Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I recently had the onerous job of drawing several plans for an addition to my home. I had the option of hiring an architect ($$$), or doing the drawings myself--and I selected this software to do the later.
First of all, I was successful drawing 5 or 6 floor plans for my existing home and the addition. However there were some "hiccups" and problems along the way. Here is what I found:
- I gave up trying to create a roof that would look anything like what I needed to draw. This was true for my existing home as well as the roof for the addition. This was by far the biggest problem with this software--I watched various on-line "videos," looked for help in forums, etc. but I was unable to render it correctly. Big problem because I was unable to get a good 3D or elevation drawing and actually was forced to draw these views by hand (well, a ruler and pencil). The auto-generated roof function is totally useless unless you have a very simple roof structure.
- My home has walls of various thicknesses--while the software provides preselected wall types, it doesn't allow you to customize the thickness (which was a problem). So I had to use a "canned" masonry type wall (12" thick I recall) to represent a wall I have that's not masonry and about 18" thick (don't ask!). If you have a newer home with "standard" walls, then you probably won't have this problem. In my case, I don't think I have any "standard" walls (home is relatively old).
- Button layout is confusing--they would be better off following typical "Windows" layout. Easy to forget what the icons represent.
- I tried to use this software to lay out a garden--however I literally couldn't find any of the plants I'm growing in their library. I understand there's an optional product can purchase (which I didn't), but they really should provide a better "basic" choice of plants.
- Very difficult to add dimension lines--it's difficult to explain unless you try to use it. For example, you "drag" across an area you want to add a dimension line...it invariably sets one of the points to the middle of a wall--which isn't what you want if you want the interior dimension of a room. They don't provide a simple way to click on two "spots" and produce a dimension line. If a dimension line sits inside of a wall, it's very difficult to select it...on several occasions I was forced to delete the wall because I couldn't select and move the dimension line out of the way. There's an alt-click (I recall) method to select overlapping objects, but it sometimes just doesn't work.
- Sometimes, no matter what I did, I could not get a precisely sized object (like a wall's length). They have a "nudge" tool for precise sizing that doesn't work on all objects. Software has a propensity to "snap" to grids or other objects which can be really annoying. You can disable it, but it's hidden in some menu somewhere.
And so on-- there were many other minor irritations that I worked through. The bottom line (sic) is that I was able to get most of the layouts done (except anything that would show a roof)--but I had to "fight" the software in order to do it.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 7.0
Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 7.0 is software developed by Chief Architect for home enthusiast remodeling and home design projects. This software helps you design the home of your dreams with 3D models, virtual tours, even more library items, easy to use building templates, a new Plant Encyclopedia and landscaping features with over 1,000 plant terrain and outdoor items.Combining the leading-edge home design software with the consumer design editorial expertise of Better Homes and Gardens, we have produced the best software tool for home and remodeling design.
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