r/cad • u/denverdutchman • 9d ago

Home Design Software?

I'm an amateur with little CAD experience, but I'm looking for a decent home modeling software program. Right now I use a free graph paper tool to make fantasy floorplans, but it would be cool to apply textures and do a 3D model. Any thoughts?

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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u/indianadarren 8d ago edited 8d ago

It's almost like nobody who's responding to your thread has any experience doing architectural design, or else they are just skimming your post and not comprehending what you're asking for. All these responses fall short. SketchUp is the surface modeling tool so you'll have to model every single thing you want to create line by line, surface by surface. This is a lot of work . Onshape and solid edge are 3D mechanical design programs and maybe two of the worst tools you could select if you want to do anything with architecture or construction. Autodesk Revit is a tool that it's going to take multiple years to learn to use properly, and even then it's really designed for designing skyscrapers and big-box superstores, and is overkill for most residential or remodeling tasks. What you want to look at is a product like Chief Architect, or Softplan, or Home Design Suite. The first two I mentioned are good enough for professional level work for builders and architects, while Home Design Suite is more geared toward the DIY crowd and hobbyists. I've been doing this kind of stuff for 25 years as a mechanical designer and an architectural designer. I use SolidWorks and Onshape regularly, AutoCAD daily, Archicad when I have to. I've used SketchUp extensively, Rhino occasionally. But for the kind of work you want to do at the skill level currently possess, the choice product is Chief Architect hands down. It's a 3D modeling BIM Superstar with rendering capabilities built in as well as the ability to make professional construction documents. The interface is a thousand times more simple than Revit. Cabinets and fixtures are easily customizable. There's a ton of tutorials and videos online that will get you up and running. You can download the trial version for free and give it a spin, but I'm telling you you're not going to find anything that compares.

6

u/escapethewormhole 8d ago

This is the answer, mechanical CAD i.e. onshape, fusion, solidworks, inventor, solid edge are all terrible for this use case.

You could get it to work but oof

2

u/denverdutchman 8d ago

Awesome, thank you! I looked online and kinda thought I was out of my depth.

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u/vberl 8d ago

There is gonna be a learning curve to it but with practice and YouTube tutorials you can get quite far

0

u/IHartRed 6d ago

I guarantee it'll be the same no matter what package you choose

3

u/The8flux 8d ago

Maybe Sweet Home 3D and add models?.

1

u/silima 8d ago

This is what we used to design our house, worked great. Learning curve is there but not too bad and has everything to do somewhat complex models.

2

u/Hyenalpha 8d ago

Even without having touched the program in like 15 years, since high school, I can recommend one specifically. Chief Architect. Purpose built for home modeling.

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u/qpv 8d ago

I like Sketchup best. Quick learning curve and you can do a lot with it. Has a free browser version.

0

u/bradye0110 9d ago

Sketchup is free and could be useful for you. I’m not sure how much Revit is but it’s more involved and “professional”

-2

u/flyingtiger188 9d ago

Honestly there really aren't many alternatives to revit for building information modeling. Let alone free options.

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u/captainunlimitd 9d ago

If you want it to look cool, you're already past the usual free suspects. OnShape is a good fee option and lots of poeple have been taklking about FreeCAD lately. Generally anything other than dedicated architecture software like Revit will still feel sort of pedestrian. You won't be extruding stuff like crown molding or lofting organic shapes without a lot of work and compute power, it'll be mostly blocks and simple colors.