Technology for As-Builts

[LeahOslin]

Hello! I’m wondering what people use to assist with capturing existing conditions. We are currently using Beacon Pro for exterior and Canvas for interior. Are there whole house scanners available that integrate with Chief? 

[RobDesLLC]

I use Canvas for interior and exterior, photo document the whole house, and then spend a few hours correcting the model I receive from Canvas.

[kylejmarsh]

I basically shoot like 10 measurements the first time I go out just to get an overall shape that I can mock up. That and a few pictures do the trick for the first set of concepts (why spend more time than I have to at that point) along with the county data which shows the basic footprint of the house. I just use that to get the concepts going.

 

Then once I have the client signed up for more than concepts (actual construction drawings) I'll go out, bring my computer with my rough chief model, and measure it up right there.

 

You just need to know what's important and what's not. I know how deep a cabinet is. I know what a 6' slider is. I don't need to know the size of the windows in that bedroom way over there that we're not touching. Etc. Etc. to get started anyway. 

 

Check your room dimensions, check your ceiling height, get some nice straight-on pictures of the walls in the room you're working in. If you can't come up with a concept that you like and that the client accepts why measure the whole house and burn a bunch of time?

 

As for tech, I've tried a bunch of stuff but most of it is more pain than it's worth. I mean, we already have chief architect, how much easier do you need it to get?

 

[Billis]

Hey! I used Matterport for a project last year, and it worked great for capturing entire houses. It also integrates with Chief Architect, which made the process smoother for me.