Understand Your House Plans (Karen’s Method)

I think it is always a challenge for my clients to thoroughly understand the architectural drawings, or house plans, for their new house. Floor plansand elevationsare a new language to most people who are not in the building business. It is like hearing a foreign language. You can get some of it, but you probably will miss much of it. Even for experienced people, it takes time to fully “digest” a plan.

Here’s a suggestion. Use the method one of my clients used. She took the big drawings I printed for her and she spread them on her breakfast table like a table cloth.

Each morning she would have her coffee and eat her breakfast with the drawings right in front of her. It “forced” her to look at every nuance. Each day she would sit in a different chair and look at the plans from a different angle. She kept a red pencil on the table to make notes when she noticed something she wanted to change or if she thought of a question she wanted to ask me.

The result was that she knew her new house design better than any client I have ever had. She knew every note and every abbreviation on the paper. This greatly reduced the surprises as the house was being built.

Try it yourself. And don’t worry about spilling coffee or food on the drawings. These are only copies, not the original drawings. We can always print more.