Bond Beam for Aerated Concrete Blocks

[David J. Potter]

I beg to differ with KBIRD's assessment of the Materials List tool in Home Designer Pro as "pitiful". What it does is measures exactly what is placed and how it was placed into the plan file by the end user, nothing more or less. It is not an estimating application, but rather a measuring one. It measures the competence of the 3D modeler's ability to emulate a building exactly as it will be built in the field.
If that virtual building is carefully put together then the Materials List that results from it is accurate and useful. In order to do that one has to fully master the software's tools and procedures. Any short cuts, errora or mistakes then through off the resulting Materials List.

Such a plan file takes me quite a few additional hours of work to accomplish and check. Few have been the clients I have had who are willing to pay for the additional time required to create such a plan file. Just to create 3D views and Construction Documents takes a lot less time and skill to accomplish.

The number of end users willing to learn the software to the degree necessary are scarce as well, I have observed over the years.

DJP