Are you selling or leasing your property? You can trust your real estate agent to show off your property at its best. Don’t houses feel fresh when they’re empty? Aren’t apartments seductive with the latest and most fashionable showroom furniture? Those professional photographs are what will make your prospective buyer or renter fall in love with your property. Clean white lines, and artistically placed throw rug, and some software-enhanced sunlight is what will make your property stand out online.
But that’s the thing with photographs. We all know they can be unintentionally deceptive; it can be hard to tell how big that room is, if the built-in goes all the way to the ceiling, or if your lounge suite will fit that space. When buyers or renters are hunting properties online, there is one thing that will make their search more accessible and your listing all the more desirable: a floor plan.
This article will discuss floor planning, explore different types of house plans, and address key considerations and terminology that prospective homeowners should know to make their design dreams a reality.
What is a floor plan?
Floor plans are scale drawings displaying the relationship between rooms, spaces and physical features of an area viewed from above. They help the designers and contractors, and homeowners show a visualisation of how they would move through space.
Floor plans make it easier to check if space works for its purpose. A floor plan helps with any potential challenges, redesigning and functionality goals. This can help significantly with in-depth planning and building stages.
Types of House Plans
1. Floorplan sketches
2. Construction blueprints
3. Site plans
While each house plan is a bit different, if you can read one type of house plan, you can read them all. The floorplan sketch is a simple house plan that shows the basic layout and dimension of a home. Sometimes floorplan sketches are given an extra bit of detail by adding diagrams of beds, tables, and other furniture. It’s important to note that a floorplan sketch isn’t always drawn to scale.
A construction blueprint, however, is very detailed; it includes all the elements of the construction. Because this is the plan that a builder will use to complete a project, this plan’s drawings must be correct. Usually, construction plans are drawn to a 1:100 scale, with one centimetre on the program representing one meter.
The final primary type of house plan is the site plan or survey. The site plan shows the structure’s position on the lot concerning the lot’s boundaries. This plan also needs to be accurate since different jurisdictions have different specifications on how close a house can be built to lot boundaries.
Floor plans vs. building plans
Floor plans highlight both the interior and outdoor space. A floor plan displays a room layout. Meanwhile, building plans are complete blueprints with more technical information. These plans are usually ready for construction.
Circulation and functionality
Planning efficiency in any space is critical. In an area where people live, work, cook or even shop, it needs to feel like it flows well the environment is well utilised. A perfect example is a mall; the walkway in a mall needs to be designed a certain way so that visitors can move in a bright, functional way without any chaos.
Floor Plans & Home Renovation
Your floor plan is going to be with you for a very long time. Make sure you and your interior designer are on the same page regarding your household’s needs and wants, so your space can be designed accordingly. When you step into your newly created, functional area, you’ll be happy you took the time to do the job right! To meet with a designer at Artisan, call us for an inquiry today.
Is a floorplan as crucial as photography?
The research showed that other than the number of photographs on the advertisement, the floorplan is the most crucial thing when purchasers are looking for a property. While the photographer should show the property in the best light possible, and the floorplan should support these images by providing a definite picture of the layout.
Why including dimensions is essential.
Buyers use floor plans so that they can assess whether the property meets their needs. The dimensions allow potential purchasers to see how their furniture would fit in the space so they can picture the property as their own. Alternatively, it will enable them to plan for new furniture using the floorplan as a template for their layout.
How a floorplan can save you time.
For both the seller and the purchaser, floor plans save time. The purchaser doesn’t waste time viewing properties that won’t suit their needs, and the seller doesn’t waste time showing the property to people who will not be purchasing the property.
How a floorplan helps purchasers after viewing.
Floorplans are particularly helpful where the potential buyers consider making structural alterations to the property, such as knocking down walls or creating an additional room. They can also remind potential purchasers of details they may have forgotten since the viewing, such as storage.
These statistics show how vital a floorplan is in today’s market and how it will increase your chance of selling your property. The potential to increase interest and encourage viewings and sales means that, in our opinion, floorplans are a must when you are putting your property on the market.
Importance of Floor Plan
Floor plans help to turn ideas into visuals.
Every homeowner has ideas for a dream home, but those ideas need to be translated into drawings before the construction can start. A floor plan helps to decide what all needs to be incorporated into the house and presents a visual of how it will turn out in the end. 3D house plans include minor details, such as where the television will be placed in the living room or which wall in the bedroom will be used for the wardrobes.
Additionally, since the homeowner might not have the expertise to understand a technical drawing such as a blueprint, the rendering of 3D floor plans allows visualisation of the exact layout on a smaller scale, based on which any corrections can be made before the construction commences.
Floor plans serve as the foundation for blueprints.
House design and construction is regulated, which means that before construction begins, the blueprint must be presented to the relevant authority and approvals obtained. The simple floor plan that is initially drawn acts as the base for developing the blueprint that needs to be submitted for approval.
Floor plans serve as a guide during the construction process.
The architect designs the house and then hands over the supervision of the construction to a contractor. The contractor, in turn, might hire several sub-contractors for specialist tasks such as tiling, plumbing and carpentry. Each of these professionals needs to work according to plan so that the house turns out as expected. The floor plan serves as the reference for each set of workers on the job. Since it provides details of the layout and the scale and dimensions of each room, it becomes easier for the team to measure accurately to ensure that everything is placed where it is supposed to be.
Materials for the house can be chosen based on the floor plan.
