DIY CAD

As you all know, we are in a Quarantine, and if you have take a trip to your local home improvement store lately, what better time to tackle some home projects!

Last month I built a much needed front deck for the house. Our last deck was falling a part. In typical fashion, I don't normally build anything until I have a CAD model/drawing of it. I proceeded to create an Autocad file of the deck and then I created a Solid Edge model of the deck as well! It really helped with ordering materials and showing my concept to my wife.

Then I was in need of some furniture for the deck, but I had a bit of the wood left that i had cut off (drop pieces), so what better use for the wood than to make some tables. Once again, I'm a visual person and designer by trade, so I made a CAD model, but in SolidWorks this time to hone my frame design skills there.

Lastly, With even more of the leftover wood, the wife and I needed something to hold our Kayaks to keep them out of the basement floor, so I went back to CAD and mocked us up some wall mounted storage racks. Then my neighbor and I built them and the results were amazing!

I believe if you have the tools at your hand to help you build stuff like this, why not utilize it and make your project easier!? Please share any kind of projects you've done around the house with the help of CAD.