Questions & Answers About
Our House Plans |
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Exactly what are your
house plans?
Our house plans are a pictorial
representation of what you want
to build:
- They are a way for you to
communicate to the builder exactly
what you want in a home, addition
or garage.
- They are the guidelines for
bids, pricing, and they will
become part of your construction
documents.
- They are what the bank needs
for loan purposes.
- They are what your town needs
for permits, and they are what
your builder needs for bidding
and construction.
- All of our homes are designed
with 2x6 exterior wall construction.
- Almost all of our homes have
basements unless specified otherwise.
- The majority of our homes
are designed with roof trusses.
- We also recommend floor trusses.
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What do your house plans
include?
Our house plans include:
- All elevations in ¼"
scale. (Occasionally the elevations
don't always fit on one page,
and in that case the front elevation
is on a separate page and may
be larger than ¼"
scale.)
- All floor plans in ¼"
scale complete with all necessary
dimensions.
- The foundation plan. (Most
of our plans have a basement)
- All the necessary structural
"cuts" or cross sections.
- We include window and door
schedules that your builder
will fill out.
- Representative kitchen layouts.
Although your final kitchen design will be
done by others. (Our kitchen shows a general layout
with cabinet measurements, primarily for window placement.)
- You also receive our "helpful
hints and tips" booklet,
chock-full of useful information.
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Do your home plans supply
electrical, plumbing, and heating
detail?
Although we can, and do, offer
electrical layouts at an added
charge, we feel that you should
sit down with your electrician
to complete a basic plan. Once
the walls are studded up and you
have a better feel for where you
want outlets, jacks and fixtures,
you can place them with your electrician's
guidance.
Plumbing fixture locations are
included on the plan. Your plumber
would handle the plumbing details.
Since there are so many different
heating systems available today,
this too should be handled by
your contractor or heating subcontractor.
All three of these fields have
so many variables involved it
would be improper for any design
company to assume to know what
is best for your particular needs.
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How many sets of home
plans do I need?
Every situation is different but
most people need the following
sets of home plans:
- 1 set for your town. Check
first though, they may want
more!
- 1 set for your bank, if financing
is involved.
- 1 set for yourself.
- 1 set for each bid you are
requesting. You should request
your sets back from builders
or subcontractors once they
submit their bid.
- At least 2 sets for the final
builder.
- Generally, most clients order
between 6 to 8 sets of home
plans.
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Can you modify your home
plans?
Yes we can.
Depending on the particulars
of the house plan and the modifications
that you may want, it is generally
an inexpensive process and can
usually be completed quite quickly.
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Do you design custom home
plans?
Yes we do.
Custom plans, depending on the
size and complexity of the home,
generally take 4 to 6 weeks to
complete. Not that it takes us
that long to do the actual work,
but because we have to keep working
through various changes and incidentals
with you for your consideration
and approval. The time frame also
depends on the time of year. We
are much busier in the spring
and summer than in the fall and
winter.
We always recommend that you
start your planning process as
early as possible so that time
is not too much of an issue. If
you are cramped for time, we recommend
that you chose a plan that is
close to what you want and have
us modify it instead. This is
always a lot quicker.
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What is a "study
set" of plans?
A study set of plans will show
all elevations and floor plans
in either 1/8" or 3/16"
scale (depending on the plan).
(This will give you a better feel
of exactly what the house will
look like.) The study plans also
include a sheet of furniture cutouts
so that you can size furniture
and make sure that the rooms are
large enough for you. The last
thing you want to do is to build
a house and not be able to put
your furniture in it!
The cost of a study set will
be credited to your account if
you order the full set of home
plans.
Study plan prices depend on the
particular plan. You must call
us for pricing.
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Do you reverse your home
plans?
Yes we do. Even though builders
should be able build homes in
the reverse without any problems,
most of them would like the plan
exactly as it is to be built,
so that there will be less room
for error.
If you want any our home plans
reversed it’s no problem,
and usually involves only $50.00
extra cost. All text will be legible
of course. (Some companies only
offer reverse image with lettering
backward.)
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Do you supply a materials
list with your house plans?
No we do not. Most builders want
to create their own materials
list to ensure nothing is left
out, and all lumber yards (to
our knowledge) will provide a
materials list for you as part
of their bid.
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Do you offer a return
policy on your house plans?
No design company, including us,
offers a return policy on plans.
Therefore you should be sure that
you want the plan you are purchasing.
The simple reason for this policy
is because some individuals would
buy home plans, then have someone
copy them, and try to return the
originals.
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How is square footage
figured on your house plans?
The sq. footage shown on our stock
plans is the amount of heated
living space of the house. If
the plan has a garage, the garage
sq. footage is not included. The
garage comes with the plan, we
just don’t include its sq.
footage in the s.f. figure. Void
areas in capes and some roof areas
are not counted. Basements are
not counted, unless there are
rooms in them.
When we design custom plans we
charge a sq. ft. price for heated
living space, and a lower sq.
ft. price for garage space.
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Do you have photos of
homes you've designed?
Any home plan that is displayed
with a picture is one of the actual
homes constructed with that plan.
