Sketch - Draw

Drawing the Sketch

The Sketch section holds a sketch or floor plan of the dwelling and any outbuildings, and the standard it was measured to. In this lesson, we'll draw the sketch right here in DataMaster. Open it from the section list.

We're providing one

Sketch or Floor Plan Provided is the one question that's always required. We're providing a sketch, so answer Yes, and the rest of the section appears. Measurement Standard is how the areas were measured: ANSI, AMS, or Other, for example when state law requires a different standard. ANSI is the standard most appraisers measure to, and the one we use here, so choose ANSI. Any ANSI declarations the measurements need go in Sketch Commentary. We don't have any, so it stays empty. My Sketches holds what you draw here. Click Start new sketch.

What we're drawing

The editor fills the screen. Name the sketch up here: Floor Plan. We have this house's measurements, and it has four levels: a two-car built-in garage and an office on the first, the living areas on the second, and bedrooms on the third and fourth. All four go on one sheet, side by side.

The garage and the office

Start at the bottom of the house. Pick Rect, then drag from one corner to the opposite corner to draw the garage: 20 feet by 20. Name it 2 Car Built-In. A garage isn't living area, so set its Effect on Square Footage to None. It still prints on the sketch, in parentheses, but it doesn't count toward the total. Save it. Right below it is the rest of the first floor, 20 feet by 16. Start on the garage's corner, and the two line up exactly. Name this one First Floor. It's living area, so Effect stays on Add, and Level 1, Above Grade, and Finished are all right. Save the area. The bottom bar reads 320 square feet, and the editor has already saved it. There's no save button to remember.

One area per level

Now the second floor, off to the side so the levels don't overlap: 20 feet by 36. Name it Second Floor. This is where Level matters: change it to Level 2. Save it, and the total is 1,040. The third floor is the same size. Draw it beside the second, name it, and set Level 3. The top floor is only 19 feet deep. Name it Fourth Floor, and set Level 4. The total is now 2,140 square feet: the living area this report carries.

Name the rooms

Press F to fit the whole sheet on the screen. The Label tool names the rooms: click, type, and press Enter. That's the office. The rest go the same way, floor by floor: the dining room, kitchen, living room, and half bath on the second. Two bedrooms and two baths on the third, and a bedroom and bath on the fourth.

Check it and finish

That's the house. Click Close. Your work is already saved. The sketch now has a card under My Sketches, with a thumbnail, each area's square footage, and the totals by grade and finish. It reads 2,140 finished above grade, which agrees with the living area we'll report in Unit Interior. The checkbox next to the name is what puts a sketch in the report. A new sketch starts checked, so this one's already in. Turn on Show figures on sketch to print those totals under the drawing. To see how it will print, open Preview from the right-hand rail. There are all four levels on the report page, just as we drew them.

Dwelling Exterior

That completes the Sketch section. Next, Dwelling Exterior.