When a person begins the process of building a new house, there
are many different aspects that need to be addressed including:
where to build, what size home to build, what features to
include, what items are the most important to have in the home,
what costs should be included in the budget, what are the
design/build timeframes, who will build the home, and a host of
other issues.
After these initial questions have been successfully answered,
the next item that must be addressed is that of house plans.
There are two basic types of house plans that can be purchased,
custom or stock, with each having distinct advantages and
disadvantages.
Custom Houseplans
Custom house plans are just as the name implies. The house plans
are custom drawn to meet you family's specific needs. The plans
are normally drawn by a licensed building designer or, in some
cases, a licensed architect in a geographic location close to
where the 1.) owners live, or 2.) home will be built. The
process is, normally, much more involved and time-consuming
since the owner's specific requests will need to be integrated
into the overall design of the home. Many times these type
"special" requests can present significant challenges to the
designer of the home, which as a result, may take additional
time to resolve.
Since the home is being custom designed, specifically to meet
the needs of that one person/family, the costs associated with
the development of the house plans tend to be significantly
larger than those for a similar set of stock house plans.
However, in some cases, the custom house plan may be the only
viable option based on the client's needs, home location,
special building considerations, etc.
Advantages:
- Homeowner can get exactly what they want in home design
-Special needs can be addressed in the design (i.e. extra large
garage for boat, larger than normal master bath, handicapped
access, etc.)
Disadvantages:
- Significantly more costly than stock houseplans - Longer, more
arduous process to develop - Significantly more time consuming
to produce (i.e. many meetings necessary with designer over
several month period)
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Be sure
to read Part II of this article at:
http://ww
w.houseplancentral.com/articles.php?id=27
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