How to Customize House Plans

You can customize our house plans to meet your criteria.

So you’ve been going through house plans and you have finally found the one that you want…sort of.  It’s perfect, except for a few small details.  You can’t find anything closer to your ideal, but if you could just make a few adjustments, you would be truly happy with your choice.  Relax!  All of our house plans are customizable.

Wait!  Before you rush off to pencil in that double spiral staircase there are a few things you need to know about customizing house plans.

Are you familiar with the term load bearing wall?  Let’s put it this way.  You don’t want to knock one of those down.  Opening up a space by removing a wall is a common way people customize house plans, but if that involves removing a load bearing wall, your house becomes structurally unsound.  You don’t have to be an architect to make changes to your plan, because we have ones on call for you.  If you are worried about the potential damage from removing walls or beams noted in your plan, talk it over with one of our architects.  They will be happy to help you make changes.  For example, if it is a load bearing wall you want to remove, perhaps columns or an archway could be installed to keep the house structurally sound.

Adding bathrooms, creating guest suites and changing up your building materials are all ways you can customize your house plans.  Before you install that five foot fountain in your foyer, however, check to see how much cost your additions are adding to the price of the plans.  You will also need to add the cost of your additions into your cost to build.  Alternately, removing elements may actually save you money.  Our trained staff can discuss costs with you as you customize your house plans.

Don’t be afraid to run your ideas past a designer.  If you are looking to add something special to your house plans, like a theatre or private pub, you will need to pay attention to things like flow and access in addition to color and décor.  Book a consultation with a designer to get ideas on how to install a major feature into your house plans.  The consultant may recommend using basement space, or over-garage space.  They may hint at direct access off the kitchen for easy access to treats or they may suggest extra wide doorways so equipment can be moved in and out of the room with ease.  They will also have suggestions on how to design the room so it can be re-purposed at a later date, if necessary.

You may also want to run your customizations past a real estate agent.  Sure, a built in fish tank may be just the thing for you, but it may take away from the resale value of the house.  If the customizations you choose for your house plans are only suited to a narrow niche of home buyers, talk with our architects about ways your customizations can be easily renovated if you plan to sell at a later date.

Most important of all, have fun.  This is your house and your house plans.  Enjoy the process of making it unique to you.  We have the resources you need to quickly and easily customize your plan into the plan of your wildest dreams.

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