I’ve long had an old, problematic bathroom on my main floor and I’ve finally decided to remodel it, or at least, to begin the process of remodeling it. For me, this means planning out the space, trying out different floor tile patterns, wall tile patterns for the bath/shower area, and trying out different fixtures. I needed a way to model the space virtually, and fortunately, there is a wonderful program called Sketchup, which even has a free version.
I did still need to learn how to use this software, which reminded me of the old internet adage:
Software is only free if your time is worthless.
-Some wise person on the internet
The learning process necessitated a deep dive into the high-stakes world of YouTube instructional videos, where everyone is scrambling to be top dog. Let’s meet the challengers:
The Pro
Alex creates information-dense videos that are well-produced introductions to Sketchup, and he has a great sense of humor. In addition to Intro video link, Model A House was an invaluable guide.
His Weakness: He only has a handful of videos designed for Sketchup Free.
The Builder
Matt approaches videos as a tiler and general builder, so he’s invaluable if you’re planning on doing the work yourself and he goes into great detail. Tile Planning was exactly what I needed for my floor tile.
His Weakness: His videos tend to run on the long side.
The Dark Horse
Justin is incredibly thorough, and features countless videos on the Free edition. He takes nothing for granted, walking you through every step.
His Weakness: His intro videos focus on basic theory and explanation; some people are eager to just jump in and create right away!
The Result:
Before I issue my judgement, I want to say that ALL the videos I watched were excellent tutorials and great resources. It doesn’t really matter which one is the winner, because they all make great videos about a really cool product, but I probably have to give the edge to…
Sketchup School, with Alex “The Pro”
Alex really does balance theory, practical information and humor so very well. I found myself re-watching his videos numerous times to get all the info out of them.
Below are the side-by-side pictures of my actual bathroom, and what I was able to produce after spending about a week watching these videos in my free time:
The next step is to try out some different designs and tile patterns using Sketchup, which I now have the skills to do. Pretty exciting stuff!