Maryem Mohammad

BUILDING A HOUSE
IN SKETCHUP
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Time: 10 minutes s
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3
List of Materials 3
Instructions 4
Template and Formatting 4
Building the Base 8
Constructing the Roof 14
Drawing the Door 17
Troubleshooting 18
Glossary of Key Terms 20

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 BUILDING A HOUSE IN SKETCHUP
INTRODUCTION
SketchUp is a design application used by many architects, designers and artists to bring their
creations to life. It helps transform 2D ideas and sketches into 3D models. While SketchUp Pro must be
purchased, SketchUp Make can be downloaded for free, making SketchUp ideal for a wide variety of users.
This tutorial can be applied to both versions, as we will only be learning the basics of the application.
This tutorial will focus on introducing beginner users to the basic tools and functions of SketchUp
by building a 3D house. The tools we will be using are the following: Rectangle, Push/Pull, Orbit, Pan, Zoom
and Line. There are four stages in this tutorial. The first one will focus on starting up the application and
formatting your template. The next one will teach you how to build the base of your house. The third step
involves using the Line and Push/Pull tools to construct the roof. Finally, the fourth stage will focus on
drawing the door of the house.
This task will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. To reduce eye strain, it is important that
this task is performed in a well-lit area that is not exposed to direct sunlight. Reducing screen brightness is
also advised if eyes are sensitive. Running multiple programs on the laptop will decrease SketchUp’s
efficiency, so make sure to reduce the number of open applications.

LIST OF MATERIALS
1. Laptop
a. SketchUp currently supports:
i. Windows 8+, Windows 7+ and Windows 10
ii. Mac OS X Sierra, El Capitan and Yosemite

2. SketchUp Application
a. You can download SketchUp Make for free or purchase SketchUp Pro from the website.
This tutorial can be applied to both SketchUp Make and SketchUp Pro.
b. When you first download SketchUp, you are essentially downloading an application
bundle. It includes LayOut, SketchUp and Style Builder. In this tutorial, we will only be
using SketchUp.

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 INSTRUCTIONS
Ø TEMPLATE AND FORMATTING
1. Click on SketchUp (shown in Figure 1) to open the application.
• CUE: Figure 2 is what will pop up when you first open the application

FIGURE 1: SKETCHUP APPLICATION

FIGURE 2: SKETCHUP STARTING PAGE

2. Click on the ‘Choose Template as shown in Figures 3 and 4 to select a template.

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 FIGURE 3: CHOOSE TEMPLATE BUTTON

FIGURE 4: CHOOSE TEMPLATE BUTTON CLOSE UP

3. We will be using the Woodworking – Inches template as shown in Figure 5.

• TIP: The difference between all the templates are the units of measurements and the starting
view of your screen. The starting view can be changed later if needed, so don’t worry about
it.

FIGURE 5: TEMPLATE CHOICE

4. Figure 6 shows you how your screen will look like after choosing a template. Click on
View in the top menu, Tool Palettes, Large Tool Set as shown in Figure 7.

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• CUE: The tool bar will pop up and your screen will look like Figure 8.
• TIP: Having the tool bar as separate entity will make navigating and using tools much easier.

FIGURE 6: STARTING VIEW

FIGURE 7: TOOL PALETTES SELECTION

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 FIGURE 8: STARTING SCREEN WITH TOOLBAR

5. Click on Camera in the top menu, then Standard Views, then ISO (Figure 9). Your
screen view should now look like Figure 10.
• TIP: We are doing this to adjust the view to a more comfortable position. In Figure 6, the
screen looks as if we’re looking down from an angle. In our case, an ideal angle would be one
that has the axes at an equal distance away from each other.

FIGURE 9: STANDARD VIEWS SELECTION

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 FIGURE 10: ISO VIEW

Ø BUILDING THE BASE

6. Choose the Rectangle Tool (shown in Figure 11).

FIGURE 11: RECTANGLE TOOL

a. Choose your starting point by clicking once on the middle left quadrant as show in Figure
12.