As we develop this site and receive
more pictures, they will be added,
either with the plan or in a separate
photo section.
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Do your house plans have
everything I need in order to
obtain a building permit?
You generally need three things
for a building permit:
- A set of professionally drawn
home plans, which we provide.
- A plot plan showing your lot,
setbacks and building locations.
You or your builder generally
provide the plot plan.
- A septic plan, if you are
not on a town sewer. This plan
can typically provided by a
licensed soil analyst in your
area.
You may want to check with the town you are building
in to find out if they require more than these 3 things.
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Are your house plans code
compliant in my town?
All town and state codes are subject
to frequent changes and local
C.E.O. interpretation. It would
be impossible for any design company
to guarantee 100% complete compliance
nationwide.
Our homes are designed in and
for the northeast. Our stairs
meet 99 B.O.C.A. or 03 I.R.C.
If you have any doubts about your
town approving our (or any other)
home plans, you should check with
your town building inspector or
C.E.O. to find out if anything
special is required. You should
do this before you order home
plans from anyone. Our plans state:
"The builder has our permission
to add to, or delete from, any
of our notes and or specifications
if necessary for individual town
code compliance."
You should realize that no mater
who designs your home plans, the
responsibility for building it
to code compliance in the state
and town you build in, is the
sole responsibility of the builder.
He is the one that knows the codes
for that area.
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Are your house plans engineer
stamped?
With the exception of extremely
unusual homes, almost none of
our home plans need engineering
approval. Should we design a home
that requires some type of engineering
we have firms that we work with
to guarantee proper engineering
approval.
Our design expertise comes from
over 25 years of in field experience
designing and building custom
homes, and about 10 years of dedicated
home design. The majority of our
homes are designed to be constructed
using common and accepted building
practices.
All home plans, by any designer,
are pictorial drawings of the
expected end result. It is required
of the builder to see that his
construction meets all town and
state codes at the time of construction.
Our plans state this fact right
on them.
Some of our plans require the
use of steel or laminated beams.
Since there is no way that we
could know what brand of steel
or laminate beams your supplier
might sell, we do not make specifications
on these materials. Your builder,
lumber yard, or their supplier
will usually specify these at
no charge.
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How long will it take
to receive my home plans?
- Stock plans with no changes
can generally be ready for pickup,
or mail to you within one week.
- Stock plans with changes take
a little longer depending on
the nature of the changes.
- Custom plans can take from
4 to 6 weeks depending on how
long it takes to develop and
get approval from you on floor
plans and elevations.
- Different times of the year
also factor into house plan
production time as well. We
are much busier in the spring
and summer months than we are
in the fall or winter.
- No matter what the type of
plan, or time of year, we will
do our best to get your plans
to you when you need them. Try
to order house plans as early
in your planning phase as possible.
I do not believe you should
pick out a plan today and build
next week. I feel that the longer
you sit on a plan the happier
you'll be after it's built.
Sitting on it for a while, allows
you to work through the small
details, rather than rushing
through last minute revisions.
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How do I purchase your
house plans?
Each plan has a “Buy this
plan” link that will take
you to an order page. If you fill
it out and send it through, you
can either call us, or request
that we call you. We feel that
personal contact between us will
assure 3 things:
- That any questions you may
have can be answered.
- That you’ll get exactly
what you want.
- And, it also means a safe
credit card purchase.
Should you wish to contact us
with any questions, please feel
free to call anytime. Our business
hours are normally 8:00am thru
5:00pm Eastern Standard time,
Monday thru Thursday and 8:00
am thru noon on Friday. If you
get an answering machine it is
because we are either busy with
a client, on an outside call,
it is after hours or it is a really
great day and we took a ride in
our convertible. If you leave
your number and the best time
to call, we will try to return
your call within 24 hours. If
you call us and get a busy signal,
it is because we are on the line
with a client. We don’t
believe in letting a client hang
on the line while we answer someone
else. Please try back and when
we talk to you we’ll give
you the same courtesy.
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May I build more than
one house with your plans?
All of our home designs are sold
with the understanding that they
are for one house only, for the
person named on the plans. If
you wish to build more than one
house from the same set of plans,
we can negotiate the appropriate
rates.
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Copyright Information
All of our plans, designs, printed
material, and information on this
site, are copyright protected
under federal copyright laws.
We retain sole rights to all of
this material.
- Our plans cannot be copied,
or constructed from without
our express written permission.
- Purchasing a set of plans
does not transfer copyright
ownership other than to give
the purchaser permission to
build one home.
- All of our designs are sold
with the understanding that
they are for one house only,
for the person named on the
plans.
- If plans are purchased for
a "spec" house, the
name of the lot and development
will be needed for copyright
purposes.
- Home plans sold to a developer
building multiple homes, such
as condos in the same development,
will require special arrangements.
- When you purchase our home
plans, you will receive one
copy stamped "for building
permit only". The remainder
of the plan copies will be stamped
"for bid or construction
– not for building permit
purposes".
- Plans may not be given, loaned,
transferred, or resold without
our express written permission.
- We request that all plans
given out for bid purposes be
returned to you once bids have
been completed and submitted.
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