: Sticking to on-center dimension statements at other than perimeter inflections and termini takes the guesswork out of application. Most notably, framers'll do what they've been used to doing to space rough openings for doors and windows, etc. Won't do you a bit ‘o good to dimension the rough opening, just tell ‘em where's the centerpoint, door callout for size, and depict style.

Additionally, unless they're working with engineered lumber there's no telling exactly the widths of each and every member – in tightly designed spaces with several walls between perimeters, small variations in member's widths can add up to trouble; however, each and every one of ‘em has a centerpoint. Finally, on-centers responsibly oblige the designer to compensate for spacing to accommodate builds, especially wall builds, for finish clad and substrates.

Comment: It's ok to conventionally color-in walls, just make the coloring light enough so that a reader can clearly observe that a dimension runs from outside edge or on-center. This home designer now uses lightest gray.

	Riddled with significant cross-references within the plan set
	Labeled space-by-space, including hallway and closets

Floor plans shall indicate

Window

Sites and

Travel with

Cross-reference to Window Schedule

Door

Sites and

Swing with

Cross-reference to Door Schedule

Ladder site(s)

Stairs

Steps

Attic access site(s)

Whirlpool motor access site(s)

Built-in features

Cabinets extents

Counters

Extents

Elevations

Shelves by number

Desks

Interior floor level elevations

Plumbing fixture sites

Kitchen and laundry appliance sites

Guidelines aligning levels, usually

Two per level

Set at widest, shared, perimeter articulation

Floor drains

Wall lets for

Radon risers

DWV risers

Knee walls

Design intentions in uncertain conditions, e.g.,

Alert to adjustments if exterior finish clad varies from indicated design [for example, once in a long while, a custom home plan leaves this shop with the clients still unsure about faux versus true masonry finish clad]

Interior space latitude or goal when roof framing might be trussed or sawn

Arch major and minor axes

Comment: In laundries, please attend to adequate spacing for behind-appliance lets, notably for conduits; and, these days, make sure there's adequate depth, as well, for much larger [read: deeper] machines' footprints.

	Utility site(s)
	Entrances
	Mechanicals
	Panelboard site(s)
	Fireplace site(s)

Floor Plan size and scale

Clients appreciate ARCH D (36"x24") more than any other sheet, for size

For scale, much of Before The Architect's work is with larger homes – 8,000 square feet and up; hence, for floor plan-related presentation, 3/16":1' works better than the more common 1/4":1', in order to layout well on ARCH D

Works better for sprawling footprints, too

Works better for heavily annotated sheets, e.g., Foundation Plan – at least this custom home designer's version

Framing considerations

Uncommon framing, particularly in regard these days, to highly amended walls, shall be detailed elsewhere by section in elevation with cross-reference at the site of application on the Floor Plan

In order to key both designer and suppliers and builders, indicated expected direction of ceiling joist by arrows in-line to stringing direction

Identify members whose specifications shall be done by others, e.g., trusses and beams

Special framing considerations, e.g.,

Finish dimension

Change in floor level elevation

Ceiling

Height

Style

Fold line

Exposed or apparently exposed members

Concentrated and point loads shall be identified not only

By site or area, but also

By expected loads – especially dead load

Comment: In regard to dead loads, this custom home designer imagines the excessive. To begin, the sum of all loads is presented as dead load only. Then, for example, the bath tub is porcelain, full of water, and in it are 2 three hundred pounders getting frisky; the pool table is of the heaviest materials, has only four corner legs, and one of the three hundred pounders from the who's-got-the-soap scintillation finally got back to business, now is dressed-up and stretched out atop the table for a daring bank shot. If the designer doesn't do this proactive thinking, odds are that no one else will.

. . . . . . .

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Building Problems ] [ Design Proportion ] [ Electrical Lighting ] [ Electrical Wiring ] [ Fasteners ] [ Fire Safety-Elevator ] [ Fire Safety-Stairs ] [ Floor Plan Designing ] [ Framing A Home ] [ Granite Knee Lessons ] [ Home Air Quality ] [ Home Design ] [ Home Design Safety ] [ Home Design Styles ] [ Home Foundations ] [ Home Plan Details ] [ Home Style Furnishing ] [ Interior Design ] [ Prohibited Materials ] [ Jobsite Conduct ] [ Schedules ]

About Us ◊ jrp2h2000@yahoo.com ◊ 770-889-6964 ◊ Site Map • Privacy Policy

· · · · · · ·

(If this is your first visit to Before The Architect, please consider spending a few moments looking over the Site Map, in order to get a feel for the website design. Before The Architect E-mail: jrp2h2000@yahoo.com.)