Plan your House by following some simple steps
Custom-home designs and specifications typically are created
through a four-step process, as follows: 1. The buyer brings his
or her ideas for the home to the table or the buyer and builder
develop some preliminary ideas together. Very often, buyers have
saved pictures, articles, floor plans and other bits of
information relevant to their dream home. The designer and
builder can use your clippings to create a plan for a home that
is buildable and will meet your needs and fit your budget. 2.
The designer begins the preliminary drawings based on your ideas
and conversations with you and the builder. The preliminary
drawings consist of rough sketches of proposed floor plans and
levels, projections for the size and location of various rooms
and concepts for siting the home on the lot. Accurate cost
estimates can't be calculated at this stage, but the builder and
designer can guide the project toward a plan that will be within
your budget. A realistic cost estimate can be determined only
from complete plans and specifications. 3. Preliminary drawings
approved by the buyer then are turned into working drawings. At
this time, the designer creates the original drawings from which
the blueprints for your home will be made. Working drawings may
consist of four to 20 pages, depending on the complexity of your
home and the level of detail in the drawings. 4.
Specifications-called "specs" -- are created to identify the
finishes and features that will be used in your home. The specs
determine everything from the type of roof to the trip levers on
the toilets. The working drawings determine the quantities of
materials that will be needed and the specifications determine
the quality of those materials.
You have found the perfect lot on which to build your new home.
Now you have an abundance of decisions to make. Where will the
house sit on the lot? You will have to decide this based on the
total square footage of the house. What kind of features are you
hoping to have. These are the things to consider, storage, a
laundry room, a home office, a bathroom downstairs, a full bath
upstairs, and a family room. Consider the future? Are you just
starting out and planning a family? Do you need a guestroom for
visitors? Flexible house plans are probably the best option for
you. You don't want your house to end being too big in the
future. If it starts getting small, make sure you allow for
expansion if necessary, and make sure it is according to your
local zoning laws. How does the house plan you have chosen fit
on the lot? If the lot is deep and narrow you don't want a
shallow and wide house plan. Where will you place the house so
that you get the maximum exposure to sunlight in the morning and
in the evening? Make sure the windows are where they are
supposed to be. Check the zoning laws where you are building
your house. There may be a limit in the height of the house or
on what percentage of space your house can take up on the lot.
Be open to suggestions. You can go with a pre-drawn plan or a
custom plan that is drawn to your specifications. Another
important item is how water drains off of your property. You
would want to build the house on the rise of a hill rather than
at its base. At the base the run off could do damage to the
house. When thinking about your house in general, does the house
style fit in with the neighborhood? You wouldn't put a large
Victorian house in a neighborhood that had ranch style homes and
vice versa. Find out if there is an agreement with your city or
town regarding the type of houses that is acceptable for that
area. The size of the house is important. If it is too large or
too small it will stick out like a sore thumb. Will a lot of
changes have to be made? There will be changes at some point to
add a garage or change the size or shape of a room is fairly
easy but you had better be prepared to pay a lot more for custom
plans. When you are thinking of the rooms determine what
percentage of total square footage will this room take u p. If
the master suite takes up twenty percent of total space is okay
if you are also going to use some of that space for a reading
area. If not consider a plan with a smaller bedroom. In order to
determine the total space of any room you multiply the length
times the width and divide that by the total square footage of
the home. You may want a dishwasher or an island in the center
of your kitchen but sometimes you have to do a trade off. For
example, if you want a dishwasher but will have to lose some
cabinet space you must decide which is more important cabinet
space or the dishwasher. The colors inside the house are most
definitely important. If you want each room to have its own
color the best plan for you would be a closed plan which would
create separate individual rooms. If you are going to have a
solid color throughout an open floor plan might work for you. If
you want the space consider planning a room switch. A room that
is now being planned as an office can become a guestroom or a
nursery. An extra bedroom could be come a work out room or a
family room/library. If you are building a garage consider
adding an extra bay and making that a workbench or a potting
bench. Once you figure all of this out and you have the plans
all set you can if you haven't already choose a lot. With an
organized search you could find a plan that comes very close to
your ideal home. Once you get the plan you can make any
necessary last minute changes. Building a home is probably the
most complicated decision you will ever make. The plan for your
new home can be either custom or pre-drawn. Custom plans are
more expensive but the expense of pre-drawn plans could be as
well if you request any modifications to them. Check with your
city or town for their zoning laws.
Once the site for your custom-built home has been selected, the
design process can begin. Builders caution against starting with
a fixed idea of how your home should be designed because much of
the design will be dictated by the characteristics and
constraints of the site you've selected. The custom design
process involves talking about ideas for your home, evaluating
options for your home's floor plan, reviewing preliminary
conceptual designs and preparing working drawings and
specifications, which are the written instructions for building
your home. Designing a home that will fit your budget is crucial
to the project's success. Builders say the hardest part of the
custom-home design and building process is matching buyers'
needs and dreams with the realities of their budgets. The
tendency is for the designer to stretch the size or
specifications of the home beyond what is realistic in an effort
to please the buyer. Having a builder's guidance and assistance
will help keep the design within your budget. Many buyers are
inclined to try to save money in the home design stage, in part
because these expenses can't be recouped if the project doesn't
go forward for some reason. Builders advise against cutting
corners at this point because a good design is truly the
foundation of a well-built home for the following reasons: 1.
Structural integrity. A basic element of a good design is making
sure your new home won't be prone to structural deformities. The
location of beams and posts, the routing of mechanical runs and
chases and the engineering of the foundation all affect the
home's strength, soundness and livability. Mechanical runs and
chases are hidden spaces inside the walls and the floors that
are needed for plumbing, electrical, HVAC (heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning) and other home systems. 2. Aesthetic
considerations. Your new home's curb appeal and floor plan are
important not only for your enjoyment of the home, but also for
the eventual resale of the home. A good design ensures a
well-thought-out floor plan and takes the look and feel of the
home into consideration. A good design is timeless. 3.
Interpretation errors. A good design and working drawings will
minimize errors resulting from the omission of details needed by
the subcontractors, suppliers and job-site supervisors hired by
the builder. Design errors increase construction costs for you
and the builder. 4. Change orders. A plan that is well thought
out and closely scrutinized by you and the builder will be
subject to fewer costly changes during construction. A
successful home-building project requires a three-sided balance
of the size, the cost and the quality of the home. No builder
can construct a huge home of the highest quality for a
bargain-basement price. Quality and size requirements determine
the cost while budget constraints determine the size and
quality. Having realistic expectations about the size and
quality of the home your budget can accommodate will help you,
the builder and the designer agree on a plan that will suit your
needs and fit your budget.
For more information on House Plans please visit the House Plans Resource center