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OT: House Plans

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MaleBovineK9

Redshirt
Jan 23, 2007
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Hate to interupt the basketball meltdown, but have a question for those who may know.

I've about decided to build a house. I've found some plans online that I like for about $650-$950 depending on how many copies, format, etc...

My question is: is this a good price? or can I find them for cheaper? Reason I ask is that one of the formats is .pdf. Paying that much for someone to email me a .pdf is painful.

Also, if anybody has any insights on the whole process, please share. Any tips to save money? I've worked in construction my whole life, so I have a good feel for the process, but never hurts to hear someone else's take.

Thanks
 
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Dawg4Life

Redshirt
Oct 13, 2010
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You've worked in construction your whole life and you don't know how much house plans cost?

And you really think a plan should be cheaper because it's a offered as a pdf? Are you serious? Do you really think they are charging you for emailing a pdf?

My advice to you would be to hire a contractor and let them build your house. It'll be a whole lot faster and cheaper. If you're this confused about the plans, then I'm not confident in your ability to get through the process without some costly and time-consuming mistakes. Feeling good about the process doesn't cut it.
 
whosyourdawgy

whosyourdawgy

Redshirt
Jan 23, 2011
1,581
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If you have any friends that are framers have them take a look at it and make sure there's nothing crazy on there. Some of those Internet plans have some almost impossible framing issues to deal with. Other than that, the price sounds fairly reasonable.
 
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MaleBovineK9

Redshirt
Jan 23, 2007
214
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Too many cool people on this board. If I had asked you in person, no way you'd be this cool.

I've worked in construction my whole life. Mostly heavy equipment. I have done a good bit of remodeling though. You don't have to buy house plans to remodel. I've never built a house before, so there has never been a need for me to price the plans. There's a lot of construction that can be done without ever having to buy plans believe it or not. Usually it's the owner that buys the plans our has them drawn. I've never been on that end, so no I don't know how much they cost.

I've been on the contract administration side of large civil works construction for a few years also. This also doesn't require me to buy house plans.

I don't give a flying 17 how confident you are in my ability to get through the process. Go back and read what I said. As a matter of process, I like to hear other opinions that I may have not heard before.

Stay cool dick.
 
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Johnson85

Redshirt
Nov 22, 2009
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Don't know if you know the reputation of the people providing the plans, but don't be shocked if you have to pay somebody to modify the plans. I talked to somebody that paid for plans who said they didn't even include AC when they got the complete drawings.
 
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Dawg4Life

Redshirt
Oct 13, 2010
260
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MaleBovineK9 said:
Too many cool people on this board. If I had asked you in person, no way you'd be this cool.

I've worked in construction my whole life. Mostly heavy equipment. I have done a good bit of remodeling though. You don't have to buy house plans to remodel. I've never built a house before, so there has never been a need for me to price the plans. There's a lot of construction that can be done without ever having to buy plans believe it or not. Usually it's the owner that buys the plans our has them drawn. I've never been on that end, so no I don't know how much they cost.

I've been on the contract administration side of large civil works construction for a few years also. This also doesn't require me to buy house plans.

I don't give a flying 17 how confident you are in my ability to get through the process. Go back and read what I said. As a matter of process, I like to hear other opinions that I may have not heard before.

Stay cool dick.
Click to expand...
Now, get what I'm saying. Civil works construction and a little remodeling that doesn't require plans does not make you familiar with the process of building a house. What you're calling remodeling sounds more like replacing or repairing. I'd like to see any significant additions or structural changes you've made to a house without any plans. That further lets me know that you don't know what you're doing. Not to mention asking for opinions and advice on a sports message board, not knowing how much plans cost, thinking a pdf plan should cost less. You're struggling already. If you're unsure about how much plans should cost, how are you going to figure out how much to pay the plumber? The electrician? How much should concrete cost?

You're in for a rude awakening if a $700 set of plans is cause for concern and you go to SixPackSpeak for advice. Sheesh.

Hire a real contractor, dude. It'll save you time, money and a lot of headaches.
 
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BulldogBasher

Redshirt
Dec 2, 2011
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And cheaper than a lot that I've come across. The plans are so expensive b/c they are technically the planner's "intellectual property." Good luck with your project, I've never built a house on my own, but I have friends that have done it, and you can save a ton on costs if you know what you're doing and do it yourself.
Source: I'm an attorney who has dabbled in real estate law.
 
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rumsearch

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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from what i've seen the price for the plan sets you've mentioned don't seem out of line. Southern Living has a bunch of plans and usually associates with decent designers. Some internet plan shops have someone you can talk to. Get a set of plans you like and shop the construction to two or three builders. Ask them for deviations from the plan that they see as necessary to be able to build the house. For what it's worth, I regret many house building decisions but one bugs me routinely: not putting doors at least a couple of feet away from corners...leaves room for various types of furniture and other things and the door can swing against them. Good luck. Make sure to get a builder that you feel comfortable with and if you don't know him/her before hand talk to people who they've built houses for before. If possible, look at work they've done.
 
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BogeyGolfer.sixpack

Redshirt
Aug 5, 2011
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I searched for months and finally found a house plan that I liked on coolhouseplans.com. I printed out the plans for free ( print out plans that they offer for free do not buy anything)and then had my contractor use the plan as a guide as we made modifications along the way. But now that I know the process, I will do it own my own and save a **** ton of money if I everdecideto build another one.
 
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dawgbydesign

Redshirt
Oct 25, 2009
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draw you custom plans for nothing less than that price. If its a plan you like, its a reasonable price.

.pdf is one of the few formats that are widely recognizable and easily plotted in full size. So that is fine also. If you have a decent contractor, they will be able to handle relatively complex changes, but some will insist plans be changed. A draftsman will probably not change the plans for you even for a fee because they will have to almost fully redraw them.

As far as the smarta$$ comments you get hear, I would ignore them. They are kind off like mosquitoes when fishing. Bothersome as hell but there's nothing you can do about em.
 
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xxxWalkTheDawg

Redshirt
Oct 21, 2005
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Buy this, research how to work it, and get going<div>
</div><div>http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/home-designer-pro/
</div><div>
</div><div>I have bought some books with plans in them, took mental notes of other houses I have been in, and asked what other people would have done differently. I have the design that I like about half done in the software. This way you don't wind up with a house with certain parts the way you don't like it. </div><div>
</div><div>It's expensive, but you will pay more for a quality set of multiple prints.</div>
 
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