Hey, fellow Virginian here! I can't give you a dollar figure but hopefully have some good insight to share. We are currently working with an architect. We drew our own plans on graph paper and also intended to just have the architect "draw the blueprints." We *thought* we knew exactly what we wanted. That was about 4 months ago. This process has been much more complicated than we anticipated.

The first architect, recommended by our builder, was a very nice person but had some interesting quirks that led him to continuously draw what *he* wanted and not what *we* wanted. We switched to architect #2 in mid-January and we've been pleased, but again it is eye opening to see how our plans on graph paper do not necessarily translate the same when you have a licensed architect/general contractor translating it to a detailed rendering; we overlooked thickness of walls and usually tried to fit too much in too little space. Obviously some things just "don't work" or don't fit, and so we're now on Round 4 of review and modification.

We have friends who hit the jackpot with their second "designer" (not an architect) who returned a perfect rendering after 1 visit so I guess some folks have more luck in this respect.

One thing to note - most builders we spoke to in central Virginia (we also built 8 year ago) told us that they'd have an architect re-draw any internet stock plans anyway to ensure structural stability and conformance with local laws. So you may want to keep that in mind when focusing on cost savings - even if you went for a stock plan it is unlikely you would not have additional cost for the re-draw.

We basicaly knew what rooms how big they were and proximately where in the house they would be. Our designer took that and made it better for $1,800. Our designer and builder worked together with us to keep our house a reasonable cost.

That said, we don't have the most stylish house you will ever see. For interesting design, interesting materials, etc. I think architects do that better. What we did get was a very livable, comfortable house and at a reasonable cost.

Sorry I only have a couple of construction pictures. At the end, I stopped taking pictures of anything but the kitchen.

There are books on how to draw up your own plans.

There are also software packages to draw house plans. Most of these also do 3D renderings that help you visualize the results. The better home design packages understand at least one of the major building codes and default to settings that won't violate it. None will know about local codes.

Expect to pay at least $500 US for a good software program. You can buy much cheaper, but you need sophistication, which is expensive. Also, expect a steep learning curve.

You will still need to take the plan to an architect or a qualified residential designer for refining and final touches. Just be aware, some architects hate it when clients show up with these software drawn plans, while some like it.

Just to echo what "learn" said, even if you get stock plans off the internet they will be redrawn by the builder or architect. We picked a plan off the internet and not having any knowledge about building, didn't realize our plan was designed by a firm from Mississippi!!! We are building in the inland NW where we need 2X6 construction and other local codes which we had no clue about. Sooooo this plan kind of made our rooms a bit smaller because the plan was drawn in 2X4 const.; for instance, our DW was supposed to be to the right of the sink but now is on the right past the corner ( U shaped) since the walls are smaller. Just study as much as you can and refer to GW often; lots of knowledgeable people here :)

I think everyone already covered the main points. The cost is going to depend on how good your drawings are, and whether your architect likes or, er, barely tolerates having to convert amateur hand-sketches into working blueprints. And even so, the charges will vary tremendously from place to place as well as from architect to architect. There are no standardized rates or even general guidelines to the expense of this service; in part because the actual service can vary from being adapted blueprints all the way to a provision of hands-on oversight during the actual build.

By "how how good your drawing is", I mean you need to draw realistic dimensions, and a usable floor plan. We can giggle about the home-drawn 2-story house without stairs, but it happens more often than you'd think. Ditto for properly dimensioned walls because even within code, there can be a great variety of depths which not only afffect usable floor space but are integral to support. This is a good place to say that imo, the commonly available softwares do indeed have a VERY steep learning curve, but may be worth the equally steep cost for dimensioning as well as for the 3-D effects.

OTOH, just trying to get the info onto graph paper is good for getting your attention. It's fairly easy to look at something already drawn and point out changes to be made, but drawing a usable layout is a whole 'nother story -- and why archs make money :) And on the third hand, getting your basic desires down on paper should prevent a lot of architectural guess-work, and wasted time saying such things as "oh no, I hate J&J baths".

If you desire special or unusual details, they should be carefully drawn and described before the pro starts his drawing -- architects are NOT mindreaders.

And lastly, imo, it's worth getting a structural engineer's stamp on the plans.

I started out the same way as you did. I looked through hundreds of stock plans and internet sites and could not find everything I was looking for. It was also our first and last build. My builder hooked us up with a designer and it was worth every penny. I took him tons of pics and discussed what I wanted for interior space. I then met with him onsite so that he could get a feel for the area. We wanted to take advantage of the view.

