3D Configurator for Timber Frame Homes and Carports in France

In short: A French-language 3D configurator lets a maker of timber frame homes, garden sheds or carports show every variation in 3D, get inquiries with the project already designed and sell without drawing each order.

A 3D configurator for a French timber building company is a web tool, in French, where buyers design their timber frame home (maison ossature bois), their garden shed (abri de jardin) or their carport, see it in 3D as they choose, and send the inquiry with everything decided. French homeowners compare a lot before they pick up the phone, and what they can't see, they don't ask for.

Three products, three different buyers

A single French timber company often sells very different things, and each has its own buyer.

The maison ossature bois is bought by a family with a plot in Brittany, the Landes or Alsace who wants a timber home. It's a long decision: they compare builders, ask for plans, rethink the layout. What they ask about most is the floor plan and the finishes.

The abri de jardin is bought by a homeowner anywhere from Lyon to Bordeaux who needs room for tools or bikes, or wants a small workshop. It's a quick decision and a heavily compared one: size, single-slope or gable roof, door, window and color.

The carport is bought by someone who wants to cover one or two cars without building a closed garage. They ask whether it fits on their lot, how it looks attached to the house, and whether they can close in one side later.

A good 3D quoting tool doesn't treat all three the same. The shed one is short and visual; the home one is longer and has a floor plan editor.

Selling in French, not in translation

French buyers expect the tool in French, with the words their trade uses: bardage (cladding), toit monopente (single-slope roof), toit à deux pans (gable roof), toit plat (flat roof), menuiseries (doors and windows). A literal translation from Spanish or English shows right away and costs you trust.

The site and the configurators already run in Spanish and English. For a French company, the custom tool is built in French, in euros and meters, with the wording checked by someone on your team who knows how your customers talk. If you also sell in Belgium, Switzerland or Luxembourg, we add whatever's needed.

What the prefab home configurator already shows

For a timber home, the closest thing to try is the prefab home configurator. The home sits on a lot with sidewalk and street, and you can choose:

• Flat, single-slope or gable roof.
• Exterior cladding in timber, brick or stone, plus interior wall finishes.
• Tile, porcelain or wood floors.
• Porch, pool, fence, and kitchen, bathroom, laundry and closet furniture.
• An upper floor with stairs, and which way they go up.

With the floor plan editor you drag and resize rooms, add bedrooms, edit doors and windows and move furniture, with dimensions and undo. With walk-through mode the buyer moves inside at eye level, and with night view they see the home lit up. For a family torn between two layouts, walking through both is what settles it.

Garden sheds and carports: built to order

Garden sheds and carports aren't public configurators on this site, but the engine generates structures from rules, and a new product is built to order on top of it. To get a feel for how a carport would behave, the closest thing is the metal building configurator: open-sided canopy, roof pitch, frame spacing, structure and sheeting colors, side canopy with width and drop.

In yours, the rules would come from your catalog: the sizes you build, the timber section for each model, which doors fit on which side, whether a carport can take a closed side or an attached shed. I explain this in parametric rendering: no variation is drawn by hand.

What your company gets

• Inquiries that arrive with the project designed. The buyer sends a link that opens their exact 3 × 2.5 m shed with a single-slope roof and double door, or their three-bedroom home with timber cladding and a porch. Your sales rep knows what it's about before calling.
• Fewer rounds of drawings. The buyer tries layouts themselves; your designer steps in once the project is settled.
• Sales reps who don't need the technical lead for every variation. I wrote about that in sales team autonomy.
• What was sold reaches the workshop without being reinterpreted: the configuration is the same one the customer saw. See from quote to production.

Planning paperwork depends on floor area, the municipality and each plot; check that with a local professional.

Working remotely with a developer in Argentina

I'm Facundo Campo, a software developer based in Quilmes, Buenos Aires. I design and build 3D quoting tools and configurators for manufacturers, end to end. France is four or five hours ahead of Argentina depending on the time of year: my morning is your afternoon, and that's when we do video calls.

I work in English and Spanish. To get started I need your catalog, photos of finished projects, floor plans of your models and a few sample quotes. I send you links to try in the browser and you approve the work step by step. The real-world case I show is EQUIBOX, a horse stable manufacturer in Berazategui, Argentina, for which I built the public 3D quoting tool and the sales dashboard.

If you'd like to see your home, shed or carport in 3D, message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email facundocampo100@gmail.com, or take a look at custom 3D quoting software.

Frequently asked questions

Can the configurator be in French?

Yes, as part of the custom build. The site already runs in Spanish and English; for a French company it's built in French, with euros, meters and the words your customers use.

Is there a garden shed or carport configurator I can try?

Not as a public configurator. The closest are the metal building configurator for open structures and the prefab home configurator for buildings with rooms. A shed or a carport is built to order on the same engine.

Can buyers see the price?

They can, if you want them to. The public configurators on this site don't show prices; in a custom build you decide whether prices appear on the website or only for your sales reps.

How do I approve the work from France?

Through links that open in the browser, on a computer or a phone. You try them with your team and we talk them over on a video call during the hours we overlap.