Home > Understanding floorplans

by Jason Wilksonson

One of the unsung skills of good builders is their ability to properly understand floorplans. There’s a world of difference between seeing a floorplan and actually understanding what it means for your build. It could be the difference between getting the house you want and a potentially nasty surprise; it could even determine whether or not you proceed with the build at all.

The real issue is about comprehending what is useable space. The inexperienced often don’t pick up on what is visible in a plan and what isn’t; and unless you’re familiar with how plans work there can be numerous oversights awaiting you.

It can be expensive, too. If you’ve bought a £50,000 site and spent £150,000 on the building, it can be devastating when you get inside and find you can’t stand up in half of it.

A good example is a friend who recently bought a plot and is having a chalet bungalow built. He thought it was brilliant – until he went upstairs. The problem is that he’s 6ft 8 and the ceilings start at two metres!

Floorplans can be misleading to the untrained eye. If you compare the plans of a chalet bungalow and a house, they could look much the same. Both might have two floors with decent-sized rooms throughout, but what you can’t see is the headroom. In the upstairs rooms of the chalet you might have much less height to play with than you think.

If you find yourself in this situation and the space doesn’t work the way you want it to – maybe you can’t put in a shower, or stand up to use the sink – you need to address the issue as early in the build as possible.

So go through the plan room by room with the architect and be clear about the most basic things. If there’s a fire, is it in the right place? Is it flued correctly?

I’ve seen a chimney drawn downstairs then forgotten about on the upstairs plan; another where the fireplace was in one location and the chimney in a completely different position on the roof. If these things don’t line up, we can’t build them.

When I sit down to review a set of drawings I’ll identify those issues and work with a client to resolve them. A good builder will always be able to point out problems on a plan pretty quickly. Although we’ll often leave minor issues to be put right on site, we should raise major concerns quickly enough so that the design can be reconsidered.

It’s a good idea to make a planning checklist for every room. If the lounge has a bay window, how high is it? Is it in a recess? Is there space for a curtain pole?  

If you want to be sure you are getting the maximum usable space, you need to include every little detail, even to the extent of drawing sofas, a coffee table or TV directly onto the plan. The same applies to entrance doors, through doors and radiators. Go through every room in the same detail to make sure each one works the way you planned.

Also think about what is best suited to your style of house. For instance, large wardrobes in a chalet bungalow may look great on the plan, but rarely work in practice. You’ll see two doors on the plan, but the reality could be one of them is only two feet high and fitted flush to an inner slope, in which case it will have to be hinged on the opposite side.

It’s not only floorplans that can cause problems for the inexperienced project manager. Planning permission drawings tend only to show the site layout and elevations – you don’t see any of the internal sections until the building regulations drawings arrive. However it’s a bit late to get that kind of information when you’ve already bought a site and are well into the building preparation phase.

If plans are properly explained and understood by the customer in the first place, it will save a lot of time later in the build as problems arise and extra costs are incurred by sending tradespeople away or cancelling work.

So take the time to review your plans with both your builder and architect. By really understanding what your plans mean, it could save you a lot of time and money.