Where To Get Plans?

Age

Where do all you home builders get your plans, do you have your own architect that custom designs or do you buy them online? I want to purchase a 80' X 120' lot and build a home to rent or sell and don't know where to go for plans. Do you have any suggestions as far as buying plans online?
I am located on the central east coast of Florida by the way (think hurricanes)
Thanks

Cole

Look around for a good residential designer or architect.

You can go online but you get what you pay for.

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Zatol

I like frankbetz.com and dongardner.com..

I do well with their plans in the Carolinas.

joasis

I use PunchPro to get my basic plan down. If I sell it, then it goes to the architect. I have stacks of plan books and I visit a lot of open houses on Sundays to see what other builders are doing. With the lot size you are considering and your location, you will need an architect in your area since their are code issues unique to coastal areas, and I doubt online plan sevices would be user friendly on that point.

747

Go to a place that sells magazines. You can definately find new home magazines which have houses with layout and if you like the house you can order plans. When my oldest sister built her home thats thats what the GC did for her. Handed her a bunch of the magazines and said look through them and see if you like any houses. So i can go from there. He was a designer builder.

Zatol

Once you have the plans that you want, take them to an engineer in your area to have the plans engineered to meet your state's specific code requirements...

kdub1777

How much do you guys pay to get your plans drafted up? The norm here is about $.30 per sf. You then have extra fees for changes if you need them.
For me this is talking with a customer, sketching out rough dimensions and elevations on a napkin, and then taking them to our drafter.

Cole

That is pretty cheap.

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Glasshousebltr

I know, I still hunt fish with rocks, but like to draft up my own. It helps that I took drafting in college. There's not many print shops with a blue print machine anymore but I still enjoy the pencil and velum from time to time.

Bob

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Bob

Cole

Bob, that is great to hear.

Hand Drafting is frowned upon now, but I think it is an art.

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vtgaetano

I got the prints for my house here(with a few mods).....http://www.eplans.com/default.hwx

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MindfulDesign

I can’t believe people are buying plans on line thinking they are ready to be built. I’ve had some customers asking to produce “construction documents” from those plans. I think if you are not an engineer yourself, it’s just a waste of money.

finehomes

THIRTY CENTS A FOOT?????? Holy crap thats cheap!!! I won't do a set of plans for less than $.75 a foot....and I'M CHEAP. Most guys around here start at $1.00 a foot and up. Of course....when I'm done with a set of plans you end up with 15 pages minimum so you are getting what you paid for. And a 2,000 foot home is going to take me the better part of a week+ to draw....even on softplan with all of the details, etc so I'm earning every penny of that 75 cents a foot.


Sam

neolitic

That was someone from who knows where,
and 2½ years ago.
Perhaps look else where for relevance.

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finehomes

Two years ago??? 7 years ago I was still paying 50 cents when I was having someone else do plans for me. Come on...who could live on 30 cents a foot??? I'd like to see what you are getting for that.


Sam

malonso

new user here.....I know this is an old post but I don't see how it is possible for anyone to charge $.30 / foot much less $1.00 / ft. I'm an architect and I just got my GC license. I have been working for a GC and am looking to buy the company. We never charged less than $4.00 / sf on a residential addition or new construction and we still barely made money. This was for a full permit ready set of drawings including engineering.

For design we found it very worth while to have me on staff as the client developed a relationship us and got a feel for how well we worked. When it came to bidding we usually were able to win the contract on more than half the projects I drew up.

genecarp

i also like to draw the old way, nothing lets you feel a space like putting pencil to paper, then when its time to build, you have already done it....

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mickeyco

If you buy plans online or through a magazine make sure that they have a license for your state if it's required (here in Illinois it's required for most jurisdictions, and if it's done by an architect (even if not required), he must be licensed in Illinois or call himself a designer), that they are designed to meet your code ( a house that meets 2008 IRC requirements might not meet 2003 IRC, vise versa, etc.) and that there is a licensed architect that can make changes and seal them if required by the jurisdiction.

You can get a great deal on a set pre-made plans and cheap copies, but make sure you have your bases covered or you'll end up paying for expensive bird cage liner.

You might try a local architect for pre-made plans or if there's a house in the area you like and it's newer the jurisdiction will give you the architects name through a FOIA request and you might get a deal because they are already drawn and they should meet code requirements unless you had some recent changes.

Where do I get mine: An Illinois licensed architect in Minnesota (friend).

.

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