More Green Lights and Fewer Detours

When I heard the word traffic, the first thing that came to mind when I was a kid were traffic lights and fighting over the window seat with my brother. As a house design professional and dad, driving in traffic seems to have gotten worse, but the term traffic has taken on another meaning too. I have seen countless house designs and built several homes and a home’s traffic pattern is a big part of the design process. One of the most important aspects when building your home is making an efficient home traffic pattern. This is simply the way you travel from one room to another inside your home. One example is the way you move from the kitchen to the family room or from the living room to the master bedroom. The flow of traffic when you travel between rooms should be organized.

Most of us buy a house for it is more convenient sometimes to just move rather than build one which would take months. Only when you live inside will you realize how bad the traffic pattern is. These are built in cement and will be expensive to make adjustments if you have to tear it down. If you are working with a budget what you can do is just remove or adjust some doors to make a more convenient traffic flow.

Consider Your Lifestyle
A house with a family of three kids and a dog will demonstrate a very different traffic pattern than a home with a retired couple. It’s best to ask a few questions before jumping into any concreted house plan decisions. Do kids go directly to their rooms after school? Do you go to the master bedroom or the home office most of the time during the day? Do guests have to travel the entire house before they reach the powder room? Can you take the groceries to the kitchen without having to cross the living room? There shouldn’t be any frequent crisscrossing in any one of the rooms. If you have a big family, you may have experienced a pile up that is similar to traffic in the highway which could sometimes be unsafe especially while bringing hot or pointed stuff within the kitchen or to and from the garage. Remember that your goal is to avoid house designs requiring occupants to struggle passing from one area to another.

Consider Your Budget
Older home often have multiple hallways and designated formal and informal rooms. Besides today’s more relaxed lifestyle at home, there is also a significant cost to these formal rooms – from construction to property taxes and heating/cooling. Do you really need that formal living room and formal dining room? More often than not, the answer I get is “no.” So say hello to more informal, open spaces and goodbye to stuffy rooms and dark hallways. Open spaces make the room feel larger and allow multiple ways to access the kitchen for example. Below is a fine example of a house plan blueprint that lives up this present-day thinking.

Don’t Forget About the Details
You know what they say, “the devil is in the details.” Well, check your house plans and make sure that stairs are accessible to family rooms and kitchens. See how convenient the bathrooms are to the bedrooms and their occupants’ needs. Map out your family’s activity for a full day and see where heaviest traffic happens. These details will help you asses if a house plan is right for you – and eventually even where to move furniture for an effective traffic pattern.

Just remember: investing a bit of time into a house plan’s traffic pattern will save you years of minor headaches once you move in. I just wish I could say the same thing about my commute to work.

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

Last month The Plan Collection added a lot of different house plans with mother-in-law apartments (click here to view), and this month we seem to have been very busy adding new garage plans.

Now, if you’re like most people, you already have a garage (and it’s probably attached to your home); but have you ever wished there was more room? Did your teenager just buy an old beater that you wished wasn’t just sitting in your driveway? Maybe you’ve always wanted your own workshop. Whatever your situation might be, the blueprints for one of our garage plans could be just the solution!

I won’t belabor the point, but if you fall into one of these categories, you should definitely check out out awesome garage plans!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

Yesterday I wrote a post about some new House Plans that I had just added to The Plan Collection. These plans were special because they offer full Mother In-Law Apartments, but why would you want or need a separate apartment within your home?

At some point in time, everyone has experienced the chore of entertaining the overbearing house guest. Whether it’s the visiting mother-in-law, a dead-beat friend who’s down on his luck, or even the occasional college student taking a break from her studies, it’s never fun to share your limited living space for long periods of time. It’s especially hard sharing a kitchen and bathroom with said guests. Even the best of friends and family can grow tiresome after awhile. I think Benjamin Franklin put it best when he eloquently penned the words, “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”

You never know when they will drop in, and you never know how long they will stay, but it’s always a good idea to have room to house your guests. It’s even better if you can provide them with a fully-furnished living area with a bathroom and a kitchen. Even if those areas aren’t used very often, an in-law suite will definitely cause your home’s value to skyrocket.

So, if you’re looking for house plans with an in-law suite, The Plan Collection should be your first stop! Check em out!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

Hey y’all! I don’t have a lot of time today, but I just wanted to let you know that I added a few really nice home plans with mother in law suites. Click Here to check them out!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

I know a lot of people have been interested in seeing house plans from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, so I just posted a new article on the homepage of The Plan Collection. You should Check it out!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

The past few days, I’ve been sharing my opinions on the Build vs. Buy debate. Now I know that a lot of you might disagree with the stuff I’ve been writing, and that’s just fine — in fact, I’d love to hear some of your opinions!

A lot of people view homebuilding as a nightmare full of stress, over-shot budgets, delays, and headaches. And although this is often the case, let me share a few things I’ve learned that can help make homebuilding a more fulfilling — even enjoyable — experience:

• Hire a Builder – Now, this rule isn’t set in stone; I know a lot of very capable homeowners who have built their own homes without the use of a general contractor. Each of them has a strong background in construction, and they have jobs that allow them to spend a lot of time on-site rather than at work, but for the rest of us mere mortals, you really ought to hire a professional. Sure, you’ll end up paying more, but you get to keep your sanity!

