Expert: Dave Johnson - 7/25/2009

Question
I have chosen to follow your advice and I had already sketched the layout of the last house we saw(which happens to be the perfect one for us).  However, how do I deal with the dimensions of the rooms as this poses a problem for us.  I know it would not be right to ask the owners to measure the rooms, although we do have the measurements for some of the rooms.  Do we just explain this to the contractor and he builds the house what he thinks is a good estimate?  Or are we going to have to tell him what we think the dimensions of the rooms as we want.  This is a difficult decision.

Answer
Hi Esther,
There must be some rooms in your existing home that will be the right size (or approximate) that
you can use for your new one. For example, your kitchen may measure 12'x12' and you want a larger one... just add the appropriate amount and sketch it in...
There are home drawing kits available at office supply shops and some building supply yards that are quite helpful as well.
Get your sketch as complete as you can and have the builder look it over, he will have suggestions
and let you know if anything you've done is possible or not. The builder may even have a CAD system on his computer.

There are also, in some places, drafting services that can walk you through this process.

Best of luck through this whole "adventure" and mail me anytime...
Dave