Need some help with 2D plans for a house

[LinearGraphs]

Hi there!

A brother who is a missionary in Papua New Guinea has asked me to design him a house.
He saw some work that me and my brothers did, knew that we modeled the whole thing and that it turned out the way we wanted it to (we’re literally still working on that house, but all the exterior stuff is done except for paint, we started in June of this year.)

The thing is, we just used the 3D model to build the house, not a set of 2D plans. I don’t really know how to create 2D plans, and I haven’t even seen a full set of plans for a house. I know how to draw lines, write out details, create viewports, dimensions, etc. But I don’t know WHAT I NEED to draw. What details, what dimensions, and where?

To put it simply, I haven’t gone to school to learn how to build, design, or engineer buildings. The first time I helped frame a wall was in July of this year, and my first time using any kind of CAD was in February or March (SketchUp, obviously).

What I need is a resource, to learn what I need to learn to become a seasoned archite–… *ahem… “designer”… I’m just small time, and I don’t have the time or money to go to school.

Or, I’d like to hire someone who would create a detailed set of plans from a .sku file I make. I understand that our workflow might be totally different, tags, grouping and such, but I need some help.

Any advice? Any takers?

Should this topic be in a different category?
(Edit- thanks for answering this question for me @DaveR )

Sincerely,
Braden.

[egodsey]

Braden,

You are obviously off to a good start in learning how to design and to model in 3D with SketchUp. But to keep from picking up “bad habits” … concurrent with learning SketchUp, you should also learn as much as can, as quick as you can, about how to use SketchUp and LayOut in the practice of architecture.

There are many ways to use SketchUp and LayOut to generate 2D construction drawings, but Matt Donley (a SketchUp aficionado) and Nick Sonder (a practicing architect) have written a book on how to use SketchUp and LayOut in the practice of architecture, entitled SketchUp & LayOut for Architecture . Nick has thought thru the process in detail. For me much of the value of the book is in his descriptions of how he organizes his SketchUp architectural models … and how that plays directly into his organization of LayOut pages for his construction drawings.

Meanwhile, I would be willing to have a discussion with you on how you want to move forward in all of this. Look for a PM from me with my contact info.

Regards,

E. Godsey