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Comment by chuckcode | Hacker News Reader

+1 to this post by koliber. Only thing I would add is to plan as detailed as you can everything beforehand. Draw it up, visualize it. What sort of hinges on doors, how will the cabinets swing, etc. etc. Before you even start building a wall you have to decide how wide you want the trim around the doorway as you'll want the light switch just that far from the door and you'll want a 2x4 there with electrical. So there are a lot of cascading intertwined non-obvious decisions and it is remarkably expensive to refactor a house partway through construction.

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Absolutely.

First, try to understand a process. Draw it. Imagine going through the process of building it. Draw it again. Look at your friend's house to see how it is different. Try to imagine how that one was built.

I have an interesting tale of how the patio door installer almost caused my kitchen countertops to be installed 2 inches lower. The story is a bit convoluted because many things are tied together in the house. You have levels for your foundations, sills, door bottoms, door tops, window tops, subfloors, and floors. Different layers have different widths. Wood flooring ends up being a certain width, and tile flooring another. If you want things to be flush when you're done, you need to plan everything meticulously, backwards, across months of time and different crews.

Moral of the story: pay attention to the levels of everything, across the house, all the time, in one place. Double-check this and verify all the time.

Are the software tools used to build a buildprint smart enough to take into account the local code, comfortable spacing/clearances, etc.? Is there a blueprint equivalent of lint?

Almost certainly not for local code. My experience is that building codes make the IRS tax codes look clear and concise. Often multiple conflicting rules apply and you're trying to hammer out some reasonable common sense with 2-3 different people in planning office one of which is almost certain to go on vacation while you're in permitting process. You'd be luck to get city plan reviewer, architect and contractor all in the same room for an extended discussion.

There are architectural programs that will render a 3d space to help with visualizations. Or any 3d drawing program like autocad can help as well.

Generally the linting is done manually when you ask for bids on your plans from contractors. If your plans are really poor they won't bid or they will come back with suggestions or prices that incentivize you to rethink things.

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