Let Your Fingers Do The Building

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WHAT'S UPSTAIRS?

Once I had finished the basic outline of the floor plan, I decided to add a second floor. With each product; the process for drawing multiple floors was similar to drawing the first, but how you got up to those new floors was handled differently. With both Bob Vila's Home Design and Planix Home Designer, the process couldn't be simpler. In both cases, when you pick your stair, you are given a dialog box that provides you with all of the parameters of that stair, including height, width, and tread and riser depths. By default, these numbers are based on an 8'-0" floor-to-floor height. If, however, you decide to make your floor-to-floor height 12'-0", then the program will automatically change the tread/riser depths and number of stairs to accommodate the new floor height. This assures you a correct stair height and length, enabling you to properly locate your stair within your floor plan.

CompleteHome is not quite as accommodating. You pick your staircase in much the same way that you pick doors and windows. Unfortunately, the spec sheet is also the same and does not provide you with the important tread and riser information. Even though you can change the overall size of the staircase, it will not accurately depict the correct depth of risers or number of stairs required for a greater floor-to-floor height. However, as with the doors and windows, you do have the option of changing materials and colors, as well as visiting stair manufacturers' Web sites.

SO WHERE DO I SIT?

The time came to add some furniture. If you're like me, you probably have very specific tastes when it comes to home furnishings. Well, I'm sorry to say that the standard .furniture selection menus provided with these products will probably not appease your tastes. Be that as it may, all three products come stocked with enough furniture types to get the job done. As before, adding furniture to your design is as easy as grabbing it from a toolbar and placing it in your floor plan. If you wish to edit any of these objects, both Bob Vila's Home Design and Planix Home Designer provide dialog boxes that allow you to change at least the size and color of your selected furniture. CompleteHome, once again, goes the extra step by giving you several materials to choose from, as well as online access to furniture manufacturer Web sites, plus Sierra's own Web page, where you can download even more objects. Keep in mind, however, that these objects are merely representational and will never match exactly what you ultimately purchase. Concern yourself mainly with getting the correct size and shape of an object to insure that it will fit within your designed floor plan.

ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD

Finally, it was time to cap off the house with a roof. Surprisingly, all three products handle this design task in a completely different manner. Sierra's is by far the easiest. It's another case of drag and drop: you simply pick a roof style from the menu and place it in the drawing field over the floor plan. By accessing the roof's spec sheet, you can then designate its size, pitch, and material. As a finishing touch, you can drag and drop chimneys and dormers onto your roof, and the program will automatically place them at the correct angle to the roof pitch.

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