It is easier than you may first think to make your own sketch of a floor plan. Here are some ideas to help you.
Suggested Tools
– You will need an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper, for each floor of the property, using graph paper will help keep everything to scale. You should use additional pieces of paper for outbuildings (detached garage, pool house, etc.)
Put each floor on a separate sheet and scale them the same. You can also use our Drawing Pad.
Select Tools, then the FloorPlan Drawing Pad to use our pre-printed drawing background (drawing pad file is attached below).
– Work in pencil.
– You will need a measuring tape.
– You will need either a scanner to scan in your final product or a digital camera to take a picture of your final product. If you do not have access to either, you can fax us your sketch if needed.
– Get a copy of the property’s appraisal. Use the appraiser’s sketch of the property’s footprint as your starting point.
START YOUR DRAWING
– Position the paper horizontally (also called landscape.)
– Start by sketching the exterior walls of the property. When possible, the front door of the property should be drawn near the bottom of the paper.
– Once you have the outline of the property, you may want to make a few copies so you have extra sets if you need to start over.
– Measure each room to the nearest foot. This will give you an idea of the proportions you will need to sketch.
– Using a pencil, begin to sketch the walls and doorways for each room. The proportions of each room do not need to be exact but try to make them to scale as much as possible.
– After you are satisfied with the placement of the walls and doors, walk into each room and draw the following features:
Doors – show the type of door (French, single, double, pocket) and the direction they open. Windows
Closets
For bathrooms – draw the placement of the toilet, bath, shower, counters, and sinks.
For the kitchen – draw the placement of the counters, key appliances, sink, island, and pantry.
Other selling features
Draw the stairways and the directions of the stairs.
– In each room, write down the room name and the room dimensions.
– Somewhere on the paper, write down the order ID, your name and the property address.
– Take pictures of the property and save the images to the computer. Name the images with a sequential number and room names (1_doorway, 2_hall, etc.)
– We suggest you resize yours photos to a minimum of 800×600 pixels or to a maximum of 1600×1200 pixels for the best results.
Create a file of the floor plan if you already have an order ID from our system, ensure it is written on every piece of paper. If not, write the street address and your account ID on the floor plans. Label the papers such as first floor, basement, detached garage. Either scan the papers into your computer and save as a PDF file or take a digital picture of each piece of paper and upload to your computer as a picture image.