How to Make a Blueprint of Your Home
If you are contemplating a remodel of your home or a large interior project, like new flooring, it is helpful for you to know the appropriate dimensions of your home. You do not need a CAD program to create a simple floor plan of your home. However, you do need to use drawing software. Accuracy and the correct terminology are important when you put your floor plans on paper, particularly if you plan to share the blueprint with a contractor. According to website The House Designers, blueprints are generally drawn at a 0.25-inch: 1-foot scale. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Graph paper
- Pencil
- Architect’s stencil, optional
- Computer
- Drawing software
- Printer
- External computer drive, if needed
Instructions
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Measure your home. You will need to know the total perimeter of the house, the dimensions of each room and the thickness of the walls. Additional items to record include the measurements of items that may not be standard in your home, such as widened doorways. Keep in mind that the dimensions of rooms include closet space.
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2
Draw the perimeter of your home on the graph paper. Notate the scale you are using on the graph paper to avoid future confusion. If you are using an architect’s stencil, use the same dimensions on the stencil so your blueprint is to scale. Label the dimensions of your home on the graph paper.
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3
Add the walls to the drawing of the perimeter of your home. It is important to remember that the walls of your home are not simply a straight line on the graph paper. If a wall is six inches thick, for example, draw it to scale on your graph paper and label the length, width and thickness of each wall.
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Draw windows in the walls of the blueprint. Walls are filled in on floor plans, but the sections with windows are not filled-in with color. Instead, you have the two lines that outline the front and back of the wall, plus a third line in the middle.
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Add doorways to the blueprint. You can use an architect’s stencil to assist you with drawing the doors or you can draw a line that is perpendicular to a wall, which symbolizes an open door. Add an arch from the top of the perpendicular line to the point on the wall where the door closes. Label the width of the doorways.
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Draw closets on the blueprint. Remember to include the thickness of the closet walls and their doors. If a closet door opens in an accordion-like manner, use a V-shape to indicate this at the location of such doors on the blueprint.
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Add plumbing features to the floor plan. Architecture stencils include the basic plumbing features generally included in blueprints, such as sinks and toilets. Sinks generally have a square shape with a filled-in box in the center. Tubs are drawn similarly to sinks, but use a rectangular shape. Toilets have a rectangular shape with an oval attached to it.
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Draw appliances on the blueprint. Appliances are generally labeled geometric shapes. To indicate a stove, draw a rectangle or square and add four or more circles to indicate the cooking elements. Use the letters “WH” and a circle for the water heater. “Ref” is for the refrigerator, “W” is the label for the washing machine and “D” is for the drier. If you have a wall oven, label it with an “O.”
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Include additional fixtures on the blueprint. Such items can include counters and cabinets. It is a good idea to indicate the locations of phone jacks with a small triangle and a “P,” TV cables with the letters “TV” surrounded by a small square, wall outlets with circles that have two (120 V) or three vertical lines (240 V) through them, or light switches with a “$.”
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10
Use the handmade drawing to create a scale drawing of the floor plan on your computer using drawing software.
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Print the blueprint using your own printer or save the file to an external drive, such as a flash stick, and print it on large paper at a copy shop.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
