A retired engineer taught me more about drafting in 10 minutes than my boss did in 3 months

Last month I was waiting for a plumber at a house I was working on and the homeowner, a retired electrical engineer, saw my laptop open with a floor plan I was fixing. He asked if he could look and then pointed at the stair landing dimensions and said 'you've got 1 inch of extra run there, but your riser height is off by 3/8 of an inch. That means someone will trip on the top step.' I checked the code and he was right. He then showed me how he always sketches the path of a person walking through a room before he ever draws walls, which I had never considered. Now I do a quick traffic flow sketch on every layout and it's caught two issues already. Has anyone else had a random encounter teach them a drafting habit that stuck for good?

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kelly_coleman611mo ago

Got a similar thing from an old carpenter at a lumber yard. He watched me struggle with a kitchen layout and just said 'you always put the fridge near where groceries come in, never near the stove.' I laughed it off until I drew it his way and realized the walking path was cleaner, nobody had to squeeze past the oven door. Now I sketch the fridge, sink, stove triangle first before any cabinets go in. It's saved me from three angry clients since. Old guys just see stuff the rest of us miss.