In this episode of the HousePlanGallery.com podcast, we’ll be answering one of our most popular customer questions and thats “What House Plan Package Do I Really Need to build MY house”?

Since each designer can offer a variety of different ways to buy their house plans, we understand that it can become confusing to a new person shopping for country house floor plans.

We want to take the mystery out of the process and explain exactly what each plan package is… and is not, and give you some guidelines to help you choose which new home plans option makes the most sense for your families’ needs.

As always, you can just give us a call at 601-264-5028 or send us an email via our contact page if you ever have a question about anything you see on the site, and we’ll be glad to help….

For every small house floor plans that you find on HousePlanGallery.com (or any other site), you’ll have several different “plan packages” that are available to you to purchase for a given plan. These include a single set, traditional set, a Reproducible set, a CAD file set, and the popular PDF file set.

Although not all designers offer every type of plan package, every house plan that you purchase from our site is complete and has all the information you need to build your dream home. Now lets go through a breakdown of exactly whats included in each package:

Single Set – The single set package includes 1 full set of printed blueprints, and it can be used by you for obtaining bids. This is NOT a construction set of house plans, and although this package includes a complete set of construction documents, each page in this package is stamped “Not for Construction” and does not include a license to build the home. Additionally, this package does not allow you to make copies of the blueprints and this package may not be available for all house plans.

Traditional Set – The traditional set is the basic package of drawings you will need to obtain a building permit, secure your financing, and build your home. It includes a specific number (usally 3-10 copies, depending on designer) of complete sets of house plans. Each set has all four exterior views (also called elevations), complete floor plans, a basement or foundation plan, a roof plan, building sections, and all other details necessary to construct your house. This package DOES also come with a single license to build the home.

Reproducible Set – The reproducible set can be purchased if you will need to make minor changes to your house plans, and this is a complete set of the house plan working drawings which is printed on erasable Mylar, sepia, or vellum paper. In addition, you’ll also receive a second copy of the plans on bond paper, to be used for reference purposes by yourself or your local design professional. Additionally, A reproducible set includes single build license, and a release so that you can have a local design professional make any required modifications to the plans. Additionally, you receive a release to make unlimited copies of the modified construction documents to aid in the bidding and building process.

PDF File Set – The pdf file set has become one of our most popular plan packages, and it stands for the Adobe “Portable Document Format” filetype. With this package, you receive an electronic PDF copy of the construction documents which make it an excellent option to purchase when you need your plans very quickly, and will need to make substantial modifications and changes to plan. The PDF file option is very popular, especially when you’ll be working with a local design professional on the plan modifications as it can greatly reduce the time and cost to complete the modifications. Additionallym, the PDF file set includes single build license, and a release so that you can have a local design professional make any required modifications to the plans. Additionally, you receive a release to make unlimited copies of the modified construction documents to aid in the bidding and building process.

The “PDF File” plan package is your best value, and provides many advantages over the Reproducible, 8 Set, 5 Set, and 1 Set packages including:

* Need more copies of the plan? No problem! Simply take the file to any local print shop and have them print out your copies in your desired size. In addition, you will have the copies available for use….THAT DAY!

* Need different size copies for different people? Easy! You can print out an 8 1/2 x 11 set for your office, a 11 x 17 set for your local building officials, a 18 x 24 set for your builder, a 24 x 36 master set for yourself! Unlimited flexibility!

* Need to modify the plan? We’ve got you covered! Simply take the PDF to a local building design professional and they will be able to update your drawings in the same way as if you provided them with a printed “Reproducible” set.

* Need your plans immediately! No need to wait for your plans to ship! We can email you the PDF file, usually the same day!

Finally, we have the CAD File Set – The cad file set stands for “Computer Aided Design”, and is an electronic copy of the construction documents that are best to purchase when you will need to make substantial modifications and changes to plan. The electronic file option is very popular, especially when you’ll be working with a local design professional on the plan modifications as it can greatly reduce the time and cost to complete the modifications. The CAD file set includes single build license, and a release so that you can have a local design professional make any required modifications to the plans. Additionally, you receive a release to make unlimited copies of the modified construction documents to aid in the bidding and building process.

