You might put the question on the Pro page.

Software does not make a designer.

Consider engaging a local architect. They have "software" and sometimes a pencil and paper. Some of them are really nice people, and talented too.

I have done that.

And? : ) You'll be better at it with a mouse in your hand? Maybe you haven't contacted the right architect?

Buy an AutoCad or Chief Architect seat if you want to actually design. Even graph paper is better. And is better mastered first. HzzPro is NOT going to help you design anything. They only exist to take your money and return nothing.

Partener with the right pro, and getturdun.

Wow, plenty of people responding with no help at all, just unwarranted opinions.

Doesn't look like there is anything in the works with HouzzPro and the exteriors as I have been looking for something similar. I plan to put a request or ticket in and see if anything comes of it.

I was going to comment "Ask Houzz", but I feared it would be too helpful.

They seem to do all right with making changes in order to keep up they should offer that in the pro package something similar to SketchUp for pre-existing houses just the ability to Customize the whole house is what Houzz is all about. Expensive architect programs are for architects. It doesn’t need to get the detailed. However, I think they should make a package that offers both so Houzz pro can be utilized more by architects if that option was there. Giving Houzz pro what SketchUp can do so there’s no need for multiple Apps that would be super! Does anyone have any good recommendations of something that’s decently priced that is all in one?

Does anyone have any good recommendations of something that’s decently priced that is all in one?

It's unclear what "all in one" is, but for a reasonably priced design software that does 3D and you can do construction docs with it as well, check out Home Designer Pro.

https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/

Do you plan to use this only for yourself or for clients?

Yeah, I’m a contractor. But yea I would totally love to use it on my own house as well. It would be a great to be able to show the client siding and windows roof color, material everything. be able to take a picture of a house with a smart phone and get the dimensions close enough and then be able to add to it and customize it. an architect doesn’t pick out or install anything he just makes plans for new homes. Architects builders and builders need interior designers.. A Contractor like me that does renovations and house flipping. The exterior needs to be as on point as the interior leaving that up to imagination is difficult. I can draw it, but I want to be able to do it from an app. It would benefit Houzz and Houzz pro adding it to the existing Houzz pro software. There’s no doubt it can be done. I wouldn’t even mind paying a little bit extra as long as it was still cheaper than having multiple apps to show one house lol. I want truly everything in one spot. There’s a demand for it, the free versions of 3D room renderings are similar enough to the 3D renderings available from Houzz pro now. To me, it’s a no-brainer for them to figure out how to add that. Otherwise, another companies going to do it better than Houzz and be all in one but I do like Houzz and hopefully we’ll see changes this year!

If you are the contractor, leave the design work for the architect. You are not qualified to perform the design work, just build what the architect and client come up with. If the client wants to know about design issues, direct them to the architect, They are the design professional, you are the builder of what they design.

I am currently looking to buy a small second home to satisfy my current life situation. I am finding a lot if flip houses that were remodel by incompetent flippers. The materials are cheap and the designs are Terrible (with a capital 'T'). I hate to sound like a snob, but most people are not qualified or competent to remodel a home much less design a home. They are really doing society an injustice; a BIG injustice. There are a lot of poorly designed houses out there inside and out.

There used to a very smart, (albeit hilariously caustic at times) pro here years back. .....to this?

"I don't call an architect on remodels. When an architect is needed, I work with one. Look at it as exterior design."

She'd call that "remuddle" as quite often, that is the scenario. Credit Sophie Wheeler: )

Houzz sells home furnishings so it benefits them to provide interior design software but they don't sell windows or siding and even if they did, they would not benefit from competing with the architects who advertise on their site and provide them with free professional quality design images.

And what can never be sold is the ability to combine ideas and materials to create a coherent and attractive whole.

Well they make money from the architects, contractors and Interior Designers who pay to be on their platform for advertising purposes. The software is merely a tool, no architect is going to waste their time making up a rendering for an existing structure to show the siding and color options and stuff like that lol. It's hard to get an architect right now in my area to take on projects where yes they do that. All I'm saying is they have the ability to make any software they want. So making something that's beneficial to all the Houzz Pros to truly have everything in one spot, leading to the increased value of the product and service, leading to increased value of the company than that seems like a no brainer.

