When building a home, it is important to have a picture of your vision for your new home. You might want a colonial-style home or a modern-style home.  As a customer, you want to see a draft of your vision either on paper or via computer. You want to get a realistic view of your new home design.

If you’re remodeling your home, you might want a picture of your new remodeling project. For example, if you want to change a bedroom of your college age child to an office for a new business, this will need some real planning. 

In both cases, you would need a building elevation, designed by an architect. This gives you an idea of the project’s results. A Concrete Contractor could also assist in building your Home Project.

What Is A Building Elevation?

The building elevation is a drawing that helps the architect understand the facing of the building. The facing of the elevation includes the direction of the sunlight and wind. In addition, the building elevation design also includes the height of the building, as well as doors and windows. The elevation design is one of the earliest drawings that are drawn early in the process of a project.

In layman’s terms, the building elevation is a visual picture of your upcoming home or remodeling project. It includes materials to be used, layout of space and rooms, and home decor.

There are four types of building elevations:

• Front elevation
• Back elevation
• Left elevation
• Right elevation

These elevation designs include upcoming projects, materials, construction, spacing, and home decor. This elevation is essential for new homebuyers wanting to see how their home will look. One view a homebuyer can see is from within the yard. 

Major Elements Of A Building Elevation Design

When reading or viewing a building elevation design, there are several parts to the design. Here is a list of the main details of the elevation design:

1. Title and scale – The title tells you what side of the house is being viewed or drawn. The side could be front or left. 

Scale tells you how the drawing compares to the actual size of the home. For example, for each 1/4″ on paper could equal 1’0 in actual height of the home or wall. This helps the architect and construction come up with the accurate home size, based on the elevation design.

2. Doors and windows – The windows and doors are created based on the style of the home with decorations and other window treatments. 

3. Roof pitch – This part shows how steep the roof is. The symbol is usually two numbers, a rise, and a run. Most roof pitches are between 6/12 – 12/12. For example, if it’s 12/12, this means that for every 12″ of rise is 12″ of run. This is used on every elevation of the home.

4. Elevation markers – The elevation markers are dashed lines demonstrating where the floor and plate lines on each level connect to the elevation. Plate lines show the top of the frame wall. Some designs call for heights of walls being raised or simplifying a roof.

5. Ground plane – This plane represents an estimation of the ground’s location to the home. This plane is beneficial and is key for demonstrating walkout style homes. Most ground planes are drawn 12 inches below the top of the foundation, which exceeds coding regulations.

These elements give you a live presentation of your future home or project. This gives you a sense of your home externally and internally, as well as how the sun hits certain parts of the home.  

Select The Building Elevation For Remodeling

Now that you know the main factors of a building elevation, it is best to figure out which one you would like. When choosing which architectural design to use, the front elevation design gives you a major first impression of your future home. Here are some benefits to getting the front elevation design:

• Shows the main entrance.
• Demonstrates street appeal that impacts the property value of the home.
• You can determine which room gets sunlight, or which rooms are private.
• Organize the space on the property.

You can choose the other side elevation designs based on your remodeling project. If you want to change your bedroom into an office, an architect will create a building elevation for this project.

Another issue could be wanting to capture more sunlight with an office since you did not want a lot of sunlight when it was a bedroom.

Elevation designs demonstrate ways to change your design. If you’re designing a home office space, you can see where to place your desk, lighting units, or other decorative items. This eliminates any unwanted surprises once the project is finished.

It’s important to know that an elevation design is not required with any construction project. If you want a picture of your anticipated project, then the building elevation is for you.

Choosing The Right Architect For Your Home Project

When choosing a professional architect, you need someone who will work with you throughout the entire process. It’s important to have an architect and/or engineer that is affordable. These designs can give you a live view of your design style, including European, modern, country, traditional, or a combination.

If you live in California, you need a home architectural drawing company that provides a hassle-free process in creating your building elevation. Building a home or remodeling your home can be a long tedious process.

As a result, you need your architectural design that works expeditiously so you can get your building permits. Once you have your permits, building or remodeling can begin.

Now that you have more information about creating the vision of your dream home or dream home project, you can seek an architect now. For the best in building elevation designs, contact a home architectural drawing company today in the California area.