Discover the house plans collection: Modern rustic house plan collection by Drummond House Plans. (2024)

FAQs

How to find original house plans? ›

Local Building Department/Archives

Inquire about Blueprint Availability: Contact the local building department or archives. Inquire about the existence and availability of blueprints for your specific property. They may have detailed plans of your home, especially if it underwent significant construction or renovation.

#1 Local government websites. Start by visiting your local city or county government's website. Many municipalities maintain online databases of property records and blueprints. For example, cities like Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California, provide readily accessible online databases.

While you may still need the help of a professional architect to successfully draft blueprints for a complicated building project, you can make your own blueprints to design a simple project. You can use tracing paper and an architect's ruler to draw them by hand yourself or use a computer program to make your design.

There are several free floor plan creators available, depending on your specific needs and preferences. Some of the most popular free options include Planner 5D, RoomSketcher, SketchUp and Floorplanner.

You can certainly create your own floor plan without being a proffesional as long as you have the right tools and a bit of creative inspiration. Sketching out ideas yourself will help communicate your vision to the architect when you need to have a professional blueprint drawn up.

Build a house online with Canva Whiteboards. Sketch a blueprint for your dream home, make home design plans to refurbish your space, or design a house for clients with intuitive tools, customizable home plan templates, and infinite whiteboard space.

Measuring Your House

You need to find the gross external floor area (GEFA) of your house – both upstairs and downstairs. GEFA is defined as the area of a dwelling measured externally at each floor level. The best way is to go outside and measure the length and width of your house and multiply those figures together.

Squares and rectangles

Square shaped plot, buildings and rooms are considered ideal for a number of reasons. A slightly rectangular structure is also well appreciated. Distribution of space becomes easy in a square or moderately rectangular building. Positive energy travels well within its walls.

Ideally, to provide the best layout for your family, there should be one bathroom for every two bedrooms in the house. Homeowners who entertain frequently should choose a house layout that has a full or a half-guest bathroom near the living area. The guest bathroom should be downstairs in homes with multiple floors.

You should be able to check with your city or county's Assessor's office. Often this information is available online through their websites. This official info is what your taxes are based on, so is probably the best "official" number for what your house square footage is.