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

 

[thatguy]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

I feel your pain in finding a house plan you like.. We looked, and looked and looked and finally my wife found one we both liked.. It was a nice plan, but had a greatroom in the back, BUT our view was from the side. I was against rotating the house sideways on the lot (you can guess who was in favor of it though).. Once she was talked into believing rotating the house was not a good idea, we went back to looking and looking at more plans to find one with a greatroom on the side.. We finally found one though.. its currently under construction.

After a while it seems that all are only a handful of interior layout with minor modifications, but a lot of exterior looks..

We found our plans at http://www.drummonddesigns.com/

good luck

Brian

 

[thatguy]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

I feel your pain in finding a house plan you like.. We looked, and looked and looked and finally my wife found one we both liked.. It was a nice plan, but had a greatroom in the back, BUT our view was from the side. I was against rotating the house sideways on the lot (you can guess who was in favor of it though).. Once she was talked into believing rotating the house was not a good idea, we went back to looking and looking at more plans to find one with a greatroom on the side.. We finally found one though.. its currently under construction.

After a while it seems that all are only a handful of interior layout with minor modifications, but a lot of exterior looks..

We found our plans at http://www.drummonddesigns.com/

good luck

Brian

 

[texbaylea]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Alan L.

If you are looking for energy efficiency, do not stick build. Look at SIPs (structural insulated panels) or ICFs (insulated concrete forms) or maybe a combination of the two. I think that you can achieve almost any layout with these. If you are going to zone your AC you could use SIPs for interior partitions to gain more isolation.

Precision Panel in Conroe is the closest SIP manufacturer that I know of. I am looking at SIPs for an addition and TxDon is considering ICFs for a home.

Good Luck finding a plan you like.

Vernon

 

[texbaylea]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Alan L.

If you are looking for energy efficiency, do not stick build. Look at SIPs (structural insulated panels) or ICFs (insulated concrete forms) or maybe a combination of the two. I think that you can achieve almost any layout with these. If you are going to zone your AC you could use SIPs for interior partitions to gain more isolation.

Precision Panel in Conroe is the closest SIP manufacturer that I know of. I am looking at SIPs for an addition and TxDon is considering ICFs for a home.

Good Luck finding a plan you like.

Vernon

 

[inveresk]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

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.

I've been a practising architect for over 30 years. Iv'e worked on a vast range of building types - military bases to health centres - over 3 continents before I eventually started my own design and construction group. I'm as comfortable wearing a nailbag as I am using a sophisticated CAD programme, as happy and comfortable knocking together a framed, ledged and braced door from a Douglas Fir log as I am building a 3D computer model of one of my buildings.

I've also known a lot of architects in my 56 years. Not one of them has been a strugglling artist (totally different training) or an intellectual who has no hands on experience. But every one of them was a university graduate.

I know a LOT of people who have bad experience with builders. Does this justify dismissing the whole crate load of them lock, stock and barrel? If not, why do the same to architects?

 

[inveresk]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

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.

I've been a practising architect for over 30 years. Iv'e worked on a vast range of building types - military bases to health centres - over 3 continents before I eventually started my own design and construction group. I'm as comfortable wearing a nailbag as I am using a sophisticated CAD programme, as happy and comfortable knocking together a framed, ledged and braced door from a Douglas Fir log as I am building a 3D computer model of one of my buildings.

I've also known a lot of architects in my 56 years. Not one of them has been a strugglling artist (totally different training) or an intellectual who has no hands on experience. But every one of them was a university graduate.

I know a LOT of people who have bad experience with builders. Does this justify dismissing the whole crate load of them lock, stock and barrel? If not, why do the same to architects?

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Hi Inveresk,

We seem to clash from time to time and this looks like one of those times.

Obviously I don't know at many people in your trade or have your perspective on it. I do have some experience dealing with residential architects from new construction to remodals and additions.

I think it's pretty clear that it's very, very rare to get a set of plans that you can actually build what's on the plans and not have to make any field changes. It's never happened on any job I've been on in California or here in Texas. NEVER.

We can argue wether a building is a piece of art or not, but way too ofter a client aproaches me with something that they have been talked into that will cost them twice as much as it should for what they really want.

Sometimes this is good, but rarely for medium level homes. This is what I work on. I don't care for the upper end clients or the people in general. Just me.

I didn't attack "ALL" architects, just most of them that I've come across on mid level homes. Commercial, high end and anything totally new justifies an architect. Building a 2,000 square foot home doesn't.

As to the peopel you know who have had bad experiences with builders, I agree. There are an aweful larger percentage of them in the trades who are chemically dependent, gamblers and dishonest. I've often wondered how such a large percentage of people could have so many legal problems.

Again, back to Alan and his house. He needs to interview at least five builders before hiring one. Research and refrences are HUGE for getting a house build on time and on budget. It's not hard to build a house, but it is quite a skill to find reliable subs who will do what they say, when they say they will for the agreed upon price.

If you wish to dismiss all builders because of so many bad experiences, I'd say you were well on your way to knowing how to find the good one out of all the bad.

