How do you make a 3D rendering of my house?

We build a 3D model of your house to scale from your drawings, or from photos of each side plus a few key dimensions. Walls, roof, windows, doors, porches and trim go in first. Then the cladding, colors and trim you’re considering go on, views are set up from the street and the corners, and those views are rendered as images. Because the model comes from the same drawings we price from, the rendering and the estimate describe the same exterior.

What do I need to send you for a rendering?

Plans or elevations with dimensions are best: an architect’s set, a permit set, or elevations of each side. No drawings? Send straight-on photos of every side, including the corners, plus the overall width of each side, the eave height and one window’s size. Add what you’re considering, such as material, profile and color names, or a photo of a house you like, and anything you’re keeping, like the windows, roof or stone.

How long does a rendering take?

It depends on the house and how many schemes you want to compare, so we don’t quote a fixed turnaround here. Ask for a rendering with your estimate and we’ll tell you when to expect it. That’s separate from the estimate itself, which usually comes back within 48 hours when you send drawings.

Will the finished house look exactly like the rendering?

Close, but not exactly, and you should expect that. A rendering is an illustration. Screens display color differently, daylight changes through the day and the seasons, and textures read differently at full size. Proportions, profiles and where each material and trim piece goes should match closely, because the model comes from your drawings. Final colors should always be confirmed with physical samples, outside, on more than one side of the house.

Can I compare different colors or siding types?

Yes, that’s what renderings do best. Most people narrow it down to two or three schemes, say a classic light body with white trim, a darker body, and a mix with shingles in the gables. Seeing them on the same view of your own house makes the choice far easier than flipping through a fan deck. You can compare materials too, such as Hardie lap against vinyl Dutch lap, or siding against an EIFS finish.

How is a 3D rendering priced?

It’s quoted separately from the estimate, and we tell you the price before any rendering work starts. The estimate itself is free either way. You can also try looks on the demo house on this page at any time.

Can I show the rendering to my HOA or historic commission?

Yes, and it can help the conversation. Just treat it as a supplement. Historic district commissions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and most HOAs, set their own submittal requirements, which can include scaled drawings, product data, photos of existing conditions and physical samples. The rendering goes along with that package, not instead of it. Check with your commission about accepted materials before you finalize anything.

Can you render stucco, EIFS and trim, not just siding?

Yes. The same process works for EIFS and stucco finishes and colors, architectural foam trim like cornices, bands and window surrounds, and exterior paint schemes. It’s especially useful when you’re adding trim or changing a finish texture, because those are the hardest changes to picture from a small sample. Mixed exteriors work too, such as a stucco base with siding above, or new foam trim on a freshly painted house.

3D Exterior Renderings Before Work Starts

01DetailA-170.1

What you get

A rendering is a picture of your house, not a demo house and not a catalog photo, wearing the exterior you’re considering. Same rooflines, same windows, same porch, with the new cladding, body color, trim color and front door in place.

Views are set up the way people actually see the house: from the street, from the corner where the driveway comes in, and on any side where a big decision lives, like the gable you might shingle or the addition that has to tie in to the old house.

Renderings cover more than siding. They work for James Hardie® fiber cement and vinyl profiles, EIFS and stucco finishes, architectural foam trim such as cornices and window surrounds, and exterior paint schemes.

What a rendering is not: a construction document. It doesn’t replace an architect’s drawings, a permit set or the scaled elevations a commission asks for. It’s a decision tool, made to answer one question well: will I like how my house looks?

Key points04

Your house, modeled from your drawings or photos
Street and corner views, plus the sides that matter
Cladding, body color, trim color and accents
Images you can share with family, a board or a commission

02ScopeA-170.2

What to send

Drawings make the most accurate model. Photos work too, with a few dimensions to set the scale.

Plans or elevations, best of all. An architect’s or designer’s set, a permit set, or elevations of each side with dimensions. A PDF is ideal; clear photos of paper plans work.
Or photos of each side. Stand back far enough to get the whole wall, shoot straight on, and include the corners. Overcast light shows the most detail.
Plus a few key dimensions. The overall width of each side, the height to the eaves, and one window’s width and height give the model its scale.
What you’re considering. Material and profile, colors by manufacturer name if you have them, or a photo of a house you like.
What stays. Windows, roof, stone, porch or trim you’re keeping, so the rendering shows them as they are.
Any rules. If an HOA or historic commission reviews your exterior, tell us, so their requirements shape the options from the start.

03SequenceA-170.3

How a rendering comes together

Ask for a rendering with your estimate. Here’s what happens next.

