I'm looking for a reliable CAD tool—preferably free or low-cost—to help me document my house in detail. I need to create either a 2D or 3D model that includes the following features:
- The external dimensions of the house
- Room dimensions
- Wall thicknesses (which can be inferred from the above)
- Most importantly, I want to accurately document the routes and technical specs of the water, gas, heating, and electrical lines, including pipe types, hot/cold water identification, diameters, cable types, etc.
I've tried several tools:
- Fusion 360: Great tool, but it stores everything in the cloud and has project limits, which isn't my preference.
- SketchUp: Seems too basic for my needs regarding parametric measurements.
- SOLIDWORKS: Love it, but too pricey for personal use.
- AutoCAD: Very powerful yet outside my budget.
- OpenSCAD: Closest to what I'm looking for, free, and user-friendly for data entry, but I'm open to suggestions for other suitable options.
As a programmer skilled in TypeScript, I'm comfortable with technical tools that offer precision and flexibility, but I can't afford to shell out thousands yearly just for this purpose. Ideally, I'd like a tool that allows for clear input and reading of this information, stored locally. What do you recommend?
1 Answer
There aren't many free or low-cost options out there that will give you a good quality 3D model. You might want to check out FreeCAD and Planner 5D; they're decent for design and might cover your needs. For documenting everything clearly, Excel can actually be pretty handy for organizing your technical specs, believe it or not. Just think of it as a data entry tool to accompany your CAD model. Also, don't forget that SketchUp Free has some useful features, although it might feel a bit limiting with measurements. Good luck!
I had no idea Excel could be so versatile! I might give that a shot, thanks!