SketchUp for Construction Documentation: Details in SketchUp

Nick Sonder continues his series for contruction documentation and goes through how he details and organizes his models in SketchUp.

[@DavidColley_SouthernGrain]

Nick has some seriously mad SketchUp skills. His vid's and instruction are awesome.

[@nhertel]

who tf would downvote this video?? it's an amazing model and an amazing explanation. inspirational

Yeah probably some other architects who want to scratch their eyes out because of the detail problems.

[@randomCADstuff]

I currently trying to decide between learning either Sketchup/Layout or Rhino, or if all else fails stick with Revit. The rhetoric regarding sketchup is that it's a program for 'beginner's' or hobbyists. But the quality of documentation and detailing that people are producing is outstanding! Sure you can do this in Revit. But better put in some late nights!

[@anthonyromano8565]

That wood grain texture on the cedar should be standard in sketch up.

[@madcowusa4277]

Worked on repairs to several of these decks over living area. Takes a few years, but all had extensive hidden rot and cost enormous sums to repair. Bad idea if you ask me, but they keep building them into multi million dollar homes here near Seattle. Interesting video, thx.

[@chrisdardaris]

Agreed fixed a bunch of these. Plus the deck joist are not sloped so your basically building a swimming pool. When ice gets in there it doesn’t matter what your roofing details are....it is gonna leak.

[@NSonder]

@@chrisdardaris that would be an incorrect solution. The joist are indeed laid flat, but the tapered insulation creates a slope of 1/4” / ft. Bad installations fail. Good installations do not.

The sprayed foam will recede over time and your vapor barrier is gone your deck will rot pretty quickly in building standards. Also no slope ? The insulation is also broken by your structural elements. In Europe we don't insulate wooden flat roofs like that for decades. Insulation on top of your plywood on top of a vapor barrier, and then you put your roofing on top of that. Always have a slope, use synthetic plot carriers to lift your deck rafters out of the water.

[@landarchconcepts420]

Excellent professional vid and nice details - thanjs

[@bhuwannepathya]

Really Good. WOw. Thanks for sharing this.

[@marfa_rfa]

Really amazing! very inspiring work!

[@jamescornejo6543]

Heat tape! never thought of that before...THANK YOU!

[@viewrick1]

Great video! Thank you for showcasing the importance of modeling detailing as a risk mitigation exercise! The devil are in the details!

[@HigherInfluence]

Really great standard of work, thanks for providing a view into how you do it. One thing I would implore all you Sketchup instructors to remember when you are making these videos - Please don't continually move and orbit around drawing as you are discussing a particular concept. It's so hard to watch it when you are moving it around all the time. Otherwise, this is the gold standard folks. Thanks.

[@ewillyp]

AMAZING VIDEO, so detailed and thorough, and TIL about Heat Tape. I never want to live ANYWHERE that I need HEAT TAPE! BRRRRRRRR!

[@user-ed7jn1bw6y]

Hello! Thanks for the great info!

[@tivankadsfn]

The video was so helpful!Thanks a lot!

[@mariocortes8231]

I work so excellent, in addition to seeing how well I use the program I am struck by the quality of the textures. It will be possible to know where to get these textures. thank you

[@ricsoares8169]

This guys is the Elon Musk of sketchup and architectural details. My hat's off to your sir.

[@Samy-st2pe]

Thanks for this video help me to make good detail

[@aakashshrestha7580]

I want more videos from you, keep making

[@Starw90]

how long did you complete all the working drawing.? very detailed.

[@NSonder]

The construction documents typically take me 3-4 weeks to complete since I set up many of the drawings early in the design stage.

[@carldermody5068]

Fantastic stuff. Wondering what the specs are on your desktop to handle such a model. Your interiors are fully furnished. I use a pretty powerful computer and it would struggle to deal with this.

[@NSonder]

I use an Origin computer. I7 3730, gtx 680 4gb video card. SSD 240gb. My next one will have a Titan.

[@tedarmstrong6424]

Very nice Nick!! I'm an old dog architect that's looking for a new trick outside of the BIM, REVIT, Microstation world we're sometimes forced to play in. Question - On this video, you talk of doing your details as vignettes, do you produce them in Sketchup, Layout or some plug-in? Thanks a bunch!

[@NSonder]

It’s all done in SketchUp then notated in Layout.

