That one time a lead drafter told me my lineweights were all wrong on a commercial project

I was working on a set of MEP drawings for a mid-rise apartment job in Nashville a few months ago. A senior drafter I respected walked over and said 'your HVAC lines look like they're drawn with a Sharpie.' At first I was annoyed but then I looked closer and realized all my supply ducts and structural columns were basically the same thickness. I ended up creating a custom lineweight plot style with 6 distinct layers. Has anyone else found a solid preset that actually prints clean on those plan sets?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylershah18d ago

Did you end up sticking with 6 layers or trim it down? I've seen guys go overboard and end up with 15 layers that nobody else can work with.

jordangibson18d ago

Have you ever tried to pick up where someone with a 15-layer drawing left off? It's a nightmare. I learned my lesson the hard way years ago. I started doing a lot of layer merging early on, just combining things that were done. I think keeping it to around 6 or 7 layers is the sweet spot for me. Anymore than that and you're just making extra work for yourself and anyone else. It's like building a house with too many rooms you never use.