  Not only will a good builder take care of a lot of the technical details (such as obtaining permits, coordinating inspections, etc.), a reputable contractor is also able to purchase large quantities of building materials at highly discounted rates. Sure, most of those cost savings disappear when the time comes to pay your contractor, but if you try building a home yourself, you’ll likely end up paying retail price for all of your materials — and retail price = blown budget!

  If you’re like me, you might know a thing or two about construction. As a teenager, I worked for an electrician, wiring up new homes; in the past, I’ve done some volunteer work framing homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina; and I’ve had countless hours painting and sheetrocking. But y’know, that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans! At the very least, I would have to locate and hire someone to pour the foundation and do the plumbing. Try to imagine that — locating and hiring reputable companies to pour the foundation and do the plumbing. Maybe you want to hire someone else to do the tilework. Then there is the cabinetry to worry about — just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach! Finding and hiring a good builder is a difficult task, but at least you only have to do it once.

  If you want to use your construction skills, I’d suggest working out some kind of a sweat equity plan with your builder. That way, you do a portion of the work yourself, and your builder knocks the price down.

• Clearly Discuss EVERYTHING – Especially if you’re building a home that your contractor hasn’t built before (this happens all the time when ordering plans off the Internet). You need to be sure that he knows exactly what you expect. Take the time to draw it out whenever possible. Explain it clearly, and then ask your builder to repeat it back to you, just to make sure you’re on the same page. It might seem a little redundant, but good communication is vitally important!

  Most homebuilding headaches come because there was a misunderstanding between the owner and the builder, and once a mistake is made, you’re either gonna have to just live with it or tear it down and replace it (a very pricey option). I can’t stress it enough — you have to communicate plainly!

  Your goal isn’t just to make sure that your builder understands. You have to make sure that there’s no way he can misunderstand!

  Even if you end up being your own contractor, you’re life will be so much happier if you discuss everything with your spouse. I’m not sure if there are any statistics, but I’ve heard stories about homebuilding experiences that ended in divorce. Heartbreaking, but true. So discuss EVERYTHING — everything from floorplans and structural modifications to paint colors and light fixtures.

  If you end up hiring a contractor, make sure to discuss beforehand who will be in charge of obtaining permits. Discuss engineering needs. Find out what you’ll need to do to bring utilities (water, electricity, phone lines, fiber-optics, etc.) into your site. Ask about how much excavation you’ll need to prepare your lot for building. And most importantly, thoroughly discuss the price. Find out about hidden costs, time estimates, etc. Keep in mind that it could easily cost 20% more and end up taking 2 to 3 months longer than what you’ve been quoted — by doing so, you’ll probably end up saving yourself a lot of disappointment down road.

  Like I said, discuss EVERYTHING! You’ll be glad you did.

• Visit the Site and Get Involved – I know I just got done telling you about how your builder can save you a lot of time and worry, but that doesn’t mean that you can just sit back and eat bon-bons. You should make it a point to visit the site every chance you get.

  There are a couple reasons for this. First and foremost, it gives you a chance to inspect the work. If there has been a miscommunication, you can catch it early — before you reach the costly point of no return. But be careful! You don’t want your contractor and his workers to see you as some kind of cruel, unpleasable Nazi!

  While you’re on the site, if circumstances permit, you should try to learn the workers’ names and get to know them. Be a genuinely friendly human being — it can’t hurt! Compliment them on their work. You might even want to consider bringing a pizza or two, or maybe some cold drinks. You don’t want to distract them or disrupt their work, but making friends with your workers can be very beneficial. Not only did you make a new friend (and who has too many friends, honestly?), but you are also letting them know what kind of work you expect from them. By getting familiar with you, they’ll understand that you have high expectations — and they’ll be more likely to put forth extra effort to meet those expectations. So Get Involved!

So that’s my take on building. There is a lot more to it than that, but this should give you enough to think about for now. Sure, buying an existing home is simple, but like My-House-Plans.com says, building gives you the chance to “watch an empty piece of property literally transform into your own personal kingdom!”

Just make sure you have the right set of house plans!

P.S. This is another personal narrative, the events related herein were merely derived from actual happenings. ;o)

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

NOTE: The following is a fictional narrative that has been dramatized for your enjoyment.

I watched in horror as the carton of eggs fell from my brown paper grocery bag onto the freshly shampooed living room floor. SPLAT! The sticky yokes were oozing from the carton, and all I could think was, “We really should have BUILT rather than bought!”

You might be wondering what broken eggs have to do with buying or building a home. Well, you’ll understand the connection soon, I promise.