Sorry for offending you, I have no idea of what your skills are or those you know. I'm not directing any of my comments towards you, but offering Alan my opinion and views.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Hi Inveresk,

We seem to clash from time to time and this looks like one of those times.

Obviously I don't know at many people in your trade or have your perspective on it. I do have some experience dealing with residential architects from new construction to remodals and additions.

I think it's pretty clear that it's very, very rare to get a set of plans that you can actually build what's on the plans and not have to make any field changes. It's never happened on any job I've been on in California or here in Texas. NEVER.

We can argue wether a building is a piece of art or not, but way too ofter a client aproaches me with something that they have been talked into that will cost them twice as much as it should for what they really want.

Sometimes this is good, but rarely for medium level homes. This is what I work on. I don't care for the upper end clients or the people in general. Just me.

I didn't attack "ALL" architects, just most of them that I've come across on mid level homes. Commercial, high end and anything totally new justifies an architect. Building a 2,000 square foot home doesn't.

As to the peopel you know who have had bad experiences with builders, I agree. There are an aweful larger percentage of them in the trades who are chemically dependent, gamblers and dishonest. I've often wondered how such a large percentage of people could have so many legal problems.

Again, back to Alan and his house. He needs to interview at least five builders before hiring one. Research and refrences are HUGE for getting a house build on time and on budget. It's not hard to build a house, but it is quite a skill to find reliable subs who will do what they say, when they say they will for the agreed upon price.

If you wish to dismiss all builders because of so many bad experiences, I'd say you were well on your way to knowing how to find the good one out of all the bad.

Sorry for offending you, I have no idea of what your skills are or those you know. I'm not directing any of my comments towards you, but offering Alan my opinion and views.

Eddie

 

[inveresk]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Some of your points are valid, Eddie. Usually, but not always, it's necessary to make changes in the field to a design. There's a good reason for this. Seldom, if ever, does an architect get the benefit of building the same design twice. Almost invariably, every one of our jobs is a prototype. If every ship, aeroplane, car or any other engineered component was equally as unique, you can bet your bottom dollar there would be field changes there too.

Once I graduated, I spent the next three years full time on site building military air bases in the middle east. This was great grounding - for the past five years I'd had my head stuffed full of theory but had very little practical experience of the construction process then I'm dumped in the deep end with eight hundred hairy a**ed construction workers and nothing between me and my dignity but my ability to learn fast.

I understand people with bad experiences having complaints about architects, lawyers, doctors, dentists, car mechanics, builders, wives or husbands. If, however, I am able to dismiss any one of those groups in their entirety, I better start to look inwards rather than outwards because chances are high the problem is with me and not the group.

Architects study hard and long. In my instance five years full time university and three years internship. It's also a strange profession in some ways as we know a lot about the holistic process of building but not, perhaps, as much about the absolute detail of roofing as a roofer, stone building as a mason, electrical works as an electrician. We don't have to. That's why they serve an apprenticeship. We have to be equipped with enough knowledge about each of the trades so we can design integrated buildings that work and where each element forms part of a complete whole. With each tradesman, they're usually only concerned with their own element and with some, piling contractors for instance, they don't even see the completed building. Certainly in my experience,, architects stay until the bitter end then over the next year monitoring the building and assimilating client feedback on its performance and any defects.

Alan, I don't have a lot of spare time but if you have a plan that is close to what you want and need it amended or need some help to work up construction drawings for permits, pm me and I'll be happy to give you some free time.

 

[inveresk]

Re: Can\'t find a house plan

Some of your points are valid, Eddie. Usually, but not always, it's necessary to make changes in the field to a design. There's a good reason for this. Seldom, if ever, does an architect get the benefit of building the same design twice. Almost invariably, every one of our jobs is a prototype. If every ship, aeroplane, car or any other engineered component was equally as unique, you can bet your bottom dollar there would be field changes there too.

Once I graduated, I spent the next three years full time on site building military air bases in the middle east. This was great grounding - for the past five years I'd had my head stuffed full of theory but had very little practical experience of the construction process then I'm dumped in the deep end with eight hundred hairy a**ed construction workers and nothing between me and my dignity but my ability to learn fast.

I understand people with bad experiences having complaints about architects, lawyers, doctors, dentists, car mechanics, builders, wives or husbands. If, however, I am able to dismiss any one of those groups in their entirety, I better start to look inwards rather than outwards because chances are high the problem is with me and not the group.

Architects study hard and long. In my instance five years full time university and three years internship. It's also a strange profession in some ways as we know a lot about the holistic process of building but not, perhaps, as much about the absolute detail of roofing as a roofer, stone building as a mason, electrical works as an electrician. We don't have to. That's why they serve an apprenticeship. We have to be equipped with enough knowledge about each of the trades so we can design integrated buildings that work and where each element forms part of a complete whole. With each tradesman, they're usually only concerned with their own element and with some, piling contractors for instance, they don't even see the completed building. Certainly in my experience,, architects stay until the bitter end then over the next year monitoring the building and assimilating client feedback on its performance and any defects.

Alan, I don't have a lot of spare time but if you have a plan that is close to what you want and need it amended or need some help to work up construction drawings for permits, pm me and I'll be happy to give you some free time.