Different types of House Plan drawings

At this stage it is very important I explain the different types of house plan drawings that are needed for construction work. The house plan construction work process involves the use of detailed sets of laid down drawings that explain how the building structure should be position.

The architects prepare the sets of drawing while the Engineers or Builders make use of the house plan drawings at the site to develop the building on till complete stage. I will take time to explain each and every one of them to the best of my ability, hope you will get it clear.

1. Site Plan

The site plan drawing  shows all top views of every thing that is going to be on that particular plot of land and gives detailed information of the size of the building compare to the size of the land.

For a construction project, the site plan also needs to show all the services connections like drainage and sewer lines, water supply, electrical and communications cables, exterior lighting etc.

The position of the house project is clearly specified on the  site plan so that the engineer can easily transfer it on the actual plot of land.

Its a first design that is made for any project before going into detailing process. Drawing up a site plan is a tool for deciding both the site layout and the size and orientation of proposed new buildings.

2. Floor Plan

This is the most important document in a house plan drawing details. it is the view of a building when you are looking at it from the top. it clearly explain the position of all walls and distance of the building walls from each other.

All space on a floor plan represent a particular function, and the name of what the space represent is normally written on the space for clarity purpose.

All thick and double lines usually represent the walls and they are arrange partition by partition depending on the functionally of the space and the purpose of the house plan while the unthick doble lines represent either beam, window, or door.

The dimension on floor plan gives additional information on how the wall lines need to be placed in other to bring out the exact space required for that particular function.

Generally floor plan view is defined as a vertical orthographic projection of an object on to a horizontal plane cutting through the house plan building. This shows the walls, windows, door and other features such as stairs, fittings and even furniture in some cases.

Floor plan is usually represented in 2D form, which has all the measurements and detailing, but today  floor plan can be shown in 3D layout for better understanding of how the house plan will look like before the construction start.  

3. Elevation

The elevation is another important aspect of a house plan drawing, it is simply the views of the house plan when you stand either in front, back or sides of the building to view it from a specified distance.

The purpose of the elevation is to explain more on some details that are not represented on the ground floor plan to show more clearly details on how the front, back and all the sides including the height dimension of the building will look like during the construction work.

The elevation for a house plan drawing is always design as 2D drawing details but these day since we have different software that we can use to carry out beautiful 3D elevations, it has become very easy to also show elevation in 3D format.

4. Cross Section

A cross section of a building plan is an additional house plan details that provide basically the hidden information about the house plan.

It can being seen as an elevation that is viewed when you try to cut through the building in other to see some hidden details like the thickness of wall, height of door and lintel or even the roof arrangement.

It is also represented in 2D format with all relevant dimension details on it to guide the builder or engineer during the construction process of the building and it is also possible to represent it in 3D format for better understanding of how the sectional area need to be, but the 3D format is not always included as a document in the house plan drawing.

5. Roof Plan

The roof plan basically show how the house plan roof design will look like from the top. it is an important element of house plan drawing. others details about the roof plan are included in the roof plan.

The roof plan helps and guide the carpenters on the style and nature of the house plan roof designs. 

6. Landscape Plans

A perfect building has a lush green garden adjacent to it, which enhances the beauty or aesthetics appearance of the building. Hiring a landscape architect for the beautification of houses is very important these days.

On landscape plans, you’ll see everything from flowers to sidewalks and lawn decorations to fountains. It majorly consists of sidewalks, plantations and other decorative features that can enhance the living area