If you’re looking for a recommendation on an Award-winning house plan with a very popular design, you can check out one of our most popular home designs – The Avondale Court – at http://www.houseplangallery.com/HPG-2200C-1

This attractive french country style home design has become very popular with our customers and has some great floorplan and design features, especially considering that the home only includes 2,200 square feet of living space.

Again, you can view this plan online at http://www.houseplangallery.com/HPG-2200C-1

Thanks for listening to this week’s podcast. Join us for next week’s episode, where we’ll be talking about “Do Stock House Plans Include Everything that I need to build in the state of “INSERT HERE”?

Finally, we’re always here to help you find a house plan for your family, and you can always feel free to visit us online at http://www.HousePlanGallery.com or give us a call at 601-264-5028 if we can help you with your new house plans.

Thanks again, and let us know if we can help!

In this episode of the HousePlanGallery.com podcast, we’ll be talking about what are the most popular home design features that people are looking for in their new house plans.

In part 2 of this 3 part series, we’ll talk about another very important aspect of what makes a particular southern house floor plan design MUCH more popular than another… and that is the much-requested “split floorplan layout”…

Again, before we get started, we’d love to hear your feedback on what features you’d like to see in your new house plans, so be sure to give us a call at 601-264-5028 or contact us via our contact page….

#3: Split-Floorplan Layout – There are two basic types of new house floor plans layouts, which are primarily differentiated through their inherent treatment of the master bedrooms suite vs. other bedrooms vs. public space (i.e. great room, den, kitchen, etc.).

The first type of floorplan layout is a traditional layout whereby the master bedroom/suite is usually located on the same side of the house as the other bedrooms. The logical grouping of the home’s bedroom spaces, within a relatively-contiguous location in the floorplan, lends itself to several different design styles of homes, and may be an alternative for particular groups of home-owners, including families with infants / small children and/or retired couples with little need for multiple bedrooms, who utilize the extra space as a small home office which is conveniently located.

Both the primary advantage and disadvantage of this type of layout relate to the location of the master bedroom vs. other bedrooms. For example, if you prefer more privacy in the master suite OR you have teenage/college children in the house OR (name your specific condition here), the traditional best house plans floorplan layout would probably not be the best choice for you.

Alternatively, the split-floorplan layout addresses the shortcomings of the traditional layout by physically separating the master suite from the other bedrooms, and many times, from the more highly-trafficked public areas such as the kitchen, great room, and eating area. It is this feature that has made the split-floorplan layout increasingly popular with today’s home buyers.

The primary advantages of this type of layout is that of its relative privacy and sound-deadening benefits that such a physical room arrangement can provide. The downside to this floorplan layout can be that it is sometimes a little more difficult to implement in the home design, especially on narrow lots, since certain floorplan spaces and features only lend themselves to positioning in a relatively small number of locations in the home.

For example, a foyer is normally located off the front of the house and the great room is usually (though not always) positioned in the rear center of the house to provide views of the property. The additional bedrooms are usually located in close-proximity to one another since they normally share bathrooms, etc, etc..

The combination of all these type items increase the complexity of developing a solid split-floorplan house plan design that meet all of the livability features of today’s home builder. Regardless of these type items, the split-floorplan layout continues to enjoy exceeding popularity with family’s looking to build a new home.

If you’re looking for a specific example of an Award-winning split floorplan design, you can check out one of our most popular home designs – The Remington – at http://www.houseplangallery.com/HPG-1752-1

This traditional ranch style home has become very popular with our customers and has a tremendous amount of usable space, not to mention including many of the most requested floorplan features in 1,752 square feet of living space.

Again, you can view this plan online at http://www.houseplangallery.com/HPG-1752-1

Thanks for listening to this week’s podcast. Join us for next week’s episode, where we’ll continue into part 3 of our series on the most popular home design features in stock house plans.

Finally, we’re always here to help you find a house plan for your family, and you can always feel free to visit us online at http://www.HousePlanGallery.com or give us a call at 601-264-5028 if we can help you with your new house plans.

Thanks again, and let us know if we can help!