Sometime in the near future I’m going to build myself a house. I was wondering if any of you have used the plans offered for sale in the catalogs you see for sale at the checkouts? If you have used them were they worth the money? What about the software that lets you design a house and print the plans at home? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks
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I do not know this for sure as I was told this by an architect. He told me that there is no savings because the plans must be adapted to your local codes and site(i.e. basement or other types of foundation). he told me the price was the same per square foot. If what he said is true, then maybe those books would at least be good for ideas.
Plan books and home design software have their uses.
Some of those uses are good.
The "real" answer depends on your AHJ (authority having jursidiction)--if they require "wet stamped" plans before issuing permits, then you are much better off getting an architect or home designer in the project earlier.
The "home" design software can be good, if you know a bit about how buildings are built (it does no good to have an "ideal" plan if the partition walls are only 2" wide, or the brick-veneered outside walls are only 5"). The linking of spaces can really help a good designer with what you "want." At the same time, some of those programs do not always make drawing data "friendly" to the desinger's software (this is a not godd thing).
The books and even internet plan sites are great for ideas...I use the internet plans and take pieces and parts of different plans to come up with my ideal plan...
Take that info to a design pro....most permits require stamped drawings, code compliance, etc..which the "store-bought" plans do not come with...
Plus, when things don't go right o ryou want to make a change, there's someone local to call...
You are right MJLonigro, I build my house two years ago and I was select my house design from the internet and hire an architect for the implementation of that idea. It was well executed and then I did select a design for my roof renovation and hire https://www.sydneyroofingco.com.au/ for implementation of that design. They complete it very nicely and my experience throughout remains awesome.
I've built three well-appointed houses from purchased plans. All, however, were plans done by good architects, of houses originally designed for private clients.
Sometimes, architects are interested in reselling plans they do for clients, and if the clients give them the release, the plans can be resold.
I know of two good sources for plans like this. Robert Knight Associates sells a collection of smaller house plans through a site called Lucia's Little Houses.
The other source is a firm that has two websites, one called Healthy Home Designs, and the other site called Architectural Home Plans.
An earlier poster commented that purchased plans are not site specific, and that many building jurisdictions will require an engineer or architect to completely review any plans and then sign and seal them.
And further regarding plans not being site specific, they often require structural design work to bring them into line with your site's soil conditions, and structure loading like that which comes from snow, wind, or earthquake.
That said, let the buyer beware.
I've built several houses with prints ordered from two of these magazines. Some are better than others. I've had good luck using Garlinghouse prints. Design Basics seem to have to much info on their prints(for my needs anyway) and are hard to read. Never had a problem with permitting. Don't need an architect unless commercial or over a certain size, 5000' I think.
If you're going to go to the effort of building a custom house, then why not have it custom designed to reflect your family and your site? It doesn't need to break the bank.
Have any of you designed your own homes and built from those plans? If so how hard was it to do? I'm sure you have to get an engineer to approve the plans. I live in a rural part of New Mexico and the codes I've seen are pretty general and basic. Thanks
opie.. we designed and built our first house in '73...
i had some (not much ) architectural training , some drafting .... and a couple of summers working in the trades..
cute house... not ..... toooo..... many mistakes
one thing for you... is your local vernacular.... i think houses should reflect their local roots... New Mexico ain't New England
edit: as for engineering.. if you keep it simple, it shouldn't require any engineering..
talk to your local authority (building inspector ? ) about foundations and soils
if no BI, talk to your highway supt....
or find a local builder with some experience to be your consultant
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 2/14/2005 6:18 pm ET by Mike Smith
I HAD A HOUSE FIRE AND DECIDED TO USE A DIFFERENT ROOM LAYOUT BUT STILL USE THE SAME FOUNDATION TO REBUILD. I FOUND A SET OF PLANS WITH A L SHAPED FOOTPRINT I LIKED THEN LAID OUT THE FOUNDATION PLAN THEN LAID THE $600 PLANS OVER IT AND STARTED ON THE NEW PLANS. I FELT THE PLANS WERE WORTH IT IN TIME SAVINGS (I AM A SLOW DRAFTER) AFTER I HAD THE FLOOR PLAN IT WAS TIME TO VISIT THE STRUCTURAL ENGINEER AND TO THE PROFESSIONAL BUILDING DESIGNER( MY NEICE'S FATHER-IN-LAW WHO HAS HAD HIS HOUSES IN FHB) I DID ALL THE DRAFTING WITH THEIR OVERSIGHT THEN HAD THEM STAMPED BY THE REG. CE AND THEY WERE APPROVED BY THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT. IN MOST PLACES IN CALIF. THEY WANT A LICENSED CE TO STAMP THE PLANS IF IT'S MUCH MORE THAN A DOG HOUSE.
600
THAT'S GREAT ! but why are you YELLING ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
My 2 cents worth:
My DW designed our house using softplan-light (about $900); I found softplan to be a very good package; the other home design software packages I looked at were just play-ware. We were actually able to make construction documents with this software (I had access to an architectural sized printer). It probably took me about 80 hours or more to take the basic design and turn it into construction documents (elevations and all). At one point, we were going to have a draftsperson make the construction documents from our basic design; that would have cost $800. We still needed engineering for the plans, that was $400.
I think it saved us money in the long run, because we were able to iterate through our design changes without having to pay an architect; this was real helpful in doing window placements and post placements for the front covered porch and back covered deck. Our first house in 1988 was done through an architect and I recall it cost something like $3000. The architect fees can go real high if you (like most people) make many changes along the way.
We didn't use stock plans because we didn't find anything that really suited us, but DW says that she would have prefered to go that way.
Options:
1. If you find stock plans that you like, buy them in 1/4 scale, take them to an engineer, then submit the floor-plans and engineered drawings to the building inspector when you apply for you permit.
2. If you don't find sock plans, draw your own based on some features you liked from stock plans. Take your drawings to a drafts person, get the construction documents (i.e. floor plans with rooms, window placements, ...). then have these engineered.
3. If you don't find sock plans, draw your own based on some features you liked from stock plans. Then produce you own construction documents, then have these engineered.
The mistake I made was trying to skip the engineering step and do it myself based on the code book. The BO (building official) nailed me on the footing sizes and point loads; Not being an engineer, I couldn't figure these out myself. So not going with engineered plans right off the bat just led to delays in approval of the plans.
Hope this helps,
Roger <><