A few months ago, my wife and I were trying to decide whether to build a home, or buy one. With the current state of the housing market — including a huge inventory of unsold spec homes — we decided to buy a home… and we’ve been regretting it ever since.  It’s not that I hate our current home — it’s a nice 2,000 square foot Craftsman home with a huge master bedroom and bath; it has everything we wanted in a home; but something just isn’t right!

It’s our own faulty, really. When our real estate agent first showed us this home, the first thing I noticed was the crazy layout. When you enter the house from the garage, you open the door and find yourself in a dark little laundry/mudroom. If you don’t trip on one of the dozen pairs of shoes laying around, you’ll probably end up stubbing your toes on the hidden stairs leading up to the living room. We have begun to affectionately refer to this room as “The Airlock” because of the way you have to open one door, close it; then open and close a second door, just to enter the home.

After making your way through the living room, scooting around the table and past the china hutch in the dining room, you find yourself in the kitchen. The kitchen is nice. It really is. The problem is that you practically have to trek across the Sierra Nevadas before you get there. Okay, so that’s an exaggeration, but it is a valid point. We told ourselves we could live with it, but I’m beginning to think we were wrong.

Our first clue was when our son lost the ice cream from his cone while trying to close the second door on the Airlock — all over the living room carpet. That sort of thing happens all the time with little boys, I told myself as I shampooed the carpet. It wasn’t until I (a grown boy) started spilling stuff that I began to lament our hasty decision. Throw in the fact that we just found out about a mold problem, and now I’m beginning to wonder if we should try to start again. This time, we’re definitely going to build!

I currently work for The Plan Collection, and I used to work for a residential construction company, so I’m not afraid of building my own home. In fact, I really prefer being able to pick and choose the layout and features of my home. The only reason we decided to buy a home was because my wife and I were impatient. We didn’t want to wait to have it built; we wanted to be settled in for Christmas. In all actuality, we could have built a nicer home (without an Airlock) for a couple thousand dollars cheaper than what we paid for our current abode. We could have our dream home, laid out the way we want, but now we’re stuck with this moldy maze of a house. I guess we’re reaping the consequences of our impatience.

So if anyone ends up reading this post, I just want to point out how much control you have in building a home. I know there are thousands of horror stories about overshot budgets and irresponsible builders, but I can attest that if you’ll just do your homework, make it a point to get involved in the building process, and most importantly Choose the Right House Plan, you really will end up with your dream home. I’ll be sharing a few tips in the coming days and weeks that will make your build much more enjoyable, but the bottom line is this — if you want a home to adapt to your lifestyle, you’re gonna have to build.

If you want it done right, BUILD it yourself!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

So yesterday, I wrote a quick post about two house plans that were featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Unfortunately, I lied.

I’m not exactly sure how I missed it, but I just found out that The Plan Collection actually offers THREE separate home plans that were used on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The links I shared in my last post were for the homes used in Wyoming and Oklahoma, respectively. While browsing through some other house plans at The Plan Collection, I came across this modern charmer — M-3985 Extreme

M-3985 Extreme was built for the Byers family in Corvallis, Oregon, and according to Denise Cramsey (the show’s producer), “This is probably the best home design we have ever built.” It is definitely one of kind! You should really Check it out!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

Wow! I am seriously the worst blogger in the history of the Internet (Actually, I’m not sure if that statistic is correct or not, you might want to go check with Al Gore). But seriously, I haven’t written a thing for almost six months — six months! I know how much you all look forward to hearing what I have to say, so I hope you’ll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me. I have had a slightly crazy schedule, but that’s no excuse. No, my real problem is that I’m just not consistently creative, that’s all.

All you other bloggers out there probably know exactly what I’m talking about. You have all of these good intentions of speaking your mind and touching hearts, but when it comes time to put pen to paper (figuratively), nothing happens. When I first started writing for this blog, I was chomping at the bit to get started. I was going to give the world a whole new perspective on green living. I was going to study and become a green expert, and the world would share in my studies — it would be awesome! But alas, none of that came to fruition.

Instead, I got sick and tired of looking on all of these green building websites. I got tired of wracking my brain, trying to figure out what to write about. I’d rather not put people to sleep, y’know? Anyway, I slowly put this blog on the back-burner, and here we are… at a record low.

So, I’m gonna ask you for another chance, and I’ll try to be a little more consistent. I’m gonna write more about house plans, because that’s what I know. I don’t know too much about green design, so I’m not going to focus on that. Fair enough? Good. Thanks for listening!

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.

Having designed and built several of my own homes has ben a blessing, but a curse. A blessing because I have been able to design things according to what I like and not have to settle on the closest matching house plan in a plan book. A curse because I can’t settle for a plan that is already drawn in a plan book, even though there are hundreds that would suit my needs/wants. I’ve just been thinking about this lately as I have tried to come up with a new home design. We plan to build again, basically as soon as we can come up with a house plan that we like. Unfortunately, being in the home building industry… there are so many things I have seen and would like to do that I can’t fit it all into one home. I guess I’ll just have to keep prioritizing and honing what we have.

HousePlans.Info: The latest trends, observations and opinions on all things related to house plans, home design and home building.