✅ Getting Started with Building Plans
Clearly, what should happen before a house is planned or built is an analysis of the lives – the likes, dislikes, needs, and wishes – of the people who will live in it. Just as a tailor takes measurements before sewing a new suit, we should take measurements before building a new house. There are few things in life as personal as our homes. Personalizing a home, though, goes beyond decoration. Because it takes considerable thought and planning to make a house into a home, I advocate far greater participation in the design process by the people who will live in the house. Your house should be an expression of who you are, not something that's impersonal and generic.
Planning for Cost
One of the most difficult elements of this phase is trying to understand the connection between design decisions and cost. For example, your architect may design a deck with obtuse angles and a unique shape. On paper, it looks amazing. But a big question is likely to be on your mind, "Does this kind of deck cost more?"
The answer is likely yes, but it's more complicated than that. As we've seen in other contexts, there is a balance between the costs and what you want. If you want something bad enough, the cost is secondary.
This is a tightrope that the architect is trying to walk. If budget was no issue, they may feel free to be creative and propose unique and potentially expensive approaches that push the envelope.
The reality is that most custom homes need to work within a budget, which means creative and unique approaches may need to be sacrificed. The challenge is trying to figure out where to draw the line.
Let's consider the deck. The model below is an extreme example, but imagine the extra effort it would require to build this deck's surface. Each board would require a unique cut.
- An architect may look at how cool and creative it will look.
- A builder may look at how much time it will take.
- You will have to decide what matters most.
This is a microcosm of your home's design. The question you'll have to answer is: how much creativity, originality, and uniqueness are you willing to pay for?
Planning for Costs with Standard Dimensions
If you've ever purchased plywood you've seen that it come in a standard size: 4' X 8'. The same is true for drywall. This means it's often more economical to build using multiples of 4 and 8.
For example, imagine a design that calls for a wall that is 15' tall. This will require the drywall installer to cut a piece of drywall to fit, and probably create waste. If the height was 16', the installer can use two standard panels with no cutting and no waste.
While most 2X4s you see are 8' long (96 inches), many builders use an alternative called a "pre-cut stud" that's 92-5/8 inches instead. This shorter length accounts for the required framing above and below the stud that governs the finished wall height. When a wall is built with pre-cut studs, it ends up being 8' tall with no cuts and no waste.
The Reality of Design vs. Cost
The most cost-effective and reliable design uses right angles whenever possible. This approach may not excite architects, but there seems to be near unanimity among authors on this subject:
Stewart Brand in How Buildings Learn:
As for shape: be square. The only configuration of space that grows well and subdivides well, and is really efficient to use is the rectangle. Architects groan with boredom at the thought, but that’s tough. If you start boxy and simple, outside and in, then you can let complications develop with time, responsive to use. Prematurely convoluted surfaces are expensive to build, a nuisance to maintain, and hard to change.
My own hard-won experience of right angles, for example, has convinced me that, whatever the deconstructivists might think, ours is indeed a ninety-degree world. Lloyd Kahn, once a leading advocate of dome-shaped houses, came to a similar conclusion after actually building and living in one: What’s good about 90-degree walls: they don’t catch dust, rain doesn’t sit on them, easy to add to; gravity, not tension, holds them in place. It’s easy to build in counters, shelves, arrange furniture, bathtubs, beds. We are 90 degrees to the earth.
There are certain decisions you can make at the beginning of a process to keep costs down. The first and most important is to keep the form or shape of the house square or rectangular. A complex shape costs a considerable amount more because there is more surface area per square foot of interior space. The outer skin of a building is typically the most expensive component of the house. Not only do exterior materials cost a significant amount, but making these materials keep the weather out is a significant undertaking, filled with complexity; and this of course costs money.
In general, the longer the clear, unsupported span, the more you pay.
When someone is looking for a way to make their dollar stretch the farthest, it's impossible to ignore the benefits of keeping the form simple. In general, the fewer corners you have in the exterior perimeter, the less expensive the house will be.
With occasional exceptions, make each indoor space or each position of a space, a rough rectangle, with roughly straight walls, near right angles in the corners, and a roughly symmetrical vault over each room.
Awareness of design vs. cost will yield a better fitting home for the homeowner. When cost is considered, and complex designs, non-90 degree angles or long unsupported spans are chosen, put them in places that make a difference.
Plans Process
If you are new to the process, reviewing plans can be disorienting. It takes a bit of experience to make sense of house plans and how those plans translate to the real world. No one expects you to understand the plans or know the details. The best you can do is ask a lot of questions.
Working with an architect is typically an iterative process that begins with rough sketches that might include the basic floor plan and then progress into more formal plans or 3d models created with software. At each step in this process, you’ll have the opportunity to provide feedback and direction that should be accounted for in the next version of the plans.
It's a good idea to keep notes of what you discussed in meetings with the architect to review plans. This is helpful for a couple of reasons:
- It will help you review the points covered in the meeting and think more deeply about the details and what other comments you might have.
- It serves as a way to double-check the next version of the plans to be sure they are complete and include what you discussed in the last meeting. In a big project, some details can fall through the cracks.
