How to Measure a House with Archicad
Most of my projects start with a house measure. Soon after starting Shoegnome Architects I realized the best way to measure a house was to also build the Archicad model at the same time. Previously I would spend a day at the house then half a week or more at the office constructing the Archicad model. I often needed to revisit the site to pickup missing information. Now my measures take one to three days on site. By the time I leave the client’s house at the end of the measure my Archicad model is basically done and I’m more or less ready to start design.
In this video I talk about this process, covering what I do both in and out of Archicad. How I measure has evolved now that I’m building the Archicad model at the same time, so both pieces need to be discussed.
As always there’s at least one item I forgot to mention in the video. When doing existing conditions models, sometimes I end up modeling everything as New instead of Existing. Fortunately ‘Reset Renovation Status’ is there to make that error a non-issue. See the image below.
I’d love to hear how other people measure buildings. Are you also modeling as you go? Are there any Revit users doing this? Do you measure more or less than I do? Are you using point clouds? If so, do point clouds save you time and frustration? Or do they just shift efforts back to the office? I have a strong views on existing conditions documentation and am super curious to hear other philosophies on the topic.
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CJ Shumate
I use MagicPlan and a Bluetooth laser tape to construct a solid floor plan while noting heights. In the office I bring that plan into ArchiCAD and usually find a few areas that need a second site visit.
Jared Banks
Cool. There’s an app (OrthoGraph) that does something similar and allows you to import directly into Archicad. Years ago I was talking a lot with the developers, but at the time I didn’t have an iPad to try it out on.
Cornelis Wegman
Hi Jared
A very useful video. I measure lots of houses (and sometimes bigger buildings) and found it instructive to see how you do it. Spending 3 days on establishing an as-existing models must assume a fairly generous client – fee wise! But you are right – doing it properly takes time and saves a lot of angst when it comes to designing and documenting the alterations.
Do you have any tips on instruments for measuring? I use a laser measurer for internals, supplemented by a hand-held tape measure for details. Cloud point measuring can be carried out by some surveyors and generates incredibly accurate as-existing documents but does not explain how the building is constructed. It shows surfaces and external and internal corners and angles only.
Thank you, Jared
Jared Banks
Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful.
I’m a bit old school. My tools are a 35′ tape, a laser (currently use a Leica Disto d2), and my phone to take photos + measure angles (I have a great freebie app for that). I stopped worrying about the cost of my measure. Years ago when I was a newly licensed architect I remember talking about the cost of measures with my bosses. The cost had definitely gone up in the transition from hand drafting/CAD to Archicad, but that’s because we were doing more. We were providing a better, more complete measure, and had a better end product (the Archicad model). Compared to that time, my measures have gone up between 50 and 100% in price. But when you factor in that a measure done for $2,000 in 2010 would be $2,700 in today’s money, I think the actual cost of my measures have gone up between 25 and 50%, at most.
HOWEVER, when you think about how much you get out of a complete Archicad model, the value is incredible. In those 20 hours of measuring and modeling, you get preliminary design ideas, you understand the house, you have complete existing conditions plans and elevations, and you have another dozen or more partially finished drawings (plans, sections, elevations, demo plans, etc.). 20 hours for the thing you had to do (document the house) plus 20+ drawings…
Honestly I’ve never had a client question my process. It is a bit unnerving to send a good size invoice before design starts, but preparation is worth it (I remind myself there are no shortcuts). So I say, give it a shot. The hardest part is carving out the time in your schedule to spend consecutive days on site and out of the office.
Rachel
Hi Jared,
Was worth watching this video just for the ‘stick’ man drawing on the roof : ) The bulk of my work (in Australia) is also renovation work and it was really good to see how similar work methods are when it comes to measuring / modelling existing conditions. I liked your tips on the back-up structure. More of what I do is single storey (not so many basements here) so the time requirement for measuring and modelling is a little less. I usually do all of my modelling back at the office as I work on a desktop, but do a lot of prep work before I go on site to measure. I also use a laser measuring tool, tape (obviously), sometimes a laser level to confirm site / interior levels and heaps of photos. It was also good to see how you model out of squareness as that’s always an issue. Appreciate your tutorial videos – have learnt a lot from them.
Jared Banks
Hi Jared,
Was worth watching this video just for the ‘stick’ man drawing on the roof : ) The bulk of my work (in Australia) is also renovation work and it was really good to see how similar work methods are when it comes to measuring / modelling existing conditions. I liked your tips on the back-up structure. More of what I do is single storey (not so many basements here) so the time requirement for measuring and modelling is a little less. I usually do all of my modelling back at the office as I work on a desktop, but do a lot of prep work before I go on site to measure. I also use a laser measuring tool, tape (obviously), sometimes a laser level to confirm site / interior levels and heaps of photos. It was also good to see how you model out of squareness as that’s always an issue. Appreciate your tutorial videos – have learnt a lot from them.
PS – I drew the stick figure with a little app called Presentify. It’s the best. If you use a Mac, it’s a must have. It allows me to sketch over anything, at any time. Fun, easy, and amazing for videos and meetings.
Ingolf Sundfør
Very useful. Greetings from Norway where we have a lot of wooden houses. Thanks from Ingolf.
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