I’m a technical soft of person (been in the IT industry for 25 years or so) and I’ve been playing around in SketchUp. The thought was to get our house into SketchUp and then be able to play around with it, and brainstorm possible reno ideas. But the initial project (getting the house into it) is a pretty big job. Maybe it would make most sense to hire someone for that, and then I can mess around with the model.
So my questions are - who does this kind of thing (what title, profession, etc)? And how expensive would that be - to have someone get the entire house into SketchUp?
And is this even a good idea. For example - if we had a professional reno done down the road - do most designers/architects/contractors use SketchUp? Would it be money well spent?
Thanks,
Mike
Can’t really speak to what someone might charge to model your house in SU. But going to throw a few things out for you to consider.
Unless you have a good set of the blueprints on hand it wouldn’t be very practical for someone out of your area to be able to do much for you. If you found someone local to you without accurate plans for them to work from they would need to do a comprehensive “survey” of the house to get the necessary dimensions. I imagine that could get pretty expensive if they value their time.
This really seams like a very good opportunity for you to develop you SU modeling skills. Without a set of plans in hand you would need to start out with tape measure , pencil and paper measuring up interior and exterior. It may sound daunting but you could actually break things up into manageable pieces. Starting out you could work at just getting the overall layout modeled, rooms , doors , windows and such. Get the basic structure modeled. As you skill increases you could then circle back adding in the details. Something to consider.
I occasionally do SU work for someone at distance who is able to supply the raw dimensions of the house. A combination of dimensioned sketch plans and photographs can go a long way to enable someone remotely to create a model for you.
But here’s a caveat. Adding detail exponentially adds to the time taken to model. So, getting a basic 3D model of the external envelope with floors and internal walls might be considered Level 1. Start adding openings (doors, windows, stairwells) and you’re onto Level 2. Populate those openings with actual models of doors and windows relevant to you might be Level 3. And so on. As you go up a level, so you add time and therefore cost. So you might want to think about how much detail you actually need from someone else.
Mike,
@tuna1957 and @simoncbevans both make excellent points. This is a great opportunity for you to learn SketchUp. And once you get started you will able to add additional detail … plan renovations etc. … as you go … as you learn more.
But rather than measuring everything yourself … I submit that the best way to get BOTH accurate dimensions AND a photograph record of the “as built” detail is to hire a Matterport photographer to do a photo scan of your house. Because the real estate industry is driving this technology, if you live anywhere near a major city it will be easy to find a Matterport photographer … indeed, it may even be possible to get competitive bids for the Matterport scan.
I will send you a PM with my contact info … and links to some Matterport scans I have used … and to the SketchUp models I have developed from those scans. This is something I do on a regular basis for a variety of architects, remodelers … and the occasional home owner. Over time I have developed a work flow that is reasonably efficient … which results in SketchUp models that are affordable … and detailed … and usable.
The work flow from a Matterport scan to a SketchUp model is not all that involved … but it may not be the best project to start with if you are just learning SketchUp. Would be glad to have the opportunity to discuss all this with you in more detail.