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 FIGURE 12: STARTING POINT OF RECTANGLE

b. Drag your mouse to the opposite end. This will create a rectangle.
c. Click once to complete your rectangle. Your final product should look like Figure 13.

FIGURE 13: COMPLETED RECTANGLE

• OPTIONAL TIP: you can choose the dimensions of your rectangle by inputting the values in
the Measurements field as shown in Figure 14. For more information, please refer to
Troubleshooting.

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 FIGURE 14: DIMENSIONS BOX

7. Choose the Push/Pull tool (Figure 15).

FIGURE 15: PUSH/PULL TOOL

a. Hover over the rectangle until it is shaded as shown in Figure 16. This indicates that your
mouse is on the surface of the rectangle.

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 FIGURE 16: SHADED SURFACE

b. Click once and drag your mouse up. Your rectangle should pull up to look like the one in
Figure 17.

FIGURE 17: PULLING THE SURFACE UP

o TIP: Notice that the surface of your rectangle is still shaded. This indicates that you
have not let go of the surface yet.

c. Click again to release the box. The surface of your box should not be shaded (as shown in
Figure 18).

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 FIGURE 18: FINAL LOOK OF BOX

8. Rotate around the box until you have an adequate view of it like Figure 19. We will be
using three tools to do this.

FIGURE 19: SIDE VIEW OF BOX

a. Choose the Orbit tool (Figure 20). Click, hold and drag the mouse in the direction you want
to rotate in.

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 FIGURE 20: ORBIT TOOL

b. Choose the Pan tool (Figure 21). Click, hold and drag the mouse in the direction you want
to move in.

FIGURE 21: PAN TOOL

c. Choose the Zoom tool (Figure 22). Click, hold and move the mouse to zoom in or out.
Moving the mouse closer to the center of the screen will zoom in, while moving it farther
away will zoom out.
o TIP: Instead of selecting the zoom tool, you can zoom in or out by simply scrolling
your mouse.

FIGURE 22: ZOOM TOOL

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Ø CONSTRUCTING THE ROOF
9. Choose the Line tool (Figure 23).

FIGURE 23: LINE TOOL

a. Hover over the left corner of the box and click once.
o CUE: Notice a text box pops up near your mouse saying Endpoint as shown in Figure
24. This means you are right on the edge of the box.

FIGURE 24: ENDPOINT

b. Drag your mouse along the edge of the box until you reach the midpoint. Do not click.
o CUE: Another textbox should pop up indicating that you reached the midpoint as
shown in Figure 25.

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 FIGURE 25: MIDPOINT

c. Drag mouse upwards, making sure you’re parallel with the vertical axis.
o CUE: A dashed, blue line will trail after you’re mouse if you are parallel with the
vertical axis.

• TIP: SketchUp has built in feedback that will help you when it comes to axes. It will often
automatically snap your cursor to the axis you’re going in the general direction of. For more
details, refer to Troubleshooting.

d. Once you’re a sufficient distance away from the edge, click once. You can use specific
measurements by inputting them into the Measurements box or just eyeball it. You have
now formed a diagonal line (Figure 26).

FIGURE 26: DIAGONAL LINE

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10. Move the cursor to the right corner of the box and click once. You have now connected
both lines to form a triangle above the box (Figure 27).
• CUE: Notice how SketchUp automatically connected your mouse to the previous point you
drew. That is why we didn’t have to click on the point and then extend the line. This function
in SketchUp makes drawing easier and more efficient.
• TIP: If you want to disconnect this line and start drawing from a new point, press the ESC key
of your keyboard.

FIGURE 27: TRIANGLE ABOVE BOX

11. Use the Orbit and Pan tools to rotate and move until you have a clear profile of the
triangle (Figure 28). This will enable us to draw the roof.

FIGURE 28: PROFILE VIEW

12. Choose the Push/Pull tool.

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 a. Hover over the triangle. The triangle should be shaded similarly to the one shown in Figure
29.

