I did. Paid $100 to convert my excel-drawn design into a plan I could build off of. I was basically looking for a pier & framing plan to save me a few hours of engineering calculations from various tables. It was a 3-level deck with one odd-shaped portion, all free-standing, so it was worth not having to futz through it on my own. They told me where each of the 27 columns needed to go, and how thick the joists needed to be. They turned it around in a day, I even talked to a live person on the phone. Good service, good product. I'd use them again if I was building something other than a rectangle. Our county's permitting process is best described as loosey-goosey, so I can't comment on the suitability of the plans for your permit shop. But it did have notes about how it was calculated for XX live load, etc. So I think that's the intent.

Deckbarn, 1)There is no way ONE 'painter' stained ALL the WHITE and ALL the TAN on that deck w two coats(one done before install) in one week.. NOT with a brush...Were you there? Do you see brush marks? I'm calling BS on that....and as I said before, I painted for quite a few years and yes sir I was the 'trim &detail girl' so whether your hand is good or not.... whether you are a fast OR slow brusher- didn't no ONE MAN done do ALL that trim in one week.... PERIOD...... 2)Please post CLOSE UPS of your deck so I can see the seams and how all deck components marry together...neatly?? Gapping?? Any big messy caulk beads? Pine is soft and wet......so ummmm... I'd love CLOSE UP PICS Mr. Puffy. And would love to see your RED Trex decking,top rail,etc. up close so I can see if it's blotchy like it looks in the pics...and I want to see the red Trex top rail and what I assume is face screwed decking.. just to see how what the overall look is.UP CLOSE 3)yeah Deckbarn, i know painters use ladders...I don't know any PAINTER that would want to work on the top of your gazebo. It's an awkward reach.... and on a crazy pitch. 3)My deck cost is $20,000..(thevinyl fence surround on the second floor will put it over $20,000.The RDI Novalign PVC railing is a HUGGGE part of the cost.... I don't want your wood railings.I'm sure you could do my deck for $15,000, but NOT with the material I want to use and YOU ain't doing it anyway.. You would give the job to whoever is the hungriest for work.... PERIOD 4)brace yourself for this Puffy... I live five miles outside Manhattan...People who do 'labor' here get paid more bc it costs more to live here...Are you 30 miles out of Detroit???? Go closer toward the city and it's different.....My house is 120 years old...I am essentially the 'contractor' for all renovations...I research materials before a project starts and then get recommendations from each guy within his specialty. I oversee a master electrician,plumber,and a carpenter.(all three have minimum 30 years experience) I'm sure I could find a guy who only does decks,but it's NJ and what some people call 'straight and finished' is not what I call 's and f'... My carpenter building the deck is highly skilled and you know what??? Money isn't everything... I would rather blow an extra $4000 to be able to sleep at night and know I can make modifications or change materials as we go along....... It's worth it to me... THERE IS NOTHING on my house that is plumb,straight,cookie cutter....I don't want to stain friggin ANYTHING anymore.... I don't want to paint ANYTHING anymore.... PRETEND I'm your customer. You aren't even listening to me.. You are still stuck on promoting a deck the way that is the most profit for you... I know it sux that synthetic railings dip into your profit.....That's life.. But my dear, synthetics are the future on decks.... You should embrace it instead of promoting your BOTTOM line number on building a deck...Someone always pays...and your middle class customer w 3 kids and both working doesn't want to stain or Good Golly have to find someone to stain it in 4 years.....staining railings is a pain in the bum.. YOU know it.. admit it... Have you ever looked at a roof when they smacked it on with a large crew??? The more hands that drop shingles the worse it looks.. I like one hand on my projects... Just a matter of preference....

Pretty neat stuff. An easier to use version of some of the standalone programs, like 3D home. I noticed they are missing a number of larger appliance sizes, like ranges over 30" and refrigerators wider than 36". It would be nice to make these things resizeable, as well as the cabinets, to get a perfect fit. I'll be using it to sketch out my next bathroom projects.

Since the fees associated with a professional landscape design are one of the least expensive aspects of the entire process, the perceived savings with using a "free" design are minimal. And while I acknowledge I am coming at it from a professional viewpoint, this is NOT the area where I would be looking to economize. It is the quality and site-appropriateness and personalized aspect of the design that makes the distinction to the landscape. The primary con in my opinion - and it's a major one - is there is NO site evaluation. The assumption is made with these designs is that the site is level (or reasonably so) and basic in its configuration, there are no issues regarding privacy or screening or focusing/directing of views, no consideration of soil quality or drainage or how rain water flows across the property, no factoring in of the house footprint or how the landscape interacts with the house (or any other structures), how light conditions, weather or prevailing winds may affect the landscape, how the 'proposed' landscape interfaces with the surrounding neighborhood, what zoning or HOA issues may impact the design and that the property is a complete blank slate - no existing plants to be considered or conserved. As a practicing landscape designer, I can say without qualification that every site is unique. Even in newer developments where there is an overwhelming sense of uniformity, each site will be somewhat different from the others, often in ways that are not readily apparent at first glance. The most successful designs will come from an acknowledgement and interpretation of that uniqueness and that cannot be achieved without visually seeing and evaluating the property. I guess if you have a basic, flat, rectangular cookie cutter-type lot with a cookie cutter-type house, then a cookie cutter-type landscape design could be superimposed on it but IMO, it's a lot like fitting a square peg into a round hole.