Below is an early sketch of the Flattop design. At the time, we were trying to get a feel for the overall shape and configuration of the house. It's looks messy, but represents changing ideas and new paths to consider.
Here is a more formal version of the design above. We were still very far from the final design.
Your role in this process is up to you. Some homeowners are more passive and entrust the entire design to the architect and go with what they recommend. Others, like us, are more active and work closely with the architect on the details. This, of course, requires an architect who is ready for that level of relationship.
High Design and Livability
As we discussed in the Architecture Crash Course, magazine architecture is often at odds with reliable construction methods and livability.
The story below is from an article on BobVila.com.
When client Herbert “Hib” Johnson was deciding whether or not to hire Frank Lloyd Wright, he visited the Lloyd-Jones House, a home Wright had designed in Tulsa. Arriving in a downpour, Johnson found that it was raining indoors, too. The floor was dotted with containers strategically positioned so as to catch the drops. Mrs. Lloyd-Jones dryly observed, “This is what happens when you leave a work of art out in the rain.” The prospective client nonetheless commissioned a house.
This is why you, the homeowner, have to be an advocate for livability from the beginning of the project. Living in a work of art can mean giving up other things that matter more, like dry floors, and a house that fits your lifestyle.
The Balance
As always, the key is balance. You hired an architect to design your house and you should feel confident that they have the skills and experience to help you understand their approach and why their designs make sense.
You may find that some of their ideas seem challenging. Ask them why the decision was made and you may discover a feature or approach that wasn't obvious or had to be experienced.
When our project was getting close to finished, a drywall guy was doing work on one of the walls opposite our kitchen and kept talking about the sun coming through the windows above our cabinets and how the glare was making his job harder. All I could do was smile, because it was designed to work that way by the architect. In the winter, when the sun is low, the windows let in light to warm the house. In the summer, when the sun is high, they let in light without the heat. It didn't work for him at the time, but it works for us.
Another example is a roof design that is shaped to ensure that water can drain efficiently into a catchment system. Architects have seen and designed many more buildings than you, so give them a chance to explain what behind their decisions in the plans.
The Devil in the Details
As plans are being drawn, it’s important to understand that the planning stage is the most affordable time to make changes. Take advantage of it. Moving a wall on paper is far more cost-effective than doing it during construction. Take your time and think hard about the details of the design.
Your architect will have a lot of questions and you won’t have to have all the answers. In the beginning, it’s your job to be clear about your intentions.
Example: A Kitchen Island
If you want an island in the kitchen, your architect will draw a box in the kitchen with a label that says “island”. From that point forward, everyone who sees the plans will know your intentions. The reality is that a simple kitchen island is full of decisions about its design, size, and placement.
Here's how a kitchen island may appear in the floor plan. Notice that the dimensions and placement of items are defined. This is what guides the basic construction of the island.
What the floor plan doesn't cover is all the details needed to make it finished. Those questions will have answers eventually, but it's never too soon to start thinking about how your intention will translate into the finished product.
A kitchen island is just one example. Working with an architect means going through each room in the house and communicating your wants and needs until there are placeholders on the plans for everything you want. All your intentions should be present, even if they are simple boxes.
Like the kitchen island, there will be boxes for the washer and dryer, showers, etc. Over time, those boxes will have specifications about size, placement of outlets, and more. If you don’t ask questions and think critically, a box on the plans will become a reality. The only way to be sure it’s built the way you want is to be involved.
If you are new to the process, reviewing plans can be disorienting. It takes a bit of experience to make sense of house plans and how those plans translate to the real world. No one expects you to understand the plans or know the details. The best you can do is ask a lot of questions.
Plans and Models
Your house will start to take shape in sketches and then move to more formal plans that are drawn with a computer using CAD (Computer-Aided Design). This may start with a site plan and floor plan and then grow into pages and pages of plans that document footings and floor joists and more. As the homeowner, I didn’t get into most of the structural details. My focus was on how the building would look and feel.
Initially, you may work with the architect to produce different sets of plans for different audiences. Examples include:
Bid Set
This set of plans is useful in the process of hiring general contractors. These plans are early representations of the project and are meant to provide enough details for the GC to provide an estimate. This might include, but is not limited to:
- Site Plan
- Floor Plan
- Exterior Elevations
- Foundation and Roofing Details
- Materials Schedule
- Cross-Sections
- Roof Plan
Permit Set
To begin construction, most homes require a building permit. That permit is issued after the "Permit Set" of house plans are reviewed by local officials. The purpose of these plans is to ensure that the house is designed to work within local building codes.
Once approved, the Permit Set becomes the on-site source for the project and is used by inspectors throughout the project.
The contents of the permit set vary according to location, but are likely to include:
- Site Plan
- Floor Plan
- Exterior Elevations
- Foundation and Roofing Details
- Materials Schedule
- Mechanical HVAC
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Structural Engineering
This might also include location-specific plans like:
- Drainage/Stormwater Plan
- Geotechnical Report
- Water Quality Report
Detail Drawings
The building plans are likely to grow to include plans that are not required by the local government but help the GC build the home. This could be specifications of look-and-feel, small drawings of details, or specific finishes.
Our fireplace design took shape late in the project and our architect created detailed drawings to guide the builders:
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