How House Plans Work
Building Your Own Home Starts with a
Complete Set of House Plans
By Mark J. Donovan
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So you've decided to embark on the path of building
your own custom home. It's a major endeavor whether you plan to act as
your own general contractor or hirer one. Before thinking about
breaking ground and hiring contractors you need to first come up with
a set of house plans that meet your specific needs and goals.
The best place to look for house plans is online. There are many house
plan websites available today with literally thousands of house plans
to choose from. Prior to spending a great deal of time looking at
online house plans it's wise to write down the top level things you
are looking for in your new custom home. |
At the top of your list should be the house style, followed quickly by
a target budget for the cost of building the home. You'll also want to
make note of the desired square feet of the home, as well as the number of
bedrooms and bathrooms in it. In addition, you need to figure out upfront
whether you want a single or multi-story home. Lastly, you'll need to
decide on whether or not you want an attached garage or not.
Many of the above questions are predicated on the building lot. Not all
house plans will work on all building lots. Factors such as soil grade,
soil type, and the water table can play a major factor in determining what
style of home is appropriate for the building lot. In addition, easements
and covenants also can limit your house style and size options. You may
want to visit your local building inspector and/or home association, if
you have one, to see if there are any easements or covenants you need to
think about prior to building a home.
Then there are aesthetic considerations when buying house plans. Make
sure to consider the neighborhood when choosing house plans. The last
thing you want is to build an art deco home in a housing development
filled with colonial style homes.
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The Various Types of House Plans When
buying house plans online you can buy them in
various forms. House plans come in complete
"sets". A CAD set is a complete set of house
plans that are provided in an electronic file
format that enables you or an architect to
modify them. CAD house plan sets are very
popular because almost always the buyer wants to
modify something in the plans.
Study set house plans are, as the name
suggests, house plans that allow you to get an
overall idea of the exterior views of the house.
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You can observe each side of the home, as
well as roof lines and foundation details. Study
set house plans also allow you to get a quick
idea of the cost of building the home.
Construction house plan sets are a complete set of house plans that
enable you to build a home from the prints. They include exterior and
interior views of the home as well as detailed spec information on the
actual construction of the home. For example, they include cross-sectional
constructional views of the house from the foundation footings all away up
to the roof. At each level in the cross-sectional view they specify the
types and sizes of constructional materials used. The plans also include
dimensional information for all of the rooms, as well as for the lumber
and materials required. Construction set house plans provide all of the
information required to pull building permits and get contractor quotes.
Reproducible house plan sets are ideal for the
prospective homeowner who anticipates needing to
make minor changes to the plans. Reproducible
house plans can be copied, however they can only
be used to construct one home. If more homes are
desired to be built from the same house plans
additional licenses for the house plans are
required.
So figure out what is the right house plan
for your custom home building plans and then
order the house plan set type that meets your
specific needs and budget. Building a custom
home is a rewarding project but it is imperative
you do your homework upfront, and it all starts
with a complete set of buildable house plans.
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