- 1). Open the sample blueprint in the resource section. To help in your learning of how to read a blueprint there is a sample located in the resource section. Click on the link to the sample blueprint and use it as a reference during the rest of the steps.
- 2). Find the exterior walls. On blueprints, there are two different types of walls; exterior walls and interior walls. Take a look at the sample blue print. You will notice that all four sides of the building on the blue print are marked with two thin lines. These two thin lines are the standard symbol for an exterior wall.
- 3). Find the interior walls. The interior walls use a thin line matched with a darker, thicker line. Look at the left-hand corner of the sample blue print. There you should notice a rectangular object that looks like a bed. Behind the bed is a thin and thick line matched together, this is an interior wall.
- 4). Find the doorways. Doorways are marked by using perpendicular thick line that connects to a wall using an arced line. Using the sample blueprint, look at the front center of it. You will see a perpendicular thick line and an arced line representing the front door.
- 5). Read the scale of the blueprint. Most blueprints are scaled at a 1/4-inch to a foot unless noted otherwise. This means that a quarter inch on the blueprint equals one foot. So, if a wall is one inch on long on the blueprint, it is four feet long in real life.
- 6). Read the reference numbers. If you look at your sample blueprint, you will notice that there is a lot of numbers. These numbers are references to other documents that contain more specific information to that piece of the building. This information can include the type of material used and the specific measurements in case there is a misread in the scale conversion.
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