SMARTDRAW IN INTERNATIONAL HOME IMPROVEMENT:

Denmark Homeowner Builds a New Deck in Half the Time, Thanks to SmartDraw

Measure Twice
Peter Guertler was looking for a fast and easy way to design a deck for his two-story home in Charlottenlund, Denmark. He budgeted $4,000 to complete the project, so purchasing only the raw materials necessary to complete the job was critical—his design had to be as accurate as possible.

"I knew I needed a CAD-type package, but I wasn't sure what to get," he said. "I tried Microsoft Visio^® once, but didn't like it. I had also used AutoSketch, but knew I wanted something more effective."

Guertler searched the Internet for another solution, and found SmartDraw.

"I downloaded the trial, and decided to buy it almost immediately as I could tell that using SmartDraw would ensure that this project would be a success," he said.

Cut Once
SmartDraw's ease-of-use impressed Guertler from the start.

"I could see that SmartDraw was no-nonsense software," he said. "You don't have to read the manuals to get going."

SmartDraw features thousands of images and templates, including a slew of symbols for floor plans and layouts of home and office spaces, facilities, landscapes, and exactly what Guertler was looking for: decks. The exact symbols and templates he needed to get his deck built including symbols for brick patterns, wood, and more were only a mouse-click away.

SmartDraw's easy drag-and-drop drawing tools allowed Guertler to begin creating his deck plan immediately. SmartDraw also allowed him to draft his deck to scale, so he could develop an exact "materials list" that ensured he would not go over his budget, nor get more than he needed, nor come up short on materials while building.

Guertler also found SmartDraw's Layer feature to be extremely helpful as it allowed him to simplify an otherwise complex plan by placing elements such as existing walls, new wooden structure, stairs, and sides into separate layers. He could then selectively print or display one layer at a time. Also, SmartDraw's "cheat" feature could squeeze his entire drawing onto one printable page, which would make it easy to share and print his plan.

"The layers feature is superb," said Guertler. "I used the layer feature extensively so I could better determine the exact order in which I should build my deck. And the one-page printing was great. No need to redo and reconfigure a bunch of parameters."

Perfect Fit
Guertler's deck is now finished, and he couldn't be happier.

"SmartDraw helped me turn my plans into a reality," he said. "It was so precise, that when my project was done, I only had one piece of wood left over."

Not only is does his deck look great, but Guertler estimates that SmartDraw saved him a tremendous amount of time and delivered a solid return on his investment.

"I'd guess that by using SmartDraw, I had a time-savings of 50%," he said. "SmartDraw has definitely paid for itself."

Guertler now uses SmartDraw a couple of times a week for other projects around the house, including a bathroom remodel. He'll also be using SmartDraw at work, where he is an engineer.

"I would recommend SmartDraw to anyone who needs software for floor plans or other technical drawings," he said. "It's amazingly powerful and versatile."