Send drawings or photos
Use the estimate form, add 3D rendering to your scope, and note the looks you’re considering. A link to a house you like, or a look saved from the demo house, helps.
We model the house to scale
Walls, roof pitches, window and door openings, porches and trim are built from your drawings or measured photos, so the proportions match the real house and the new cladding lines up the way it will on site.
We apply the options
Cladding, colors and trim go on as separate schemes on the same views, so each one can be judged on its own, with nothing else changing between them.
You compare
Look at the schemes side by side, with whoever else has a say. Mark what you like and tell us what you’d change.
Confirm with real samples
Before anything is ordered, check the final colors on physical samples or a painted board, outside, in daylight, on the walls they’ll go on.

04ScheduleA-170.4

Two or three colorways: side by side

A short list beats a fan deck. Rendered on the same view of your house, a few schemes like these make the choice obvious, because the only thing that changes is the exterior.

01A
Scheme A · Classic
Light body, white trim, black door, lap siding all around. The timeless baseline to measure the others against.
02B
Scheme B · Deep
Dark body with crisp white or tone-on-tone trim. Reads modern on a simple house; check it against your roof color and how much sun the walls get.
03C
Scheme C · Mixed
Lap on the walls, shingles or board-and-batten in the gables, and a second color on the accent material. Gives a plain facade depth.

05ScheduleA-170.5

Where a rendering earns its keep

Some exterior decisions are easy to picture. These usually aren’t, and they’re expensive to get wrong once the material is on the wall.

01Siding
Changing material
Going from old clapboard to fiber cement board-and-batten, or from vinyl to shingles, changes the whole character of a house. Seeing the shadow lines and trim on your own walls takes the guesswork out.
02Color
Going dark
A dark body looks dramatic on someone else’s house. On yours, with your roof, windows and trees, it might be perfect or it might swallow the details. Better to find out before anything is ordered.
03Detail
Adding trim
Cornices, window crowns, bands and wider corner boards are hard to judge from a profile drawing. In 3D you see their scale against the whole facade, which is where trim succeeds or fails.
04Finish
Refreshing stucco or EIFS
A new finish coat or color on a stucco or EIFS house, with reveals or bands added, shown at the right scale before anyone mixes a bucket.
05Tie-in
Additions and partial re-sides
When only part of the house changes, the question is how new meets old. A rendering shows whether new siding and trim can tie in, or should run across the whole house.
06Decision
Getting everyone to yes
Spouses, co-owners, condo boards: one shared picture settles debates that a stack of swatches starts.

06ElevationA-170.6

Try the demo house

This is a demo house, not your house and not a real project. Try claddings and colors here to find a direction, then send your drawings and ask for a rendering of your own house.

07General notesA-170.7

Same drawings, same scope as your estimate

The rendering and the estimate come from the same drawings, and that’s the point. If the rendering shows shingles in the gables, wider corner boards and a foam crown over the front door, those are in the scope we price. If you change the rendering, the scope changes with it, and so does the price.

You end up with a price you can match to a picture, instead of a list of line items you have to imagine. Send your plans or elevations through the estimate form and add 3D rendering to your scope.

It works the other way too. If the price for a full re-side is more than you planned, the rendering helps you see what a smaller scope looks like, such as new siding on the front and sides with the rear left for later, or new trim and paint instead of new cladding.

The rendering runs on its own schedule, separate from the estimate, and we’ll tell you when to expect it.

08DetailA-170.8

Using renderings with an HOA or historic commission

A rendering is a good way to show a board or commission what you have in mind. People who don’t read drawing sets can see the change at a glance, and a shingled gable or a new color scheme is easier to talk through with a picture on the table.

But the commission’s rules come first. Local historic district commissions in Massachusetts (under Chapter 40C) and historic district commissions in New Hampshire towns set their own submittal requirements, often scaled drawings, product data sheets, photos of existing conditions and physical samples. A rendering can go along with that package; it doesn’t replace any of it. HOAs and condo boards have their own processes too.

Check your town for the commission’s application, and see our Massachusetts and New Hampshire pages for the state-level rules.

Key points03

Helps neighbors and board members see the change
Goes with the required submittal, not instead of it
Confirm which materials the commission accepts before you finalize

09NoteA-170.9

A rendering is an illustration

Screens shift color, daylight changes it hour by hour, and texture reads differently at full size. Use the rendering to choose a direction and compare options. Then confirm the final colors with physical samples or a painted test board, outside, in daylight, on more than one side of the house.

Ask for a rendering with your estimate

See your new exterior in 3D before work starts

What you get

What to send

How a rendering comes together

Send drawings or photos

We model the house to scale

We apply the options

You compare

Confirm with real samples

Two or three colorways: side by side

Scheme A · Classic

Scheme B · Deep

Scheme C · Mixed

Where a rendering earns its keep

Changing material

Going dark

Adding trim

Refreshing stucco or EIFS

Additions and partial re-sides

Getting everyone to yes