FIGURE 29: SHADED TRIANGLE

b. Click and drag mouse from one end of the box to the other. This creates a roof as shown
in Figure 30.
o CUE: Notice how your cursor automatically snaps to the end of the box. This ensures
that the new section you are drawing is consistent and lines up with the box.

FIGURE 30: ROOFED STRUCTURE

Ø DRAWING THE DOOR

13. Rotate and move using Orbit and Pan to return to the previous view (shown in Figure
31).

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 FIGURE 31: FRONT VIEW

14. Choose the Rectangle tool to create a door.

a. Hover mouse over the bottom edge of the house. Click once.
b. Drag mouse to create a door as shown in Figure 32. Click once. You have now successfully
drawn a house in SketchUp.
• TIP: once again you can input specific numbers into the Measurements field.

FIGURE 32: COMPLETED HOUSE

TROUBLESHOOTING
Ø Inputting Dimensions
The measurement box helps you set the length and width of a shape. For example, let’s say you want
a rectangle with a length of 20 feet and a width of 5.5 feet. You would enter the following: 10’, 5’6”.
The comma separates the two dimensions, while the ‘ indicates feet and “ indicates inches. If you
don’t input the unit, SketchUp will use the current document’s settings. You can also input metric unit
by using the units m (meters) and cm (centimeters).

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Ø SketchUp Inference
Inference is an engine that helps you with placing your lines on specific points and axes. It is the ‘snap’
feature mentioned earlier. There are two main types of inferences mentioned in this tutorial: Point
Inference and Line Inference. The Point Inference snaps your cursor to a specific point, such as the
midpoint, endpoint, origin, on edge, etc. The Line Inference snaps your cursor to a line or specific
direction. It can align with any of the three axes, parallel, perpendicular or help extend an edge.

While Inference can be very helpful in most situations, it can sometimes become a hindrance. To turn
it off, simply click Window in the top menu bar, Model Info, Unit then turn off length snapping.

Ø Part of the model is disappearing

This is called Camera Clipping Plane. Your computer can only handle rendering a specific amount of
geometric shapes, so to control that Camera Clipping Plane occurs. This doesn’t mean that your model
is missing a part, it simply means that SketchUp is hiding it from your so that other parts can show up
more accurately. If you zoom out, you will see that your model has not been altered.

FIGURE 33: CAMERA CLIPPING PLANE

Ø Cursor Trails
Cursor Trails are when small objects start appearing around your cursor. This happens because the
computer is having trouble with providing fast feedback. It basically means that the computer is
having trouble keeping up with what you are doing. To solve this, simply click SketchUp from the top
menu bar, Preferences and then OpenGl. Uncheck ‘Use fast feedback’.

FIGURE 34: CURSOR TRAILS

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 GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS
1. Template: a preset format for a file, used so that a format doesn’t have to be recreated
every time.
2. Standard Views: how you choose the view the model.
3. Iso: isometric view. A perspective in which the three principle dimensions are
represented by three axes 120° apart.
4. Axes: an imaginary line about which a body rotates. Blue axis is in the y direction
(vertical), red and green axes are in the x and z directions (horizontal).
5. Rectangle tool: Allows you to create rectangular shapes. Click once to choose your
starting point. Drag your mouse to intended endpoint and click once to draw the
rectangle.
6. Push/Pull tool: helps create a 3d shape from a surface. Click once to select intended
surface, drag mouse and click again to select endpoint.
7. Orbit tool: Rotates the camera about the model. Click, hold and drag to orbit around the
model.
8. Pan tool: Moves the camera up, down, left or right. Click, hold and drag the mouse to
pan.
9. Zoom tool: allows you to focus in on a specific area of the model or focus out to get a
general view of it. Scroll your mouse up and down to zoom in and out.
10. Line tool: Creates basic straight lines. Click once to select starting point, click again to
specify endpoint.

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