HELP Exterior Elevation!

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

After not finding what we absolutely want on house searches, we had our local building center have their "draftsman" draw up our plans. Although the layout is finally what we want...the elevations are horrible! This is his 3rd attempt of drawing the front. I just don't think he gets it or has any creativity. We are wanting a craftsman/farmhouse look...white siding, vertical on the gables, black windows, minimal stone. I know all that can be changed...but I feel the roof line and gables are awful! Can anyone sketch over this elevation with a better look...or ideas? Gable on front bedroom instead of shed roof? I feel that roof line over the master/right side does not have to be that high?

Featured Answer

PRO

Mark Bischak, Architect

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Draftsmen from a building center

Is a way many people

Start exploring

And investigating

Some possibilities for

Their home they

Expect to build and

Retire in. We know what that spells out.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

PRO
PPF.
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
If the plans are on your computer, could you use a screen capture tool -- Windows has the Snipping tool, to create images for upload?

And the images need to be larger.

Can the garage be moved? Must it be angled?
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
5 years ago
Too many disparate exterior shapes and forms; too many materials; shed dormers; nested gables; exposed beam gimmericky; angles; 6/1 windows...is there any architectural form or material that hasn't been used somewhere?
Related Discussions
Elevations and exterior details
Q
Comments (5)
If you want to find someone who is interested in providing free computer perspective drawings you should start by posting the plan and elevation drawings. 3D/perspective drawings are very helpful but CAD is not necessary for adding color and materials to 2D drawings. If I only had 2D CAD drawings I would print them and add materials and color. Nothing could be more creatively restrictive than a hard line CAD drawing. I would probably trace the CAD drawing and draw small perspectives in the margins to help with adding shadows. An elderly architect probably made perspective drawings for decades before CAD arrived and even then if he had any talent he would have used it to provide a wire frame perspective to be traced. SketchUp is free and you can learn to use it pretty quickly if you follow the YouTube tutorials.
...See More
Help Please - Best Exterior Colors for Prairie Contemporary Elevation
Q
Comments (23)
Funny. Who knew the internet needed things so drawn out. Benjamin Moore Storm Not a bowel movement nor a 💩storm The reality is to the OP the colour that looks good on your home needs to be your choice, in the light and location you have. Get some samples, paint some big pages and see what works. We did not have storm as our top choice before doing the samples. There are so so many grey colours
...See More
Exterior styling help. Front elevation. new construction
Q
Comments (7)
I think shutters would look good on the single windows. Landscaping is going to make a big difference. Get a landscape design that you can implement over time that includes hardscape and plant placement. Make sure it specifies at least one or two native hardwood trees and an ornamental tree to frame the entry. It should also have a list of perennials and a variety of flowering and evergreen shrubs.
...See More
Help me design our exterior Elevation
Q
Comments (22)
The twin cross gables allowed the main roof eaves to be low so if you remove the gables, it will be necessary to raise the roof eaves as much as two feet or replace them with shed or gables wall dormers. You are not trying to "design your elevation"; you're trying to design your house. Start thinking of it as a 3D object with a logical structure. The idea of lowering the eaves of the main roof and allowing taller cross gables to project through them is what it appears the designer intended but he/she didn't really understand how to do it or the artist messed it up. Here is a photo of Grey Gardens in East Hampton, NY bult in 1893 and was the subject of a movie of the same name. In 2017 it sold for $15.5 million. All aspiring house designers should study it carefully.
...See More
lorilynnlarsen52
Original Author
5 years ago
Ha! I agree! I strongly dislike it...enough that we walked away from it and started looking again...but we like the general idea of the layout!
lorilynnlarsen52
Original Author
5 years ago
We want the angled garage as it's on 5 acres. A side load would not work well
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
5 years ago
On 5 acres anything can easily be made to work. The real question is what is the best and most appropriate architectural design?
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
The layout is a common one on the internet; several people have brought it to this forum for help. I'm surprised you didn't find it before contacting the building center.

The elevations are amateurish and I'm being kind. With the bend in the plan the only way to design the house is with a 3D computer model and I'm not trying to sell you services. A model is helpful for designing any house but for this one, its mandatory. I suspect your drafter is using one of the inexpensive 3D CAD programs because they tend to show the foundations Tell him to leave off the materials until he's found something that works. He should be able to give you the 3D model so you can rotate it on your computer and take photos of it.

Incidentally, there's nothing about this design that is remotely Craftsman so it would be a waste of time to list the inappropriate features. The fix will start with ditching the angled garage and eliminating all pediments (the triangular things).
A Fox
5 years ago
RES, I'm not sure there is a 3d model involved. None of the garage roof lines seem to be drawn accurately. The little return roof between garage doors would have to be perfectly vertical to show up that way and the slope of the line defining the end garage gable is exactly the same angle as where it meets the house instead of being steeper as it would visually appear in elevation. I also noticed that the shed dormer over the garage doesn't connect to the roof nor can the garage roof possibly overlap the main shed dormer as it does. Or maybe it's 3d but not fully connected and completed? Or not utilized well?

Lining up the ridge of the garage and where I assume the ridge of the house to be, I think the garage and house roof are going to collide in a not very nice way.
A Fox
5 years ago
Also it may help all of us to explain: when you say that you want Craftsman/farmhouse do you have inspirational photos of what you are looking to achieve? Craftsman is very specific in it's design features (building forms, columns types, windows, etc), farmhouse is not so much (except for the Modern Farmhouse color combo of white and black).
A Fox
5 years ago
Thirdly, I wanted to point out that all of your windows are up really high. It looks like they all have 8' head heights based on their relationship to the doors. I can't really read the windows sizes on the plans but I was able to scale the elevations somewhat. For instance I think your living room window is 4'-6" tall. With the head 8'-0" off the floor that means that the sill of your window is 3'-6" off the floor. No one will be able to look outside while sitting at that height. The office window is the same way.With 8' head heights you should be looking at 6' tall windows in most places. Keep an eye on the draftsman and what he is putting down on paper, or you might end up with some very unexpected things in your new build.
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
A building elevation is orthographic projection of each face of a building. Its the mark of an amateur to project the angled part of the house in the same elevation as the main house. The proper way to deal with a bend in a building is to select the point on the plan where the facade turns and draw separate projected elevations of each facade.

An elevation is not a rendering; its for the contractor. To show an owner what the house will look like, its necessary to draw a perspective by hand or on a computer. Drawing a skewed elevation takes as much time and is useless.