| Stock house plans are the most
economical way to purchase plans for a home. Why, because the
architect/designer has already drawn the plan. All he/she needs
to do to process an order is print the plans and ship them.
By contrast, a complete custom design can cost between $1 &
$3 per square foot of finished floor space, depending upon the
area of the country you live in.
Depending upon the extent of changes or modifications you
might want, paying to have a plan modified often means you're
still way ahead financially.
Not all of our designers are willing to make changes to their
plans. The alternative is to purchase a Reproducible Set or CAD
File Set (if available) and have the changes made by someone in
your local area. Check the "Available Plan Options/Extras" box
on the plan you're interested in. If the word "modifiable"
appears, this designer is willing to make changes. This box will
also note the availability of CAD files or Reproducible.
Many changes can be done during construction by you and your
builder. However, this again will depend upon the region in
which you will be building and the flexibility of your local
building department. Check with your builder to determine
whether the changes you want to make are feasible without paying
the designer to change them for you.
Most modification prices are based on the hourly rate of the
particular designer. Hourly rates for our designers range from
$45 to $75/hour.
Following is information that may be helpful in giving you an
estimated idea of median charges for possible changes:
ALWAYS CHECK FIRST, but these are modifications that can
typically be done during construction without the designer
changing the existing plans:
Eliminating windows, fireplaces, false dormers.
Changing garage door location.
Changing garages from a 2 to 3-car.
Re-configuring kitchen cabinets & appliances
Re-arranging certain interior walls.
Changing ceiling heights
Changing exterior surfaces (e.g., brick, siding, stucco).
Changing exterior wall framing (e.g., 2x4 to 2x6)
ECONOMICAL CHANGES: Some designers have a minimum "Set-Up Fee"
that they charge in addition to the change fee. Depending upon
square footage of the home, following are changes that you can
expect to cost between $100 & $500 in addition to the purchase
of the Reproducible Plan Price:
Changing a foundation type.
Changing exterior wall framing.
Roof Pitch change.
Relocating garage door openings / adding or eliminating bays.
Kitchen or bath layout change.
Changing exterior surface (e.g., brick, siding, stucco)
Changing ceiling heights.
Re-arranging certain interior walls.
Changing garages from/to rear, front, or side-load.
MODERATE to EXPENSIVE CHANGES: You might expect the following
changes to cost in the range of $500 to $3000+, depending upon
the square footage of the home and in addition to the cost of
the Reproducible plan price:
Changing an exterior elevation style. (Using the floor plan
of one home and the exterior of another).
Adding or eliminating a room. (This would involve changes to all
aspects of a plan - elevations, floor plans, roof, foundation &
sections).
Stretching a plan in either width or depth.
Adding a bonus room over the garage.
Reducing or increasing the square footage of the home.
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