Designing a new room, any software?

[Pengwuino]

Is there any software out there where you can basically design a new bathroom or living room or whatever? And i mean like, drywall, tiling, plumbing, cabinetry and all that kinda stuff and not a bed or a curtains or whatever. Is there any software that can do this rather well? Sounds like some sort of CAD system.. but me and my father are going to basically re-do the entire garage outside and itd be cool to do it all on a computer first :D

 

[neurocomp2003]

um, AUTOCAD(layout), photoshop(txtr), 3DsMax/MAYA(3D with texture)

 

[Pengwuino]

oh jesus christ... was hopen there was just a program specifically designed for this where you could get a rough estimate of what to do. I don't want to mix colors and do reflections and insane stuff like that :D. I just want something to make sure we don't shove a pipe into a cabinet or have the door opening up and smashing into something...

 

[neurocomp2003]

3Dsmax/maya without texturing =] but shouldn't autocad suffice your need?

 

[Pengwuino]

I have no idea haha. I don't want to be stuck doing a little garage with shelves for 4 weeks though :-/. We just remodeled the bathroom... or well... have been remodeling for the last 6 months... and each contractor had a different idea of what tub would fit and i figured a CAD program would put an end to any kind of problems like that if we use it when me and my father remodel the garage. Would also be helpful to figure out how many materials we need and all

 

[Pengwuino]

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2956700

That program looks cool :D I want something 3-d so i can see what it would look like plus the ability to somewhat precisely figure out where things should go.

 

[imabug]

Microsoft Visio has room layout templates with a bunch of pre-defined house/object shapes. It's good for other things too.

 

[FredGarvin]

What happened to good old pencil and paper? You'd spend more time making pretty 3d representations than it would to do your remodel.

Do a hand drawing of what you want and use Excel or the like to keep track of what materials you need.

 

[brewnog]

I know of the exact program you need. It's also free. It was a kinda 3D room designer, but much simpler to use than AutoCAD, its purpose was just so that you could lay out a room on the computer, it was great. Not very technical, but easy to use, and had databases of loads of appliances, types of furniture, kitchen and bathroom fittings, carpets, tiles, and Dulux paint colours!

Give me 18 hours to try and remember what it was called.

 

[Pengwuino]

I know of the exact program you need. It's also free. It was a kinda 3D room designer, but much simpler to use than AutoCAD, its purpose was just so that you could lay out a room on the computer, it was great. Not very technical, but easy to use, and had databases of loads of appliances, types of furniture, kitchen and bathroom fittings, carpets, tiles, and Dulux paint colours!

Give me 18 hours to try and remember what it was called.

what is it?!jkljf;lajdlfjalsd hehehe

 

[Pengwuino]

What happened to good old pencil and paper? You'd spend more time making pretty 3d representations than it would to do your remodel.

Do a hand drawing of what you want and use Excel or the like to keep track of what materials you need.

Yah but you get a better picture of what you need in a 3d software program plus you could change colors and easily move things. Plus you can see exactly how many tiles you need or how things will fit and things that you can't see on pencil and paper.

 

[FredGarvin]

Yah but you get a better picture of what you need in a 3d software program plus you could change colors and easily move things. Plus you can see exactly how many tiles you need or how things will fit and things that you can't see on pencil and paper.

How so? You need a pretty 3D cartoon to show you where your toilet goes or to calculate the area of a floor? If you really want a 3D package to do this, knock yourself out. I guarantee you you'll waste more time trying to use it than just sticking in and doing it. BTW, people have been using pencil and paper for millenia and it seems to have been OK to this point. Perhaps it's an X-box generation type of thing.

 

[Pengwuino]

How so? You need a pretty 3D cartoon to show you where your toilet goes or to calculate the area of a floor? If you really want a 3D package to do this, knock yourself out. I guarantee you you'll waste more time trying to use it than just sticking in and doing it. BTW, people have been using pencil and paper for millenia and it seems to have been OK to this point. Perhaps it's an X-box generation type of thing.

Well to be honest, its just the novelty of having it on a computer and being all in 3D... and I'm a bad drawer :(. Boxes are way beyond what my hand can generate. And come on! The coolness factor! I have nothing to do so why not build a garage in 3D!

Plus! We do actually need it seeing as what happened on this bathroom remodeling job. It was total paper and pencil deal and they screwed up the tub. On paper, the tub and toilet are next to each other without much space problems. Its installed right now and its just soooooooooooo crampt and when the plumber came before it was put in, he said he wasn't even sure if he could put it in in the first place.

Dear god, there were so many misspellings in that post that even I need to think about using spellcheck this time...

 

[robphy]

I have never used such software before... but you can look over:
http://architecture.about.com/cs/cadprograms/tp/designsoftware.htm
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/software/home_design_software/
http://home-design-software-review.toptenreviews.com/home-design-software-definitions.html
http://www.outline3d.com/
http://www.5dollarsoftware.com/bobvihode.html

 

[Pengwuino]

I wonder if there any programs where you can specifically count out and put tiles in one at a time. Something of that detail and not just pre-templated stuff and "painted" tiling.