[@HistoricHomePlans]

Hi Nick. Great video. I have your book. I was hoping to see how you then move details like this into Layout, annotate and dimension them for the final, finished result. Have you made such a video?

[@NSonder]

Not yet. I did a presentation at the 2018 Sketchup Basecamp but it was a workshop so it was not taped. I will try to get one up later this spring.

[@germanrojas4945]

Could do 2x6 blocking from from roof and wall where flashing is atached too ... plywood ties enough but sure blocking helps aswell :D , not an architecture but soon and that's my goal ,, nice work 😎

[@NSonder]

That's not really needed since you have the studs @ 16" o.c. and you wouldn't attach the flashing any more than that spacing. It would also be a pain for the contractor to install blocking where the roof slopes along a wall.

[@daveyJ213]

Mr. Sonder. Did you construct the artwork for the Tyvek Homewrap yourself? How did you apply those art logos to that element? Thank you.

[@NSonder]

Hi David. I actually can't remember where I got that.

[@simplydivinehomes9859]

Hi David & Nick - The tyvek is in the 3D warehouse

[@mzms92]

so nice...

Great SketchUp skills, but there are several design problems in this detail. The sprayed foam will recede over time and your vapor barrier is gone your deck will rot pretty quickly in building standards. Also no slope ? The insulation is also broken by your structural elements. In Europe we don't insulate wooden flat roofs like that for decades. Insulation on top of your plywood on top of a vapor barrier, and then you put your roofing on top of that. Always have a slope, use synthetic plot carriers to lift your deck rafters out of the water.

[@jeffreyfeingold1602]

Excellent video. What is a vignette and how do I create one?

[@cooder8701]

Impressive

[@CU96821]

Excellent explanation. One question... construction documents are normally in black and white or grayscale because large scale color is so expensive. How would you address this? Thanks

[@NSonder]

You can print in B&W. All the color shows as Gray tones. Thankfully most building departments are moving towards digital submittals so the permit sets are all color. Most of the contractors I work with are also utilizing digital prints with field IPADs.

[@cluxseltoot]

Looked everywhere but your book. i.e. the one with the house gable picture - it is not available. Has the title changed or the cover change? Great instructional videos - many thanks.

[@NSonder]

+cluxseltoot We are still working on it.

[@cluxseltoot]

Although I respect your immense SketchUp skills I would like to see building examples which deal with environmental issues. i.e. Improve the floor area : external surface fabric area ratio. After all - SketchUp is more than a tool for designing Chalets amongst Pines/Fir Trees.

[@NSonder]

+cluxseltoot I understand now. These videos are showing a process for producing documentation for architecture. Style, location as well as environmental approach are design aspects that are not a part of showing how to produce the physical base drawings for a structure. Environmental issues, designing with a "Green" approach are all things considered in design and implemenation of the design and are documented in the drawings. But this video and the series of videos is more about the technical aspect of preparing drawings. For better or worse, all my projects are in fact, houses in the mountains by default of where I live and practice architecture. Sketchup is not limited to address your concerns any more than hand drafting, AutoCad, DataCad, Chief Architect, Revit or any other software. They are all tools to describe your design to the clients and contractors.

[@cluxseltoot]

+Nick Sonder Dear NickIn the architectural world I live in documentation is as crucial as drawing information and communication with clients, and client bodies. By 2020 Europe is carbon neutral - whereas in the USA it is 3030 (much too late for a foreign policy with common sense). CAD has to reflect this, as do the examples of the projects used to illustrate software. Looking at your work this is certainly possible, specifically as you have an excellent filing system and methodology. However, I would like to see examples using SketchUp linked to software modelling tools which integrate with SketchUp. i.e. DesignPH. It is just my own opinion, but I expect new CAD tutorial books to reflect this if they are to be of any use to people/architects in future years. Currently, I am preparing a project along the lines of a FLW Robie house with appendages bolted on to the ‘shed form’ thereby limiting energy waste through: Thermal Bridges, Windows installation, Airtightness and Insulation characteristics. I would hope to reduce energy demand by a minimum of 65% over traditional vernacular types (chalets). Even if your tutorial book entertained a ‘nod’ in this direction, it would enable SketchUp to move forward and compete with the likes of Autodesk’s Revit, ArchiCAD et al,. In fact using SketchUp in tandem with VRay, DesignPH and other modelling software makes the software very attractive through cost and usability. I found your KZbin videos on bringing SketchUp models through to Layout inspirational and a considerable advance in using the software professionally. However, in time SketchUp extensions will become available to model energy - ‘costs--in-use’ properly. I am minded of the Dibac extension which has the facility to place a window within the reveal depth thus wrapping insulation around the external side of the frame. Naturally, this takes some fiddling around but the results once mastered are formidable when placed into energy modelling tools. All the above are just observations/comments. Nonetheless, I for one will certainly purchase your book and I thank you for all the time you have taken in bring this software to my attention. In fact through watching your video tutorials I went out and purchased a full SketchUp Pro license and am very excited about loosening-up during the production drawing phase.