Houzz products have no value to me. Just because someone jumps on the wagon does not mean everyone jumps on the wagon. Software is a tool not talent.

Using any tools to work smarter and not harder is a talent.

I think I got what I needed. Thanks for the feedback. Be well and god bless!

In 50 years I've done countless residential renovations. I believe that whatever Houzz would be able to offer for exterior design, it would not be as professional and useful as SketchUp in the Free or Pro versions which has been available since 2000. A 3D SketchUp file can be sent to a client to be viewed on their computer high, low and rotated.

I would never ask a client to make important design decisions from just a set of elevation drawings; that's not the way they will see the completed project.

What you are not understanding is that YOU are a Houzz Product. They are not here to make your job easier. Their software is just one of the worms on the hook for you being monetized in return. You pay to be exploited. To enrich their pockets. Just like all abusive relationships, you get just enough positives out of it that it mentally cancels out the bad.

I miss Gardenweb.

Mark sure hit the nail on this discussion. As defined Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, and a branch of visual art. Before computers and software programs the artist just had to learn how to use a pencil to bring his visions to life. Anyone can learn to use a pencil but it doesn't make them an artist, and neither does a software program.

I took drafting classes in the 70's and would of been mark's living pencil, and even if I could use a pencil well it didn't make me an Architect or artist. The same applies to design software and if you learned it well you're still just a living tool. Now these living tools believe they've become artists and the results can be seen in nearly everything built today.

I learned Autocad LT (and it was hard) from a bootlegged copy back in the 90's but again I was a child with a crayon with no artistic ability. I have turbocad programs and I'm presently using one to layout my garden plans for the year, even if a pencil would of been easier, the Cad layout looks cooler but doesn't make me a landscape architect. My advice is to start with a pencil.

Mark Hampton knew that decades ago......add color: )

I loathe the sterile "perfection/reality" of computer renderings,can't help it.

This issue is not as simple as CAD vs pencil.

2D drawings limit the ability to desgn for 3D reality. Therefore, it would be far more difficult for me to design a house if I couldn't make a 3D CAD model. However, until the design is complete, I make sketches of the rough model and if I need to show one to my clients, they will be able to understand they're ideas rather than completed designs.

This is a big improvement over the perspective drawings I drew in the 20th century.

I suspect the OP might be putting us on when he speaks of "projects that are small that do not need Architectual design and just need a face lift. " then offers an example of a small generic Cape Cod cottage to which has been added: a heavy timber portico supporting a Medieval King Post Truss, a new black Art Deco style front door and new white triple-ganged Colonial Revival style double-hung windows.

Brick & Batten should be renamed Frankenhouses -R- Us.

Worst and most repetitive cartoon houses I’ve ever seen. The epitome of thoughtless early 2020’s exterior ”updates”. They throw every fad at every house, no matter the architectural style or how it relates to the interiors.

It is not different inside......

One column A check!

B check!

are we at M for misery yet?

Honestly in my area it is hard to find an architect available for big jobs let alone little ones. I did find an architect to work with on Houzz. Which is great! I think Houzz is an awesome community and I’m honored to be apart of it.

That poor little house just needed a designer with some exposure to design history. It was assulted with a huge amount of sheer awful bad taste.

Find a local designer to work with you. Not some instagram housewife. Someone who was forced to sit through art appreciation and history.

Or use the resources available on this forum for free and try SketchUp.

We all enjoy a simple "facelift" but without some knowledge of the past you can't know when you've taken eclecticism too far, not that many homeowners would recognize it as such.

Yea of some of sketch ups options were available on Houzz pro that would be fantastic! In my opinion I think that’s what they should do at some point. But that’s just me.

I found something that seems to be what I was looking for.. but wish it was available with Houzz pro. The app is called PlyGem Mastic. I did not try it. But it looks to be something Houzz pro could add on.

If anyone has experience with it, let me know. I think it would be awesome if house included this as an option in Houzz pro.. even if it was an add on.

I’ve tried to find a pro comment section like this. Like a community talk. But all I’ve seen is submit a ticket. If someone has the pro extension link that I need you get to that page that would be great.

No one posts there. And no one cares about giving you any free stuff. That’s not how this works. You just give them money. For nothing.