Locating Walls, Doors, and Windows of the House

Now that the house has been located correctly in relation to the property corners, it is time to measure the walls of the house including the location of the doors and win­dows. On a second sheet of graph paper attached to the clipboard, again sketch the configuration of the house. This sketch of the house should be drawn larger than the previous sketch because there are many detail elements to be measured.

The following is a recommended process for establishing a relatively propor­tional sketch plan of the house.

Step 1. First, sketch the overall plan configuration of the house’s outside walls by walking around the house and noting the number of corners and shape of the layout (Figure 6—26).

Step 2. Next, estimate the location of all the doors and windows of the house on the sketch plan drawn in Step 1. This can be done by erasing por­tions of the walls drawn in Step 1 and penciling in the doors and windows. It is helpful to identify doors with one notation and win­dows with another notation. Doors can be noted as D1, D2, and so on, whereas the windows can be identified as W1, W2, and so on (Figure 6—27). In later phases of the design process, it will be impor­tant to know where the most-used doors are, which way the doors swing, and where the major and minor views out of the house occur.

Step 3: It may also be necessary to measure the door and window jambs

(sides) along house walls where detail construction such as a walk, deck, fence, and so on is anticipated. This information ensures more accurate alignment of these proposed elements with the house fapade (face). Along these house walls, the two jambs (sides) for each door

and window should be sketched in the plan. Each jamb should receive a specific notation for purposes of measuring. Starting with Pt. A and proceeding in the direction of Pt. B, number each of the jambs con­secutively starting with 1 (Figure 6—28). Because there are three openings in wall AB, jambs are numbered 1 through 6. The same process can be repeated on other house walls as necessary.

After the house walls, doors, and windows have been sketched on paper, actual measurements can be taken along each side of the house. This is accomplished with the baseline measuring system by stretching the tape measure from one corner of the house to the next. For example, the tape measure is stretched along wall AB to deter­mine the door and window locations in relation to Pt. A. Again, record all the meas­urements in a manner similar to that shown in Figure 6—29.

After the horizontal measurements of all the doors and windows have been made and tabulated, it is recommended that the heights of first-floor window sills and door thresholds above the ground be determined. As an example, W1, whose sill measures 3;-6" above the ground, is expressed as W1 + 3;-6". All the window and door sill heights are also shown in Figure 6—29.

Updated: October 7, 2015 — 9:37 pm