With the visual created by the 2D or 3D floor plan, the architect and homeowner can keep track of the various materials that need to be chosen for each room. Accordingly, they can schedule visits to the home centre or stores to select the material and order it.
For example, in the kitchen, they will need to choose floor tiles, the material for the cabinets, and the appliances. These need to be pre-ordered to be available for installation when the time comes, preventing delays caused by the material’s unavailability.
Choosing the right furniture with the guidance of floor plans
One of the challenges of choosing furniture for a room is that it should be a perfect size – neither too big nor too small. Since the floor plan is drawn to scale, it’s easy to work out each area’s measurements and choose furniture in the correct dimensions to ensure that the room doesn’t look cramped or bare. With 3D rendering software, it’s even possible to see the home in the chosen design style, making it simpler to buy furniture that suits the theme.
Floor plans help in communicating with the interior designer.
Floor plans are primarily intended for ensuring that the construction doesn’t deviate from the blueprint for which approvals have been sanctioned. It also helps interior designers get a clearer idea of the interiors of the house to make recommendations on the theme and the materials that are ideal for the home. The process of planning the interiors can start before the house is complete, as floor plans will provide insights into the amount of natural light, ventilation, and traffic movement in the area. The interior designer can come up with solutions that utilise the available space effectively.
Floor plans help with real estate sales.
In some cases, such as when the house is an investment property, the homeowner might want to sell it before the construction is complete if he gets a good offer. Here, floor plans help the prospective buyer understand the layout of the house and the dimensions of the rooms within, enabling him to decide whether the design will suit his needs.
As is evident, floor plans are significant to the design and construction of any house. It takes an expert to create them, whether it’s a simple architectural drawing or a more thorough rendering for small 3-bedroom house plans in 3D using specialised software. To make the house design turn out precisely the way you dreamed of it, we recommend consulting professional architects. They usually have an expert on the team who can render 2D and 3D drawings using advanced software to present the house’s realistic image.
A common question about modern house floor plans is whether 3D plans are better than 2D ones. It depends entirely on what the homeowner wants. For one thing, 2D plans are much cheaper than 3D ones. The main difference between the two is in the way they are created. 2D plans are drawn along the x and y-axis, which means that they can present a view of the house either from the top of the side. In the case of a 3D floor plan, the image is created along the x, y and z-axis, enabling a realistic model that allows virtual walkthroughs and 360-degree tours of the house to get a glimpse of what the house will look like when it is ready.
The Imagining Phase: How photos and the floor plan work together
This phase is where success lies. The imagining phase begins when a prospective buyer/renter looks thoughtfully at the property description and photographs in an attempt to piece together a mind-picture of the property. Some people find this more accessible than others. Some property listings provide 15 pictures of a 2 bedroom apartment, leaving not much left for the imagination, whilst some property listings only show 5 shots of a 3 three-bedroom house. How can a buyer/renter piece together an accurate understanding of the building?
The power of a floor plan is this: in the imagining phase, a buyer/renter can use the photographs together with the floor plan to build a cohesive and comprehensive vision of the property. With a floor plan, someone can see past the distorted photograph and understand the room’s actual size. Photography can only go so far as to represent the flow of spaces and hardly ever captures the ‘in-between’ areas like foyers, corridors, and entryways.
A floor plan provides the bigger picture for understanding how spaces connect and the flow between rooms. In the imagining phase, a buyer/renter is desperate to know if their furniture will fit and may even be excited to plan how they might arrange objects in the space. Without a floor plan, this is almost impossible for a property hunter to do. Photos don’t give that information. But combine beautiful images of the rooms with a floor plan that describes the rooms’ dimensions and layout, and the property hunter has all the information they need to engage in the imagining phase. They’ll be hooked!
Understanding Your Floor Plan
As mentioned earlier, floor plans are the most critical element of your house plans. Drawn to scale and shown from above, floor plans illustrate how rooms, spaces, and physical features work concerning each other within the home. They’re the essential documents that show how people will move through space and interact with their home. Floor plans show the extent to which a room will work for its intended purpose.
If you’re attempting to read a floor plan, here are some key elements to know:
- Measurements: The floor plan will have four sets of parallel lines on the sides of the drawings. These lines represent the total measurements of the house (even including the width of the walls). The top lines refer to the most significant dimension in the home, such as the exterior walls.
- Roof Overhang and Angle: Dotted lines on the outside of the house refer to the roof overhang’s width; dotted lines across the whole floor plan represent the different roof angles.
- Windows: Expressed as a four-digit number, the first two numbers refer to the height of a window, and the second set refers to its width.
There may be some abbreviations on the floor plan that are foreign to you. For instance, if you see “Obsc” near the bathroom and toilet windows, that signals the builder to obscure the glass. The abbreviation “DP” shows where the downpipe is located, and “MB” refers to where the meter box is located. While most of these abbreviations are self-explanatory, the information is spelled out in full in the plan if there’s any ambiguity.
With time and practice, it can become easy to decode house plans. Instead of surprises that can come from misunderstanding plans, homebuilders can experience the true joy of seeing their home design come to life with this type of understanding. Connect with Belman Homes to simplify your home building experience.
Floor plans improve a buyers/renters understanding of the property. Your property will succeed in the online pre-inspection phase with a floor plan and live vividly in the imagining step. Combine professional photos that capture the beauty of the spaces and a floor plan that communicates the building’s functionality to hook buyers and renters. Your property will get the serious attention it deserves with a floor plan, and your online listing will culminate in victorious property inspections.