Drawing APPLICATIONS

house plans

Updated June 2020

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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Before you can draw a house plan, it is important to understand how to read house plans
to get some idea how they are created and more importantly WHY that particular way!

Engineers, architects and designers use drawings to communicate structure or building

requirements in a clear and concise manner TO OTHER PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS.

Remember then that the drawing must be drawn in a way that someone else understands it.

What is a House Plan?

1. Let us start with a simple house.

2. Now cut the building though horizontally

about 1metre above the ground.

3. Remove the top from the bottom.

4. Looking at the bottom part is your "Plan" of the house.

Plan View
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

The "Plan View" is easy, you just look from the top. How do you name the side views?
In Engineering Drawing you can have a "Left" and "Right" view, but with house plans you
have 4 views and often sections cut-out as well.

5. Elevations are drawings of the sides of the building which are drawn as if one were looking
at each side square on. Each elevation is named after the direction from which it is being
looked at

To view the West

Elevation
stand here

Why is North, South, West &

East so important in designing
a house? It's all to do with
the Sunlight, being one of the West Elevation North Elevation
most important considerations
when designing a house. For
instance, it can change the
size and positions of your
windows on any wall.
East Elevation South Elevation

6. A "Section" is a vertical 'cut'

through a building. The position
and direction of the 'cut' are shown
on the plan.

Note the Key symbols used to

show the section in diagram 2.

Section as shown on the drawing

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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

The Style and look to your house is largely a result of the type of roof and windows you choose.
Always keep these elements consistent

Roofs
A few different roof types are discussed below - some are more suitable for certain plan types
than others. Roofs can be constructed with trusses, rafters, or a concrete slab. The materials
you can use on a roof generally depend on its slope (roof pitch).
The Double Pitched Roof

With Gables

Probably the most commonly used type of roof. Average roof pitches (approx. 30 degrees)
can be clad in most roofing materials except thatch, which needs a pitch of at least 40 degrees.

The Hipped Roof

Facia Boards

This roof is sloped at both ends instead of having gables. Quite often Facia boards are added
to which gutters are attached.
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

The Monopitched Roof

This roof slopes in only one direction, from a parapet wall down to the eaves. Often a few
monopitched roofs are used in combination in one house. A Monopitch can be erected at
any angle (must allow water drainage).

The Flat Roof The Vault Roof

This roof is either constructed of roof sheeting A vault, which is a curved roof, can be
laid at a very low angle or waterproof boarding constructed with sheet metal. Or you
or a concrete slab. Flat roofs are often contained can build them of brickwork or concrete.
by parapet walls which serve to conceal the roof.
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Roof Overhang

The roof overhang is an important feature on most houses. Its main function is to protect
the walls from water running down them thereby prolonging the life of the building and the
foundations. Another use is to attach gutters to the roof trusses supporting the roof.

Roof
Overhang

Usually house plans will show the roof trusses and additional detail, however for our purposes
it is sufficient to show the roof as seen above. The overhang is also termed a “Gable”.

Facia boards
and gutters
would be
mounted here
Roof truss shown mounted on the walls.
This would be called a ‘Section’ on the plan
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Windows and doors

There are many different sizes and shapes of doors and windows. They are also made
from different materials, such as, wood, steel, aluminium and plastic.
Standard sizes are provided by the SANS (South African National Standards) and all
manufacturing companies provide catalogues with types and sizes with these standards

Typical window
frame catalogue Window Height

Window Width
Window Type

Window and door frames have catalogue numbers which should be labeled on the plan.
This enables the builder to position them easily since he already knows their dimensions.
Standard doors are not labeled as their size is assumed, whereas a special door such as
a double door must be specific and correctly labeled.

Height of wall

Top of window and top of door line up

3000

2100

Floor level
Ground level

Drawing the plan ELEVATION

200

view of a Window

inside of the room

hinge point

ND4 PLAN
900
outside the house
Window Sill

inside 900 includes

door frame

glass
middle
outside ND4
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Walls
Wall dimensions are determined by the sizes of the bricks from which they are made and the
mortar (cement) between the bricks. Since we are using a pencil, and scales of 1:50 and 1:100,
it would be difficult to draw a fine measurement like 20mm. We are therefore going to trim our
measurements to suit the type of drawings we are producing. When you get to using a CAD
(Computer Aided Design) programme then you can use fine measurements with ease.

Clay bricks vary in style and look, nevertheless they all have the same dimensions.
The standard brick size is 230 x 110 x 75, but due to our limitations we will show them as
seen below.

2
0
100

0
75
2
0
0

100

Wall Dimensions:

Note: All dimensions on a house plan are in Millimetres

External
Any external wall of a house must be 2 bricks wide for extra strength as the outer walls
have to hold up the roof, in other words 200mm wide. The wall between the house and
garage must also be 200mm wide. This is known as a firewall (if there is a fire or
explosion in the garage possibly due to petrol), the main house will be protected.

Internal
The internal wall of a house is one brick wide, in other words 100mm wide (for us).
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Walls
Walls are drawn using dark outlines. It is wise however to produce the entire house plan
first in construction lines before deciding which lines you should darken.

Below is a typical wall at a scale of 1:50 (therefore 50mm in real life = 1mm on your paper.)

Construction lines

Dark outlines

Basic exterior wall

Exterior wall
Interior wall

Joining two walls

one brick away from wall

Adding a door

window centered

Adding a window
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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

On an A3 page, draw the following plan to a scale of 1:50 exactly as shown

below. Do not measure from this drawing but use the dimensions shown.
All dimensions are in millimetres.
Show all dimensions and window types (shown below).

1000mm (1m) in our

case due to pencil

2500mm (2.5m) in our

case due to pencil

NC4 NC11 NC12

200 3500 1800 4000 200

100 100
200

200
NC4 NC2 NC11
NC4
3300

3300
KITCHEN BATHROOM BEDROOM 1

100
100
3600

3600
NC11
2500

LOUNGE BEDROOM 3 BEDROOM 2

NC11 NC11
200
200

200 100 100

3500 3400 2400 200

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Drawing Applications House Plans Compiled by M. Patrick ©

Elevations
The elevation as shown on a drawing should be labeled according to the plan.
for example ‘North Elevation’, ‘East Elevation’ or ‘C Elevation’ etc.
Although the windows and doors are not dimensioned on the elevation, it is
still necessary to show their correct positions in relation to the plan.

Note: when the scale of an elevation is different to that of the plan, it is still
expected of you to maintain the proportions according to the plan. In other
words, if a window is 4000mm away from the door (according to the plan),
then it should be the same distance away on the elevation although at a
different scale. See example below!

SCALE 1:50
NC11
2600

LOUNGE BEDROOM 3 BEDROOM 2

NC11 NC11
200

200
200 100 100

3500 3400 2400 200

SCALE 1:100