Last Updated on October 27, 2022 by
SketchUp is a great tool for designing your home, but it’s not perfect for designing apartments and other multi-family properties. The level of complexity adds a layer of difficulty that most SketchUp users don’t have to deal with. For example, most homes have only one bathroom. You’ll need to plan your design so that every unit has its own bathroom, even if they’re not all connected. However, your home doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical. Multi-family properties often have odd layouts that don’t match other buildings. For example, one unit might be at the front of the building, while the other is at the back. Luckily, you can create a 3D floor plan of your property in SketchUp. And once you’ve done that, you can use it to design your entire place – including remodeling old units and adding new ones. In this article, you’ll learn how to build a multi-family 3D floor plan in SketchUp.
Start by making a plan of your property
Before you can start designing your property, you’ll need a plan of your property. Depending on your needs, you can create this plan in a variety of ways. You can take a few photos of your building, draw a floor plan in a notebook, or scan your building into a computer. Once you have your plan, you can turn it into a DXF file. You can then use any CAD software, like AutoCad or Microstation, to create a 3D model.
Draw in 3D
Once you have your plan, it’s time to draw in 3D. You can use a variety of tools for this. For example, you can use a mechanical pencil or an architect’s drafting pencil. You can also use an electronic drawing tablet, which could be easier. But the best way is to start out on paper, and then transfer your drawing to SketchUp. You can also draw in 3D with a 3D modeling program, like 123D Design or SketchUp Make. You might prefer one of these programs if you want to use it to design your property as well. These tools are designed for drawing in 3D, but you can also use them for design if you like. Many of these programs have cloud-based features, which can make it easy to keep your designs.
Create Elevations in SketchUp
Once you’ve drawn in 3D, it’s time to create elevations in SketchUp. Elevations are the drawings that show how high the roof or walls are above or below the ground. If you’ve ever been building a model with Legos, you know Elevations are important. You can create elevations in SketchUp by using the Drawing Extrusion tool. This tool makes it easy to create a 3D model that shows the height of objects above ground.
Add Junction Boxes and Walls in SketchUp
Now you can add the junction boxes and walls in SketchUp. You’ll learn how to do this step-by-step in the next section. But let’s walk through this first, so you have a better idea of what you’re doing. When you create junction boxes in SketchUp, you’re simply connecting one room to another. You can use the Junction Box tool to create these connections. However, you can also use the Move tool to connect rooms manually. If you do this, make sure you mark your walls. You want to make sure that SketchUp doesn’t move them.
Final Touches: Doors, Windows and Shading
Finally, you’ll need to add doors, windows and shading to your design. You can use the door tools to create doors, and the windows tools to create windows. And you can use the shading tools to add shading to your design. You can find all of these tools in the Home tab of the Extrusion tool. You can use all of these tools to create designs exactly like the one you saw in this article. But there’s an even easier way to build a multi-family 3D floor plan in SketchUp. And it’s called a 3D model. A 3D model is a file that shows your entire property in 3D. And it’s easy to do. You can create a 3D model in any 3D modeling software, like 123D Design, SketchUp or Google SketchUp.
Conclusion
SketchUp is a great tool for designing your home, but it’s not perfect for designing apartments and other multi-family properties. The level of complexity adds a layer of difficulty that most SketchUp users don’t have to deal with. For example, most homes have only one bathroom. You’ll need to plan your design so that every unit has its own bathroom, even if they’re not all connected. However, your home doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical. Multi-family properties often have odd layouts that don’t match other buildings. For example, one unit might be at the front of the building, while the other is at the back. Luckily, you can create a 3D floor plan of your property in SketchUp.
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