Looking for a Windows based Home Design Software package. For designing a garage.

Nothing too fancy and definitely with a short learning curve.

The ability to do basic “what if” changes.
2D is fine.
The ability to do cost estimates is a must including electrical.
Import the drawing into a contractor’s professional grade CAD/CAM software pkg

Any other features I should be looking for?

Thanks,

I would recommend spending some time on the Garage Journal forums and ask for recommendations there.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

[Joe Dirt]Dang. That's a good website[/Joe Dirt]

Thanks.

Edit: I forgot all about that msg board. I joined in 2005 and haven't logged in in more than 10 years. It's a [censored] getting old and I ain't getting any younger.

I used AutoCAD R14 when I designed my shop back in 2007. I would put different things on different layers. I laid out the property on one layer for the permits, then the keep back areas, the shop floor plan, and electrical and lighting on different layers. I could turn layers on and off depending what I wanted to do. They have a program called Revit for architectural work, but have never used it.

Most modern cad software is so complicated it's not realistic for a beginner to figure out in a short time span. Much faster to just pay someone to convert your hand sketches into cad than trying to learn it.

Thanks for the replies. I found a fairly recent thread on Garage Journal and got a few good ideas.

Don't recall seeing Sweet Home 3D mentioned, but NanoCAD has a few strong believers. Similar commands to AutoCAD and also does layers. There are other pkgs that guys like as well.

Too friggin' bad materials have skyrocketed.