Drawings for a Renovation: Our Typical Construction Drawing Set
Construction drawings are an interior designer’s way of clearly documenting a proposed design. Permits aren’t going to tell a contractor how you want everything to look and function—these drawings are essential for the construction team to bring your vision to life! In fact, drawings are often needed to submit for permits. A drawing set is how we communicate the dimensions of the spaces and everything in them, including systems, materials, and finishes. Every single line type and line weight in a drawing means something. We include floor plans, lighting and power plans and interior elevations in our drawing sets for Comprehensive and Full Service Design.
Floor Plans
A floor plan shows a view of a space from above. It’s as if you have a house or a building and you cut through it horizontally at 5 feet. Plans are the most fundamental part of a drawing set, it’s what all other drawings in the package are based on. These drawings show the following at a minimum:
Walls
Windows
Door types
Ramps
Cabinetry layout
Furniture layout
Floor plans should have enough dimensions on them that a contractor can build confidently. These drawings show where windows should be placed in the wall, doorways, door swings, stair direction and clearances for walkways and around relevant pieces of furniture. For commercial design, we show all these elements in addition to clearances required for ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act), especially in restrooms.
We also use different line weights depending on the object. For example, in a floor plan we’re “cutting” through walls so those lines are the thickest. Line weights to show glass in a window or the outline of a rug tend to be thinner.
The type of line conveys information as well. A long dashed line means we are signifying that there’s something above (like upper cabinets or a soffit). While a short dashed line means that there is something below, like base cabinets under the outline of a countertop.
Lighting + Power Plans
These are floor plans with a layer of symbols that show where we are going to light the space and where outlets and switches should be located so that the electrician knows where to run all their wiring. In a big picture sense, it also helps the contractor begin to think about where or not your electrical panel has enough power for any new additions to the space like appliances. Usually our lighting and power plans depict locations of the following:
Decorative and non-decorative light fixtures
Ceiling fans (if applicable)
Integrated lighting
Under-cabinet lighting
Switches
Exhaust fans
General outlets
GFCI outlets
Dedicated outlets
A lighting and power plan also allows us to think through switch locations. Those symbols look like dollar signs. Switch locations need to be well thought out, because it’s all about convenience. For example, you don’t want a switch on the hinge side of a door as you walk into the room. How annoying would that be! Specific symbols also show which switches should be on a dimmer and which should be 3-way switches (so you can turn the same fixtures on and off from multiple locations). It’s also important to show which switch goes to which fixture(s) with a dashed line.
Outlets are shown in a lighting + power plan as well. There are general outlets, GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) which are to be utilized in areas with exposure to water like a kitchen or bathroom, and dedicated outlets for appliances.
Interior Elevations
An interior elevation is a 2D drawing that shows what you would see if you were standing in front of a wall, looking straight on. These visuals are a requirement for any kitchen or bathroom that we design because there’s a lot of information that we can show in interior elevations that we can’t show in a floor plan or lighting and power plan.
Kitchen cabinet types (i.e. drawer vs. doors, roll-out inserts, spice pullouts etc.)
Upper cabinet or open shelving heights
Cabinet front design
Fireplace design
Heights of any showerheads, faucets and controls
Location of mirrors or medicine cabinets
Wainscot design
Height of any wall sconces
Wall tile patterns
If these details aren’t shown in interior elevation drawings the contractor is either going to ask a million questions or they are going to make assumptions and do what they want—neither scenario is ideal.
Additional Drawings
Depending on the size and complexity of the project, we sometimes add other drawings to the design package. For commercial projects, flooring plans and reflected ceiling plans are a lot more common. A flooring plan is different from a floor plan. A flooring plan shows the floor material in each space and notes transitions as the material changes from space to space.
Detail drawings are used for any built-in elements that are customized. That could be custom cabinetry, a new fireplace surround, a custom dining table, or a staircase. We need to create these drawings and then send them off to a woodworker or fabricator so that they can provide an estimate for building out the design element or piece of furniture while maintaining the design intent.
Clarity is Key
The clearer your design is communicated, the less issues there will be onsite. Most of the contractors we work with don’t need to ask too many questions because so much is shown in our drawing sets. All the decisions made throughout the design process are shown in our design package and the drawing set is a huge part of that. If your design package isn’t finalized before your renovation starts a lot of decisions need to be made on the fly which can often lead to unexpected costs. Our clients tend to be more happy with the end result, have a less stressful construction experience, and get more return on their investment.
If you’re unsure of what you’ll need to clearly share your vision to any prospective contractors, we can make recommendations. Book an info call so we can discuss your project in more depth.