|
How
to Modify a Stock
Plan
Often
a plan is close to what you want, but you may find you need a
bit more space in a room or perhaps the entry should be on another side of
the house. Our plans are unique in that you have the right to make
copies (for one project) and modify these to your particular needs. You
can do this
yourself or take your ideas to a local home designer, engineer or
architect. (Note: modifying plans may be illegal with other stock plans - check
first.)
When
your changes involve something simple like moving non-bearing interior
walls or
changing the door and window
layouts, you can probably do these yourself. Some people
finalize such changes when they have the main floor platform built and
can layout the walls and window locations full sized on the platform.
At
our subscription site (PlanHelp.com)
there are PDF
materials and plan details you can use to add custom details
to your plans.
There
are also floorplan templates that use
a simple Home Planning program such as the older (3D Home
Architect ver-3) or compatable PC
programs to redo walls, furniture and
electrical layouts. See the Downloads
at Planhelp.com
. You can modify these floor plans and view 3D perspectives to see the
effect. Then print out your changes to scale and paste them back into
your
working drawing plan or elevation (side view of the house). In this way
you can customize the plan to your site or space needs. (Note: the
programs that allow edits to the floorplans are not included with a
PlanHelp subscription.) Also be aware that these programs will take some time for you to become proficient. Often
you can lay a sheet of tracing paper over a copy of the floor plan and
draw in your modifications on the scaled plan. Sometimes lengthening or
shortening the plan can be done by snipping two copies of the layout
and overlapping to get the right dimensions. Make a copy of your
modified new plan to work from.
If
your changes are more structural, such as making the house wider, you
may need some local help with these modifications. We do not do this
customization work and
it is best to use someone who knows your local codes and construction
techniques. Look under drafting or building designers in the yellow
pages or ask for a referral from a local lumber yard as builders need to make plan modifications
all the time.
Here is additional information about code and permit issues: http://countryplans.com/building_permit.html
Hope
this helps.
John Raabe
www.countryplans.com
|
