floor plans

let's click the sketch tab to move to thesketch window for this estimate. the sketch window contains a tool bar that displays thesketch tools we'll be using for this estimate. the sketch workspace by default contains ann with an arrow that shows where north is on the sketch. our hand drawing from the loss site also showsnorth. we will begin drawing the estimate

floor plans, at the top left of our workspace, which isthe northwest corner of the house. most estimators find that it is a good practiceto generally sketch from left to right and top to bottom. this first room is bedroom1. we click the room button and move our cursorover the sketch workspace.

the image of a room appears under our cursorwith the default inside dimensions of 12 feet by 12 feet. we move our cursor to the top left cornerof the workspace then click and hold the left mouse button. now we drag the mouse until we have a rectanglethat has inside dimensions of 16 feet 4 inches by 15 feet 6 inches and release the left mousebutton. to fine tune the dimensions, we click thewall handle and drag then click the dimension numbers and enter the correct number. we click on room 1 and change the defaultname to bedroom 1. now let's add the closet

to this bedroom. our onsite drawing shows the closet has insidedimensions of 3 feet 2 inches by 7 feet 7 inches. we could add this offset to bedroom 1 by usingthe room tool and attaching it, but we'll add the closet using the square break tool. we click the square break button then movethe mouse cursor over the east wall. dimensions now appear on both sides of our cursor. our plan shows the inside dimensions of thecloset are 7 feet 7 inches. the default width of the walls in sketch and the wall widthwe are using on this plan is 4 inches.

so we need to add two inches to our 7 feet,7 inch dimension and make the square break at 7 feet 9 inches. we move the cursor until it shows the 7 feet9 inch dimension then click the left mouse button. this gives us the inside dimension of 7 feet7 inches shown on our inside plan. now we move the mouse cursor over the newwall handle located above the break. we press and hold the control key then clickand hold the left mouse button and drag the wall to the right. we drag the wall until our inside dimensionsare 3 feet 2 inches.

we fine tune dimensions by click and draggingthe wall we want to change then clicking on the dimension numbers and typing the correctnumber. now let's change the name of this closet andattach it to bedroom 1 as a sub room. we move the cursor over the room name andclick the right mouse button. the right click menu appears and we selectproperties. the room properties window appears and we change the name to closet 1. we make the closet a sub room by clickingthe subgroup of dropdown button and selecting bedroom 1 from the dropdown list. when we click away from the room propertiesmenu, notice the display for closet 1.

it contains the name of the closet with thenumber 1 inside of parenthesis. this tells us the closet is a sub room andthat it is the first or number 1 sub room. placing rooms as sub rooms help xactimatecalculate totals for you in a more logical way. this will be important when we start enteringestimate line items such as carpet and paint.

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