[@garyspeed8961]

@@cluxseltoot its 2020 is Europe carbon neutral?

[@_Breakdown]

*Nick Sonder shows how he organizes arch models in SketchUp*

[@donproctor3445]

I build screen porches and decks. When I pan out some geometry will show thru faces. Like rafters thru 1/2" OSB plywood. Why is this? Should I turn off all geometry that cant be seen using layers in ea view?

[@dekay4099]

Just purchased the book "Sketch Up & Layout for Architecture"

[@NSonder]

Thanks!

[@chuysaucedo7119]

After watching some of his videos, I'll be doing the same. Thanks Nick Sonder

[@jmor1415]

Kind of a construction technical question and not so much SketchUp related, but if the decking 2x is fastened to the sleepers to prevent screws from penetrating the modified bitumen, how are the sleepers fastened to the sheathing w/o having that same problem? Are they glued or something?

[@Realism91]

7:31 the sleepers float, those and the decking are basically a floating assembly that's trapped in place.

[@amarildofaustino6225]

Minto bom, gostei.

[@ilahliyeva1477]

nice

[@peterdejoseph5197]

How do I take an existing house and put it into sketchup so I can make changes

[@adp75]

Deck floor is floating on sleepers. Dumb question - how do you keep everything from moving if the sleepers aren't attached?

[@NSonder]

Adam Pruett it's bound on 4 sides. Also the sleepers are set on rubber pads over the cap sheet.

[@adp75]

Nick Sonder Got it. Thank you.

[@MoeTheBuilder]

Waiting for the day hackers will leaks Nick's projects file

[@EddiTaru]

Does anyone if I can have a central file in Sketchup and each individual floor as a separate file linked into the central file? If my models are way too detailed?

[@HamidA-to8vy]

How many hours would take from average drafter to draw something like that?

[@HugoRosales]

Hello! Some drawings to share? I'm a details freak myself. Thanks!

[@NSonder]

Very Soon! We are coming out with a detail package including the option to purchase details along with description of how I do it with a full "Detail builder"!

[@fadilvi]

Sketchup must develop section like curic section or scalp.. it's already 2022...i confuse why they think its enough to cut thing and only give black fill ? There's many annotations for different material in construction detail drawing.

[@robertbellini6491]

very well described, anyone know the construction cost?

[@NSonder]

This home was around $550/sf.

[@MrSpincode]

What is that metallic stuff, that fix the rafter at the top? It appears so weak.

[@HistoricHomePlans]

In the USA it is common to use specially engineered sheet metal elements for joining wood framing. They come in a variety of strengths. Simpson Strongtie is the main manufacturer. You can learn much about the system by studying their website.

[@NSonder]

@@HistoricHomePlans and Simpson has all their hardware available in SU!

[@daveyJ213]

Hello, Mr. Sonder. I went to Amazon to purchase your book there, but the title did not show up. Is your book available yet? I purchased another title, but it was not very informative.

[@NSonder]

Hi David. It will be available this fall. Thank you.

[@daveyJ213]

Nick Sonder Thank you, Sir. I once determined to become an architect, but ended up choosing another art form. Still love it though. Awesome work - thank you for documenting your efforts. Actually thinking of going back to school.

[@DiegoVillaOntiveros]

Sketchup Brad Pitt rules

[@NSonder]

LOL.....No!

[@md.ikdszan8874]

can i get u file of google sketchup

[@Figueroamit]

he repeated detail 383 times

[@Mark-by6en]

The dude keeps moving the detail around. Seems like he has mouse ADD. Makes me dizzy.. Just move to one part. Discuss it, then move to the next part. Much easier to follow that way.

[@NSonder]

Its a drawing tablet. Sorry for my ADD LOL!

[@ADSADSStore]

Na...NANI

[@zeynepesen4319]

LOL

[@alexmyrtil4266]

nice