If someone can be passionate about something other than sports, your kids, or politics, home building is one for me. For 13 years now we have been partnering with our customer to help them take pencil sketches and turn them into reality. The building road is hard enough and you need someone who is knowledgeable at your side to turn those dreams into reality. 

Floor plans are the heart of what your future home is all about. For more sources to obtain floor plans, see my post named “Custom Home Design…laying out floor plans”. 

FLOOR PLAN PLANNING 

After you round up some good floor plan books and magazines and even visit a home show or two, look through your accumulated information. 

Standard floor plans from these sources are just a place to start. We have never built a home that was not customized in some way. As soon as you move a wall, or add a foot to the living room you home moves into the custom home class. 

Pick out floor plans that match your ideas. A good way is to copy 

The Broadwater Plan

them on your home printer and then circle home features that you like and cross out things you don’t like. 

Another avenue is to round up your best ideas and then go visit your builder. Many custom home builders will look through your ideas and then give you some pointers. 

Once you have some sort of a floor plan worked out, it is much easier for the general contractor to give you a better estimate of price per square foot. 

Or take a floor plan that is the closest to your ideas and then slightly modify it. Total redraws can get time consuming and it is difficult to get the builder to do it for you cost free. 

Another smart option is to choose a home package supplier, such as a log home or timber frame company, and have them give you a price for your home. 

For standard construction homes a popular option is the panelized systems. These homes go together very quickly and tightly. They also will look at your plans and give you a price based on your plans. 

HELPING TO GET A FEEL FOR ROOM SIZE 

Room sizes can be difficult to get a good feel for, so get out a measuring tape and measure the rooms in your existing home. 

Broadwater Kitchen and Great Room

Think about how many feet longer or shorter, wider or narrower that you would like it to be. 

Visit model homes and ask for a floor plan of that model. Then you can view the home with the floor plan in your hand. 

Go out in your yard and step off what the different room sizes are. 

People are wise to incorporate more closets and bigger closets. A few extra feet to the master suite always is well used space, as are lofts located over the kitchen and downstairs baths. 

A first floor master suite with no second floor rooms above is is also a wonderful feature to any home. The second floor traffic can be very annoying when you are trying to get a nap. 

So all in all, do your homework. Get your resources. Read up about your favorite home styles and types. And get ready to go visit some builders. For more ideas on finishing walls visit Wall Quotes Central. 

Building Dreams, 

Sue Lemmon, Cowboy Log Builders LLC