Home Design
To get the job done, you’ll need to draft a plan


Diane Schlindwein
Copley News Service


When it comes to decision making when building or remodeling a home, homeowners have their work cut out for them. Brick or siding — or both — for the exterior? What brand of cabinets? Carpeting, tile or hardwood on the floors? What color schemes?

Yet, before they make any of those decisions, homeowners have to choose a home plan. They can find a suitable plan by looking through books and magazines. They can have a designer draw up their plans. Or they can hire an architect, says Steve Stone, owner of Caditect in Springfield, Ill.

Stone says it is usually up to the client to decide where and how they’ll obtain a house plan. “Sometimes it is a hard decision for clients,” Stone says. “Do you need a drafting and design firm, or do you need an architectural firm?”

By the time they meet with Stone, most of his clients have some idea about what they desire in a home. At the very least, they know that they want a one-story or two-story house, how many bedrooms they need and about how much square footage they can afford.



Most people who are picking out a plan have already purchased their land, Stone says. He keeps up-to-date on building codes, but usually relies on his customers to furnish covenants for their particular neighborhood or subdivision.

“Basically we get their ideas put down on a piece of paper for them,” Stone says.

Some clients have as many as three plans they like and want to use parts of each plan in their home, Stone says. Others like one house plan in particular, but want the rooms to be smaller or larger. Some might want the garage on the opposite side of the house. “These days a lot of people pick out a house plan with a two-car garage, but they really want a three-car garage,” he adds. “That happens a lot.”

When he and his staff are finished with a first draft, they supply the client with a set of plans they can mark up. “You always look at it differently when you see it all on paper,” Stone says. “We put in walls, basic plumbing, fixtures and cabinets.”

In the end clients have a fully dimensional floor plan, a foundation plan and a elevation plan that shows the outside view of the home.

Stone says some people don’t necessarily need a designer. “We always say if you like a plan you find in a book, buy that plan and build just like that.”

Stone also admits that sometimes clients want to build a home that is architecturally or structurally complicated. “We might get started into a set of plans and then decide that these people are really going to need more than a designer,” he says. When that happens, he advises them to go to an architect or an engineer.

Architect Joe Petty says 20 percent of his company’s business comes from private homeowners, typically those who are building what Petty describes as “larger, custom homes.” However, Petty says every person who consults an architect isn’t building an extraordinarily expensive home. “I think everybody should have an architect when they are building a home. The way I look at it, your home is the single largest investment you make in your life, so it is worth it.”

As an architect, Petty considers who is going to be using the house. “For example, a couple in their 50s with no children at home would need a much different place than a family with six kids who are into sports,” he says.

How detailed the architectural plans will be depends on the circumstances, Petty says. “If you have a builder that you are familiar with and really trust already picked out, then you wouldn’t need a plan with all the details like receptacles, light switches, etc. But if you are bidding it out to several builders, then you’ll need a more detailed, concise plan.”

Both Stone and Petty say the whole home-planning process will probably take at least four weeks, depending on the complexity of the project.

Finally, some people don’t want to build an entirely new home — rather they want to radically change the home they are living in.

Petty says it is “absolutely” necessary to work with an architect when modifying an existing home. “When you remodel an existing home there are just so many factors you are working with in those instances. You have to know whether you can do it structurally, you have to work with building setbacks and building codes. I think that people should most definitely work with an architect if they are doing an extensive remodeling or addition,” Petty says.