In the technology-loving age we live in, it seems everything is turning digital. Rather than falling behind the times, the team at Michael Limb Builders are embracing new technologies in order to deliver increasingly efficient projects to our clients.
As many Christmas stockings are sure to be filled with the latest smart phones and tablets, we thought it was the right time to drop our Top 4 construction/interior design friendly apps! Moving right past that poor Christmas segue/reminder, here are our Top 4 Apps of Summer 2014:
4. Photo Measures
An architect’s or DYI handyman’s special little helper, Photo Measures allows you to take a photo of any room and quickly add simple measured dimensions to it. For example, if you’re planning on re-doing your Kitchen cabinets, take a photo of said cabinets on the app, with your finger draw a line along the length of the cabinets and easily type the measured length. Repeat these steps for the depth of the cabinets and you’ve now got more than enough information to take to any cabinet maker. Plus, it’s just so easy to use!
3. Color Capture
Be sure to type the American spelling of ‘color’ when searching for this interior design based app. What does it do? Well you know how in the paint section of any hardware store there will be 1-2 million colour swatches? Color Capture takes this literal wall of colour and digitalises it. Take a photo of any colour you see (an enviously painted feature wall in a friend’s house for example), let the app automatically scan said colour, and it will give you the name and details of the colour so you can replicate it anywhere- neighbour envy be gone!
2. PlanGrid
PlanGrid is a goody too. What it does is allows for automated file transfer and updates. What does that mean? Well if your architect and builder both have this app, your architect can upload the current plans through PlanGrid where the builder can see said plans on-site via their smart phone or tablet- that’s the file sharing component. Importantly, and in keeping with this example, if your architect needs to update a set of plans for whatever reason, he/she can amend the plans in their office and re-upload the newest versions of the plans, this will alert the builder that the plans have been updated and automatically replace the old set of plans, with the new. This app, or ones similar, are becoming fairly commonplace in an increasingly digital construction industry as they ensure builders and subcontractors are building from up-to-date plans, whilst reducing massive paper waste created from printing and re-printing multiple copies of similar plans. Convenient, eco-considerate and organised. Other options to look at if investigating this app include dropbox and teamwork.
1. Houzz
On top of it’s cool name, Houzz is the winner of MLB’s Top 4 Apps. Why? Because it is the boss of all architecture apps in our humble opinion. It pretty much is a Pin/Insta-like app where incredible houses, or features of houses, have been photographed and posted on Houzz. They categorise each photo too, which is handy. Say you’re looking for inspiration for a modern set of stairs that you’d like to feature in a home you plan/hope/dream to build soon. You’d type “modern stairs” and be greeted with 667,277 search results (yes, I checked the number of results). Too many options possibly? Filter your search with side options (colours, materials, locations, etc.) and find your inspiration. Houzz will effectively take your idea of ‘some kind of modern feature stairs’ and help you to refine this concept until you have exactly the type of stairs you’d like- in which case you’d save that photo into one of your digital-based Houzz photo albums ready for you to show a future architect or builder. While you’re at it, with all this talk of modern stairs, Houzz search for “cantilever stairs”- they’re one of our favourites!
Well that’s the list- the rest is up to you! Warm up your scrolling fingers and hit up your app store- you won’t regret it!