Modeling Our House

The modeling work began Friday morning. Scott, the modeler, was here pretty much all day. This model will serve as the starting point for the model of the new design. Once we send Will, our designer, pictures of the granite we want for the kitchen, the light fixtures we want for each room, etc., he will upload those into the software and they'll appear in the design. That is pretty darned sweet.

Scott began by getting exterior measurements to build the shell of the house. Then he measured each room's dimensions with a laser/ultrasonic measuring tape and entered these into the modeling system they use, called Chief Architect. After the room was built, he would go back and mark where the openings are (doors, windows, other openings), where any kind of outlet is (phone, electric plug, wall switch, cable), where HVAC items are (return airs, registers), and lights/fans, furr downs, etc. Kitchen cabinets, sinks, appliances, you name it. When he's finished, he has a nearly exact floor plan of the room in the computer. I'm sure I missed a lot of what he was doing.

Then, this is the really cool part: you're looking at the 2-D floor plan and you click the camera icon. Click a spot on the floor plan and then drag the cursor the direction you wish to look. Voilà! Suddenly, you are looking at the 3-D representation of the room. We were able to see our kitchen in 360, complete with black French-door fridge, wood-grain laminate countertops, sink and faucet, everything. It was awesome. Then we walked around the corner, out of the kitchen, into the den and looked right across the den, through the hallway door, and to the front bedroom window (a sight-line we are planning to change). It's all right there, in the computer!! Really amazing.

He also will model the exterior (roof-line, vent placement, etc.), so that they can show what the finished addition will look like, how it will blend into the existing structure, etc.

Since they are pretty much touching every part of the house in some way (except for the front porch), they are entering the entire house - every room, every closet, every everything, into the system. He ran out of time Friday and will come back Tuesday morning to finish up with the master bath and closet and the rear exterior.

Hopefully, we'll get a file to review on Tuesday, so we can "walk through" our virtual house and make sure it's just like our real one.

Yes, this is beginning to get real and very exciting!