You don't always need a full design package. Sometimes you just need it drawn — or shown.
Most of what we do is full home design — floor plans, elevations, the whole construction document set. But a fair number of projects don't need that. Maybe you already have a layout sketched out and just need it cleaned up in CAD. Maybe you're trying to decide between two siding colors and want to see them on the actual house before committing. That's what drafting and 3D rendering are for — standalone services you can order without a full design contract.
When drafting on its own makes sense
If you've got a hand-drawn layout, an old set of plans that need updating, or a builder's rough sketch that needs to be redrawn to scale, that's a drafting job — not a design job. We're not creating the layout from scratch; we're taking what already exists and producing a clean, dimensioned, professional drawing from it. This comes up a lot with builders who need overflow drafting capacity, or homeowners who've already worked out what they want and just need it on paper correctly.
When a 3D rendering is worth it
A 3D rendering shows you — or your client — what the house will actually look like before anyone picks up a hammer. That matters most in a few specific situations:
- Choosing between exterior material or color options, where a flat elevation drawing doesn't tell you enough
- Presenting a design to a spouse, partner, or client who has a hard time reading 2D plans
- Marketing a listing or a development parcel, where a photorealistic image does more work than a floor plan
- Settling a disagreement about scale or proportion before it becomes an expensive change order
We offer both standard 3D exterior renderings and physically based interior renderings (PBR), which simulate real material and lighting behavior rather than a flat cartoon-style image.
How this is different from a materials list
A rendering shows you what something will look like. A materials list tells your builder exactly what to buy — specific products, finishes, and quantities tied back to the drawings. The two often get confused, but they solve different problems. A rendering helps you decide. A materials list helps your builder execute. Plenty of projects benefit from both, and we offer them separately so you're not paying for a full design contract just to get one or the other.
What it costs to order these separately
Because drafting and rendering work is scoped individually — by the sheet, by the view, or by the hour depending on the job — there's no flat fee to quote here. What we can tell you is that it's almost always less than a full design engagement, since you're paying for a specific deliverable instead of the whole process from concept to construction documents.
The bottom line
If you already have a design and just need it drafted, drawn, or visualized, you don't need to hire us for a full project to get that. Reach out and tell us what you've got — we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick drafting job, a rendering, or something that's grown into a full design project.