How to Add Exterior Finishes to Your 3D Floor Plan

If you are working on a custom home, full home remodel, or outdoor remodel, your exterior design is a key part of the project. Using the 3D floor planner, you can start to bring this vision to life by adding windows, doors, exterior siding materials, outdoor surfaces, furniture and more.

Please Note: While we are always adding more features, you are not able to adjust roofing materials or create elevation drawings at this time.

Getting Started

Before you update the exterior part of the home, it's important to build out the walls to create the external structure. To do this, use the Draw Wall tool in the toolbar at the top of your 3D floor plan. Read How to Create a 3D Floor Plan and How to Create Accurate Wall Lengths to learn more about getting started.

Once your walls are built, you are ready to start updating the exterior.

Add Windows and Doors

You can add windows and doors to your 3D floor plan in both Floor Plan and Dollhouse mode, though Floor Plan is a little easier for proper placement.

To access all the door and window options, click the Structures icon in the right menu, then select Doors or Windows from the dropdown.

There are a wide variety or door and window styles to choose from. For doors, you can select interior and exterior doors, single or double doors, sliding glass doors, barn doors and more. For windows, you can select picture windows, bay windows, sliding windows, double hung windows and more.

Click on your preferred door or window to add it to your floor plan.

Once your door or window is on the floor plan, you can adjust the placement by clicking and dragging the product. If you need a precise measurement from the product to the wall, you can change the measurement number directly on the floor plan to move it. You can also duplicate, flip or delete the product by selecting the relevant icon on your floor plan.

On the right side of your screen, you can adjust the product dimensions, as well as change the product finish/paint color and hardware finish (if relevant). For windows, you can also adjust the window distance from the floor.

Continue to add the relevant windows and doors as needed. Once they are added, you can view them in Dollhouse mode to make sure the placement, finish and overall design looks good.

Add Exterior Siding

After adding windows and doors, you can then select the relevant exterior siding. There are a wide variety of siding materials, including brick, concrete, stucco, metal cladding, stone and wood siding. You can even customize the paint color for each material so it better reflects your design.

To access your exterior material options, click the relevant exterior wall in Dollhouse mode, then select Wall Style Material in the right menu. If you want to apply a material to multiple exterior walls at once, hold down the Shift key, then select all the relevant walls.

The Materials Library will appear. Select the dropdown menu at the top, then select Walls (Exterior) to find the siding options. Choose the preferred material from the menu to view the color and design choices. Once you find the style you like, click on it to view it directly on your 3D floor plan.

If you would like to customize the siding color instead of selecting from the available options, you can select one of the Customizable Paint options at the top of the siding list (as shown below). You will then be able to choose from our extensive paint list to find the perfect color.

To quickly find a material that you've already used in the current floor plan, select In This Floor Plan from the Materials dropdown. You'll see all the materials recently used in the floor plan so you can easily use them over and over again.

Material Settings

To change the settings of a material applied to your exterior wall(s), click the customize icon next to the material in the Wall Style section of the right panel. If you're still in the Materials Library, exit out using the X in the top right. Once your Material Settings are open, you can change the following (where applicable):

• Dimensions: Adjust the dimensions of the individual pieces of the material. This includes length and width, for materials like shingles or brick, and plank width, for materials like board and batten or vertical siding.
• Finish: Choose from Matte, Semi-Gloss or High Gloss.
• Rotation: Adjust the angle of rotation using the slider or by typing in a degree.
• Horizontal Offset: Adjust where the material starts or ends by shifting it horizontally (left or right).
• Vertical Offset: Adjust where the material starts or ends by shifting it vertically (up or down).

For materials with length and width settings, the aspect ratio is locked by default. This means if you adjust one measurement, the other will automatically adjust accordingly to maintain the original, uniform shape of the material. To allow non-uniform scaling of materials, click the lock to the right so it's unlocked, then make adjustments as desired.

Pro tip: To present a truly professional and accurate design to your client, use the horizontal and vertical offset settings to line up your materials correctly, like with the corners of the walls or around windows and doors.

Edit or Delete Exterior Siding

If you already added exterior siding and would like to change it or delete it, click on the wall(s) you want to adjust. Select the current material selection under Wall Style Material to open up the Material Library and adjust. Select the trash can icon to delete the current material selection and start from scratch.

Add Outdoor Surfaces

To expand your 3D design, you can build out the home exterior with outdoor surfaces like patios, decks, grass, pavers and more. At this time, raised decks and porches, as well as detailed landscaping, are not available.

To create an outdoor surface, click the Tree icon in the 3D floor plan toolbar at the top of your screen. Draw lines to create the outline of the space.

To adjust the surface material, click the relevant space in Floor Plan or Dollhouse mode, then select Surface Style Material in the right menu.

The Materials Library will appear. Select the dropdown menu at the top, then select Outdoor Landscaping to find the landscaping options. Choose the preferred material from the menu to view the color and design choices. Once you find the style you like, click on it to view it directly on your 3D floor plan.

To learn more details about building outdoor surfaces, including grass lawns, pathways, decks and more, read How to Create Outdoor Surfaces on the 3D Floor Planner.

Add Outdoor Furniture

Finally, you can complete the look of your outdoor space by adding outdoor furniture in either Floor Plan or Dollhouse mode.

To find outdoor furniture, click the Generic Products icon in the right menu, then select Outdoor Products. Click on the product to add it directly to the floor plan. Once added, you can rotate, duplicate, and change the color and/or finishes.