waitinis71 0 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Hi all, I am an avid do-it-yourselfer and find myself more and more doing renovation jobs for friends and family...this is not a business, but I find myself wishing I had a program that would help me not only design additions, decks, etc. but visualize them for the people I am doing this for so they have a good idea of what it might look like. More often than not, I am either adding to an existing building or modifying it somehow, both interior and exterior. Up here in Maine we use a lot of monolithic slabs or posts below frost level. The Pro version seems to have a lot more features that allow you to manually adjust framing and other aspects of the building but is it much better than the Architect version? I don't want to buy a version that will frustrate me when I go to change something only to find out there are no options for that. Is the Pro version in your experiences, robust enough to be as flexible as I need? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
RobynKS 5 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I gather you live is USA. PRO IS PROBABLY BETTER THAN THE OTHER VERSIONS. Since you mainly use slabs.....I would suggest you download the free copy and use it for the entire month before buying it. However you will not be able to save nor print during that month. Link to post Share on other sites
solver 671 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I agree with Robyn. Chief has trial versions for all the products, and an easy upgrade path to the more expensive titles. I chose Pro over the other Home Designer options because it does what I need and the others did not. I also considered Chief Premier, but could not justify the cost difference. Link to post Share on other sites
DavidJPotter 218 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 What you would need is Home Designer Pro 2015 which you can download a free trial of if you like to see what it does (the trial version does not save or print). DJP Link to post Share on other sites
barthmv 6 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I have used Pro 2015 for exactly what you are asking about. I found it fit all my needs in both remodels and new construction. My son-in-law also used it to create plans for a building permit. Great program Link to post Share on other sites
waitinis71 0 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks for all the input! I ordered the Pro version and when it gets here I will dive in. Link to post Share on other sites
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