Hand a client a full plan set and watch which page they turn to. It is never the foundation plan. It is the front elevation, because that is the drawing that looks like a house. It is also the drawing most people are least equipped to read, which is unfortunate, because it is where the decisions with the biggest visual consequences live. We have drawn elevations for Cache Valley homes since 1997. Here is what the drawing is actually telling you, what the choices on it cost, and how to review your own before anything gets framed.
Key Takeaways
- An elevation is a flat, straight-on view with no perspective, which is why it never looks quite like the finished house
- Roof complexity is the biggest single driver of exterior cost, and every valley is a future maintenance item
- Proportion and massing do more for curb appeal than materials do
- Window alignment is the detail that separates a considered elevation from a busy one
- Elevations are the cheapest place in the whole process to change your mind
What an Elevation Drawing Actually Shows
An elevation is a straight-on view of one side of the house, drawn flat with no perspective and no vanishing point. You get four of them: front, rear, and both sides. They show finished floor and ceiling heights, roof pitches, window and door sizes and positions, and the materials on each surface.
What they cannot show is depth. A porch that projects six feet and a wall that is flush both appear on the same plane, which is exactly why a finished house often reads differently from its front elevation. Once you know to look for it, the drawing becomes far easier to trust. Our guide on how to read house plans covers the rest of the set the same way.
Rooflines, and Why They Cost What They Cost
The roof is the most expensive decision on the elevation, and it is not close. Every additional plane, valley, and direction change adds framing labor, adds roofing material, adds flashing, and adds a place for water and snow to gather.
Gable
The classic triangle. Cheap to frame, sheds snow well, and gives you the vaulted ceiling volume inside if you want it. A simple gable roof is the most economical shape you can put on a house in a snowy climate, which is why it has been the default in northern Utah for a century.
Hip
Slopes on all four sides. It handles wind well and produces a lower, more grounded look, at the cost of more complex framing and less usable attic volume. Attractive, slightly more expensive, and a poor match for attic truss space.
Shed and single slope
One plane, one direction. Inexpensive, contemporary, and increasingly common on modern house design. It sheds snow decisively in one direction, which is either a feature or a problem depending on what is underneath it. Plan that landing zone deliberately.
Valleys, dormers, and the snow question
Dormers add light and character and cost real money. Valleys collect snow and meltwater and are where most roof problems begin. Neither is forbidden. The rule we work by is that every valley should be earning something, whether that is light, headroom, or a genuine improvement in the massing. Valleys created purely for decoration are the ones we talk clients out of, and the same logic applies to the snow load conversation.
Massing: The Part People Feel but Cannot Name
When someone says a house looks right without being able to explain why, they are usually responding to massing, meaning the arrangement and proportion of the major volumes. Elevations that work tend to have a clear hierarchy: one dominant form, one or two secondary forms, and a front entry you can find without looking for it.
The most common problem we correct is a long, flat, undifferentiated wall, usually on the garage side. Breaking it with a projected gable, a porch, a change in material, or simply setting the garage back a few feet does more for the finished house than any amount of trim detail. Proportion is free. Ornament is not.
Materials, and Where to Spend
Material combinations follow fashion more than anything else on the elevation, which is a reason to be a little conservative with them. Stone or brick at the base reads as substantial and ages well. Lap siding above it, board and batten for accent gables, and a limited palette rather than four materials competing on the same face.
- Spend on the front and the sides visible from the street; the back elevation rarely needs the same investment
- Two materials plus a trim color is usually enough, and three is the practical maximum
- Carry a material around a corner to a logical stopping point rather than ending it at the corner, which looks like a veneer because it is one
- Deep overhangs are worth their cost in a snow climate and improve the proportions almost every time
- Get the roof color into the conversation early, because it is the largest single surface on the house
The styles moving through Cache Valley right now still lean heavily on the farmhouse vocabulary we covered in our modern farmhouse design ideas post, though the palettes have quieted considerably.
Windows Are an Exterior Decision Too
Windows get chosen for the room they light and then land wherever the floor plan puts them, which is how elevations end up looking scattered. A few habits fix most of it: align window heads at a consistent height across the elevation, line up upper and lower windows vertically where you can, and keep the grid pattern consistent across the front. Where a window has to sit at an odd height for an interior reason, look at whether it can move to a less visible face.
This is worth a specific pass while reviewing your drawings. It is the single most common thing we adjust when a client says the front looks busy but cannot say why.
How to Review Your Own Elevations
- Cover everything but the outline and ask whether the shape is good, because if it is not, materials will not save it
- Count the roof planes and ask what each one is earning
- Check that window heads align and that upper and lower windows relate to each other
- Find the front door in three seconds; if you cannot, neither can a guest
- Look at the garage side honestly, since it is usually the widest thing facing the street
- Ask where snow will land off every slope, and what is underneath
- Compare the front elevation to the side ones, because the sides are where value engineering quietly happens
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an elevation and a rendering?
An elevation is a measured, straight-on technical drawing used to build the house. A rendering is an artistic perspective view used to visualize it. Elevations are what the builder and the building department work from, and they are dimensionally accurate in a way renderings are not.
Which roof is cheapest?
A simple gable with few planes and no valleys. Every direction change adds framing labor and material. If budget is the priority, simplify the roof before you simplify anything else, since it produces savings without changing your floor plan.
How many exterior materials should a house have?
Two, plus a trim color, works on nearly every house. Three can work with discipline. Four is where elevations start to look restless. A limited palette applied confidently almost always reads better than a varied one applied timidly.
Can I change the elevation after the plans are drawn?
Yes, and this is the stage to do it. Revisions are part of our process and cost almost nothing compared to changing anything once framing has started. If something about the front bothers you and you cannot articulate why, tell us anyway and we will find it.
Do overhangs matter in Utah?
A great deal. They shed water away from the walls and foundation, shade the glass in summer, and shelter the entries. They also improve the proportions of most elevations. Deep overhangs are one of the few choices that pay off aesthetically and functionally at the same time.
The Cheapest Place to Change Your Mind
Everything on an elevation is free to move while it is still a drawing. Roof planes, window positions, material lines, the depth of the porch, the setback of the garage. Once the trusses are ordered and the framing is up, the same changes become expensive or impossible. Spend an evening with your elevations. It is the best return on time in the entire process.
Poulsen Home Design has drawn plans and elevations for Cache Valley families since 1997. Mont and Mary-Ellen Poulsen worked as general contractors before moving to design and drafting full time, so the elevations we draw are ones a framer can actually build without a phone call.
Not sure about your front elevation? Call Poulsen Home Design at (435) 512-5852 or visit poulsenhomedesign.com to review your elevations with us before anything gets framed.