Looking for someone who knows abou:

[Don A. Coulson]

Chief Architect or Home Designer Professional in Fort Worth, TX

[Katalyst777]

Consider posting over on ChiefTalk if you haven't already.

[David J. Potter]

Don if you are serious about mastering Chief Architect Inc software then download a free trial version of Home Designer Pro from their website and also a free trial version of Chief Architect Premier X6 (version 16) from the Chief Architect Inc website and then compare them. Right away you will see that Pro and Premier are basically similar and the more expensive version (Premier) takes longer to learn because it is capable of more creativity. It is something you should decide yourself based upon your on intent to create versus how much willingness you can bring to bare in terms of study-practice time and money.

DJP

[Homeremodeler]

Hello
My name is Jim Goepfert. I have been a home remodeler for 7 years and I am looking for a home design software. I am thinking of purchasing Home Designer Pro 2014. I do a lot of Kitchen, bathroom remodeling, deck building and lately I have been doing some additions. I would like to hear from some users if this software will work for me. I want some software that is easy to use (user friendly).
If my prospective customer wants a 3 season room or a deck on their house , I want some software that I can draw their remodel, get a 3D image and a bill of material (that is accurate). The 3D image is going to help me sell the job and give the customer a image of the project. Is Home Designer Pro easy to learn, give me a good 3D image and accurate bill of material or is there a different program that would work better for me?

Thank you for your input.
Jim

[David J. Potter]

Jim, software (any software) does not "draw" a flipping thing, rather after learning how to control and guide the software, you do any drawing that then happens.

I started using this software in 1994, at that time, I worked for the largest remodeling firm in Central Texas and sold a remodeling job based upon my first drawing and use of that software the first day I used it. To really master the software then took me most of a year, learning as I went along supporting my family.
Anything worth doing takes a strong intention by the learner to learn and do what is necessary to become competent, only you can supply that commodity.

DJP

[Kbird]

Jim , I use the software for what you intend and the Materials List was one of the things I wanted it for too BUT the list isn't worth the paper it prints on , there are complaints on the chief site about it too ,but perhaps I need to put (a lot) of hours into the Materials List Master list to make it work right or something?

No 3D Cad software is easy to learn but this will get you going on smaller projects for sure as it did for me fairly simply but the more you use it, read the manual etc the more you will get out of it. try the Trial if you haven't , perhaps start with Architectural and upgrade if needed as I did ( you get a rebate for Arch. if you do.) for really simple stuff like a bathroom or kitchen where only interiors are needed even Suite might work for you....

M.

ps. note that the 3d images are NOT photo realistic in HD Titles , though pretty good , only Chief can do that.