Hello. I am in initial stages of drawing our house plan. Do any of you know of a decent affordable program for Mac/Apple ?

SketchUp is free from Google.

Posted By ICFHybrid on 05 Sep 2011 08:44 PM
SketchUp is free from Google.

I'll second this suggestion!

This is this is the premier software for the mac. It is still a few dollars but if your not going to invest in the design, you shouldn't build the house ;-) Bob

Sorry missed the link. http://engsw.com/

It is still a few dollars

It's a thousand dollars, vs *free* for the Sketchup from Google.

How can that possibly be the right choice for someone who is going to do one house?

Google Sketchup is a good program. I know that many firms use it for their program, and it's very user-friendly.

Miicrostation v8i is a good program for drafting if that's what you're aiming for, and it's files are compatible with other programs like rhino, which is good if you need to share files. However, I'm not sure how much it costs. I got it for free because I'm a student. Rhino is a great program, but it is $1,000 for a non-student/teacher.

http://sketchup.google.com/
http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Products/microstation+product+line/
http://www.rhino3d.com/index.htm

I've been using Home Designer Pro 2012 for a month now to rework our home design. Excellent 3D capability. Can see 3D and floorplan side by side, add doors/windows in either, .. Bit of a curve to learn, but tech support in the form of videos, forums and human gets you up and running. Comes with a decent library of objects such as cabinets, fixtures, doors, windows, colors, etc. I've downloaded objects from Coronado and El Dorado stone companies for more variety as we want a stone exterior. $399 at Amazon. From their website http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/system-requirements.html here are Mac requirements

"Intel Mac
Leopard OS or newer with Windows 7 / Vista / XP running on Boot Camp
256 MB of dedicated video memory, supporting OpenGL 2.1 or higher
System Memory: 2 GB
Processor: 2 GHZ
DVD Drive"


I downloaded the free Sketchup, but it didn't do what I wanted or maybe I wasn't as diligent in trying to maximize its capability. Probably ok to get you in the ballpark, but can you use it for final construction drawings?

Used Punch house design software, but it was limited. Dave