He walked around the property and in minutes claimed he knew exactly what he had in mind for the property. To be honest I was nervous because I thought he might just draw what he wanted and leave my ideas out of the picture but he assured me that he would take into consideration what we had talked about and if I did not like it he would draw me another preliminary plan.

A week later he handed me the design and it was exactly what I had envisioned and then some. The only small change we made had to do with the layout of the kitchen. It was worth every single penny and in my opinion this is one of the most important aspects of the build. He took bits and pieces from the pics I had showed him and made it look like they all belonged together. Many people that visit the site say that the house looks like it just grew out of the rock, it fits in with the rest of the landscape.

I would highly recommend a designer as an affordable option for drawing up plans.I believe it was likely double the cost of buying plans off of the internet but again, we got exactly what we wanted and there is nothing like having the person design something for your specific piece of property.

We tried for months to design what we thought we wanted only to eventually realize why architects have to go to school. What we finally did was to find a stock design we really liked (out of the zillions out there) and had the designer make the few small changes we felt we had to have. Being in Florida, pretty much any plan had to be re-engineered anyway due to wind-load codes. We've been quite happy with the result but you can't really know what you'd want different until you actually live in a home for a while. Of course unless you build the exact same house again, your observations of what you'd do differently probably aren't going to be valid on the next place. There's been a few small changes we've done...friends ask why we tore something out in a new house but if you consider the price of minor modifications with the overall cost of the house, having what you want isn't really that extra expensive.

We drew our own. In fact, we are doing everything ourselves. Like you, we went through many designs and just couldn't find one that was right for us.

My husband is a Mason and has quite a bit of building experience and an understanding of everthing. That helps.

It didn't cost us but a few bucks for copies. But my DH and I put in quite a bit of time working on the drawings. We did elevational drawings as well.
Doing our own prints saved a fortune and gave us a custom house.

I won't lie - it wasn't easy. But for us it was the right decision.

We basically wanted a ranch with a humongous great room in the center. The house will also have a large, wrap around porch on the front which will be awesome to take in the views. That will get done last and I am planning to build an awesome "tree branch" railing. Our home is sort of modeled after a "vacation" style home.

There is a two car integral garage with a three car detached (that is actually attached via an underground "tunnel").

The front door is "hidden" on the left side of the front bump out. Our main entrance will actually be in the back with a grand set of stone stairs leading to it.

Very unusual, just like us. ;)

Best of luck with your decision! Doing it yourself can be done.

We drew ours up because we knew what we wanted and where we wanted it. Because we had a limited footprint of land for the house we had to have an architect make everything fit. We also have a huge roof and needed a support system to support the large span of great great room ceiling. We are not engineers so we could not have completed all of this by ourselves. So we brought our rough drawing to him, he drew up plans (6 copies) and only charged $3,000. We were very happy with his work.

Thanks so much for the input! This thread is very encouraging. I was afraid it would be thousands of dollars for the designer and didn't realize stock plans would have to be redone anyway. I'm excited!

mamabirrd, I love what you have done! I'd love to see more pictures, too. And the underground tunnel sounds VERY cool!

Here is a pic of our house with a link if you want to see more.Double click on the pic if you want to see it larger but you probably know that already! We are completing the front rail for the top window deck this week. These pics were taken the week we moved in so we were not quite finished but it gives you an idea of what we did and as I mentioned in an earlier post it was well worth the time and money to sit down with someone and get a plan tailored to what we wanted. I was pleased with the outcome.
{{gwi:1408650}}From housee

I just got hired to assist someone in renovating a house from an ad I accidentally found while looking for something else on CraigsList. My new client said she had gotten 150 responses. She said she had rejected one who offered to work for $45/hour on the assumption that no skilled architect would work for that fee. She said she chose me because she drove by my projects and liked them. She wanted an architect because she needed a zoning and code analysis and structural changes and had wasted a lot of money on a previous project by trying to do it herself. It had taken 3 months to get the permit on the previous project and we just got the permit on the current job after a one day review.

We were also able to persuade the zoning officer to allow a new window in a non-conforming side lot without having to present it at a public hearing in order to get a special permit. We were also able to create a habitable attic space with skylights without violating the FAR limit and got an "alternating-tread" stair to fit under a skylight for permanent access to the attic with reasonable headroom.

