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We are starting to redo the exterior of our home, and it all starts with the new garage door in a month or so.

Then, the roof, vinyl siding, and shutters.

And, we are also looking at doing "something" with the brick foundation.

Finally, after all that is done, "mild" landscaping. Nothing stupendous or super fancy with it, and mostly only for the front yard. The back is given over to the doggies.

Given the cost of it all, we've decided to invest in software that will help us make decisions.

I don't want to purchase an overkill program. Yet, I'm concerned simple will be toooo simple.

What software would you suggest?

Thank you.

I'm not sure what you mean by software that will help you make decisions.

Are you looking for something that you can draw elevations on so that you can see what different ideas will look like?

If so, maybe software is not the way to go. I use CAD all the time for doing elevations etc, and it would be a bit of a challenge to learn, and it is an expensive program ($6,000 range), so that doesn't make sense. I'm not familiar with the non professional programs out there.

One thing you can do that is surprisingly easy and effective is to take a good front-on photograph of your home and enlarge it to about 8x10. Then using tracing paper trace over the photo to get a simple line drawing of your exterior. Place tracing paper over the line drawing and draw in your ideas. Don't worry about it being absolutely perfect. Do several versions, trying out different ideas. You can give the drawings a bit of color using colored pencils.

Nothing is going to be simpler, easier to do, and as effective as using tracing combined with sketching to try out your ideas. And there are tons of books in the library or in a book shop that show exterior treatments. Lots and lots of ideas out there.

I agree with taking a front direct photo of your house. In paint you can take the color out and leave you with with a gray scale drawing. I think you can get it pale.

Then you can color in the areas with colors you are planning to use. These can also be done on Paint program.

Good luck, sounds like a large and wonderful project! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Thank you, Cocok and Mary Ruth.

I've used paint for years for most basic things but we are at the point we need something more refined.

Many generously do free mockups on the board, but I don't know what software is used. Not elevations, but mockups.

I'll post a new message. I couldn't think of what the word was yesterday when I wrote... Mockups.

Thanks again.