Thinking about building a home

it all comes down to money you want to spend. getting a architect is more expensive always. or you could look u pre fab houses and they have tons of companies that have many different designs .

quote:

---

Find a dude who has 1000 houseplans and look through them. Make changes, then find builders and submit plans to them for bids. Or find houseplan books at Lowes/Home Depot. You can even find plans online.

---

This. Currently going through the process myself. I'd find plans online that I liked then let the architect make any changes you want. Think I got my plans drawn up for $1500 or less.

quote:

---

Think I got my plans drawn up for $1500 or less.

---

Way too high imo

I would go see a guy named Mike Kabel in Denham Springs. Ask to look through his house plans. If you find anything you like, you can make some adjustments and get him to print out the house plans. He has a ton of plans from years of work. He still draws them by hand too if I remember right.

I work at Schumacher, yes we build Kabel's plans or anyone's for that matter. That being said if you know exactly what you want you don't have to pay someone to draw them, just have a rough sketch and I can do it for free. Graph paper is your friend.

Oh wow, you work in Baton Rouge? My girlfriend wanted me to call tomorrow and figure out what all yall offer.

I am out tomorrow and will be back Thursday. Only thing that isn't included in the price online is your utility hookups, driveway, dirt and permits. All those tricked out pictures you see online, we build those houses all the time but that stuff costs money. Give me a call on Thursday, I like to think I take about as straight forward approach as I can.
Every time I do a quote for myself I end up with $80000 in upgrades, but that is multiple fireplaces, outdoor kitchen, coffered ceilings, etc.

quote:

---

Way too high imo

---

A good set of plans is well worth the money, especially if you're building something in the higher end range.

What's a few thousand in the scheme of things anyway? A bad set of plans, or even unclear plans can cost you that in a day during construction, maybe more. As always, you get what you pay for. A good contractor can subsidize this a little bit as well. Same thing applies.

quote:

---

A good set of plans is well worth the money, especially if you're building something in the higher end range.

What's a few thousand in the scheme of things anyway? A bad set of plans, or even unclear plans can cost you that in a day during construction, maybe more. As always, you get what you pay for. A good contractor can subsidize this a little bit as well. Same thing applies.

---

This is exactly how I feel. I am planning a custom house and I would rather spend a few thousand on an architect then some generic plans.

My big thing is I do not want one of those houses like I see in Sherwood Forest that I look at and wonder, "what the hell were they thinking when they built that" I like the styles from the 1st half of the 20th century. The homes in Hammond around the south side of Southeastern and along Church St. have that style and we are looking to mimic that but have modern touches to it.