My total fee will be about $8,000 assuming the usual amount of construction phase site visits so that fee should be less than 4% of the project cost. But the important thing is that the owner is going to be very happy with the result if her response on Friday looking at the rough framing is any indication. I often have to feign surprise on such occasions; I would be surprised and unhappy if my client didn't think the project was wonderful since we worked together long enough and hard enough to guarantee success.

My advice would be to collect photographs and plans and add careful specific notes about what you like and dislike, then spend as much time as necessary to find a good design professional that you can work well with and let him/her guide you (track down all client and project references). Forgive me for my obvious bias, I mean no offense, but to me, having designed buildings for 40 years, giving a graph paper sketch to an architect would be like taking a sandwich to a banquet.

We ended up paying about $7K for completely custom home plans.

MEL--I LOVE your house! I looked at the pictures earlier and wow! Amazing. I tried to look again just now and can only see the one. Am I doing something wrong? I would love to see all the interior images again. Your windows, especially, are stunning!

I recommend SketchUp for designing in 3D, especially if you plan to hire someone to draw the contract documents. You could start with the free or the full trial version but you will need the full version to transfer the plan to other CAD programs. It's what I use because it doesn't limit me to what someone else thinks a roof should look like and it is easy to use.

Here is a link that might be useful: versions of SketchUp

Buildinva.....You weren't doing anything wrong. I was cleaning up my albums and didn't think they would be missed. I popped them back on and will leave them there for a bit. I was a bit embarrassed because my house isn't finished yet and I am just starting to furnish it etc. Hopefully when that is done I will be able to post updated pics. The walls look pretty bare in these pics not to mention the serious lack of furniture!

Buildinnva,

Just wanted to direct you to the answer that I just posted to Project09's similar question. The blueprint guy we used was cheap! $500. And awesome. And he'll work nationally. Just a thought for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Building with your self drawn plan thread

We saved a TON of money by choosing a house plan online which was close to what we wanted, although it needed several changes. From there we hired an architect who drafted those modifications. We probably had 10 things that needed to be modified, including shifting an interior wall, adding a powder room, adding 4 ft to one side of the house, adding some closets, etc. We were able to maintain the footprint of the original plan but really make it our own. I would highly recommend going this way if you want the most "bang for your buck."

Ditto above. My wife picked out an online plan and we made many changes.Then had them re-drawn and engineered to our county's requirements. Cost $3064.00 and he was a wealth of information and advise as well! If you go this route, you only need one set of the online plans as they will be re-drawn anyhow. Then get your multiple sets, at least 10. I made the mistake of assuming that we could draw up supplementals concerning structural, changes, counties requirements, etc., so i ordered 5 sets of online plans that are worthless. Out here, the plan drawer/engineer is licensed by the state and you have to go through them for submission to the county, so make sure you know your area's requirements.

Oh wow! It's been fascinating to read what everyone is thinking. My husband and I have a dream of building our own home in the US some day where we can implement all of our green ideas.
For now, we're keeping busy enough with a kitchen plan we've designed ourselves. We live in Germany; our kitchen is only 36 square feet. We really enjoyed designing and building our tiny space. Just about finished if you're interested in some pictures (link below). It's not a whole home... but it's the heart as the cliche goes. Ours just happens to be a really small heart in a super tiny home!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our 36 sq ft kitchen

makingthishome--AMAZING! Wow, that's awesome.

I ended up designing my own house. I used a couple of ideas from various sources and sat down with my builder and we came up with a plan. We had an engineer look at the plans and also I ran it by an architect friend of mine, for suggestions (this was over a bottle of wine, nothing formal). I have to say, I am THRILLED with the results. I am a month or so from moving in and say it is such a feeling of accomplishment (I also happen to be a widowed mom of 2 small children...so I've kept busy while keeping busy!!) to see what was once a plan in my head come to life before my eyes!!

Good luck with your endeavor!

IF I could figure out how to post photos, I would....

I ended up designing my own house. I used a couple of ideas from various sources and sat down with my builder and we came up with a plan. We had an engineer look at the plans and also I ran it by an architect friend of mine, for suggestions (this was over a bottle of wine, nothing formal). I have to say, I am THRILLED with the results. I am a month or so from moving in and say it is such a feeling of accomplishment (I also happen to be a widowed mom of 2 small children...so I've kept busy while keeping busy!!) to see what was once a plan in my head come to life before my eyes!!

Good luck with your endeavor!

IF I could figure out how to post photos, I would....