Can't find a house plan

[Alan L.]

Can\'t find a house plan

We are wanting to build and cannot come up with a plan. we have searched high and low on the web, have stacks of plan books and can't come up with something we (a) want and (b) can afford.

If anyone has found good plans that might have most of this I would appreciate a link. We are about ready to go to an Architect with a rough plan I have made myself, but really don't want to incur the cost.

Here are some of the criteria:

1. Open living/kitchen/dining room with
2. Cathedral ceilings = the roof, 12/12 pitch
3. Loft area upstairs with a balcony off the back of the house. Could serve as 3rd bedroom. Also a bath upstairs.
4. Living room with rear view and view of the loft.
5. Large master suite and guest bedroom downstairs.
6. Large mud room /utility room for washer, dryer, extra fridge, freezer, storage, counter top with sink. area for pull down ironing board, attached bath with shower.
7. Large shed porches front and back.
8. 2 car garage
9. Square footage about 2000.

The plans we find have too many, small rooms, breakfast areas (why waste space on that if you have a dining room?). Many have multiple living areas, 3 or 4 bedrooms. Bottom line, we just can't find anything close.

The closest ones I have found are log home plans, mostly from Satterwhite.

I have drawn one but the engineering is questionable, large spans, no attic space for HVAC, etc.

We are going with energy efficiency. Sealection 500 or Icynene foam in the walls and roof (not ceiling), metal roofing, Andersen windows. Three A/C zones.

Any ideas or links would be appreciated, but we have probably seen most.

 

[Alan L.]

Can\'t find a house plan

We are wanting to build and cannot come up with a plan. we have searched high and low on the web, have stacks of plan books and can't come up with something we (a) want and (b) can afford.

If anyone has found good plans that might have most of this I would appreciate a link. We are about ready to go to an Architect with a rough plan I have made myself, but really don't want to incur the cost.

Here are some of the criteria:

1. Open living/kitchen/dining room with
2. Cathedral ceilings = the roof, 12/12 pitch
3. Loft area upstairs with a balcony off the back of the house. Could serve as 3rd bedroom. Also a bath upstairs.
4. Living room with rear view and view of the loft.
5. Large master suite and guest bedroom downstairs.
6. Large mud room /utility room for washer, dryer, extra fridge, freezer, storage, counter top with sink. area for pull down ironing board, attached bath with shower.
7. Large shed porches front and back.
8. 2 car garage
9. Square footage about 2000.

The plans we find have too many, small rooms, breakfast areas (why waste space on that if you have a dining room?). Many have multiple living areas, 3 or 4 bedrooms. Bottom line, we just can't find anything close.

The closest ones I have found are log home plans, mostly from Satterwhite.

I have drawn one but the engineering is questionable, large spans, no attic space for HVAC, etc.

We are going with energy efficiency. Sealection 500 or Icynene foam in the walls and roof (not ceiling), metal roofing, Andersen windows. Three A/C zones.

Any ideas or links would be appreciated, but we have probably seen most.

 

[RedRocker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Try these.

http://pdf.coolhouseplans.com/chp-pdf-orderid/chp-27613-C101.pdf

http://homeplans.hsh.com/index.asp

http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/

 

[RedRocker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Try these.

http://pdf.coolhouseplans.com/chp-pdf-orderid/chp-27613-C101.pdf

http://homeplans.hsh.com/index.asp

http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/

 

[SWB]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Look at the following designer. We just built one of his houses. www.hiltongooge.com/

 

[SWB]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Look at the following designer. We just built one of his houses. www.hiltongooge.com/

 

[Alan L.]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Thanks, believe it or not there was a site from each those two posts that we had not seen. Some interesting plans in those. Looks like getting the second bedroom downstairs and still having a loft upstairs might be difficult.

 

[Alan L.]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Thanks, believe it or not there was a site from each those two posts that we had not seen. Some interesting plans in those. Looks like getting the second bedroom downstairs and still having a loft upstairs might be difficult.

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Hi Alan,

I usually go to eplans.com and put down my basics, then start looking for a layout that fits the land I'm dealing with.

Then I print out the ones I like and start moving walls and either adding or removing certain features. Once I get it to fit, I draw it up with my home design program.

Fitting in the mechanicals can be a challange, especially the duct work. More than one home has had to add space to the exterior walls to handle them.

I'm a little jaded on architects as a whole. Most are either struggling artists trying to become famous, or intelectuals that have no hands on experience. Just a few are actually competent to the point you can build a home from their plans and not have to fix any mistakes.

Read bmac thread on his home for an example and some of the problems they ran into which were caused by his architect.

I'd skip this part of the desing process, save yourself some money and talk to your builder. Have you hired one?

A good builder will take your ideas, put them together for you and work with you on them as part of his job to build your house. He's seen what works, what doesn't and knows the best way to do it for the least amount of money.

Having him try to decipher an architects ideas can be very frustraiting and expensive.

There is a reason the price of a home can range from $60 ft to $200 ft and more. As a general rule of thumb, a third of the price of a tract home is materials. The rest is where you either save or lose money. The fancier or more complicated you make it, the more labor will cost. Sometimes ALLOT more.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Hi Alan,

I usually go to eplans.com and put down my basics, then start looking for a layout that fits the land I'm dealing with.

Then I print out the ones I like and start moving walls and either adding or removing certain features. Once I get it to fit, I draw it up with my home design program.

Fitting in the mechanicals can be a challange, especially the duct work. More than one home has had to add space to the exterior walls to handle them.

I'm a little jaded on architects as a whole. Most are either struggling artists trying to become famous, or intelectuals that have no hands on experience. Just a few are actually competent to the point you can build a home from their plans and not have to fix any mistakes.

Read bmac thread on his home for an example and some of the problems they ran into which were caused by his architect.

I'd skip this part of the desing process, save yourself some money and talk to your builder. Have you hired one?

A good builder will take your ideas, put them together for you and work with you on them as part of his job to build your house. He's seen what works, what doesn't and knows the best way to do it for the least amount of money.

Having him try to decipher an architects ideas can be very frustraiting and expensive.

There is a reason the price of a home can range from $60 ft to $200 ft and more. As a general rule of thumb, a third of the price of a tract home is materials. The rest is where you either save or lose money. The fancier or more complicated you make it, the more labor will cost. Sometimes ALLOT more.

Good luck,
Eddie