We are just beginning to build John and Melinda Henson's their
second home. Like many of you, they have walked through several
model home--seen some they like -- and now are going over dozens
of floor plans.
As we begin a new season of talking about building YOUR new
house, this is where most of you will start. Looking over floor
plans. Let's look at several ways to get the most out of your
floor plan.
Every trade or profession develops a language for explaining
its work. Floor plans provide this language for the home building
business. When you sit down to look over various floor plans,
here's what you should look for:
The floor plan is never drawn to scale. So be careful
about pulling out a ruler and expecting exact results.
The reason is that most builders don't want you taking
their floor plan to a competing builder. In fact, many
floor plans are copyrighted.
When reading the floor plan, remember the bottom of the
page always represents the front door of the house.
As you walk through the home, don't forget that when
builders give you the square footage of a home, it
actually represents only those areas that are heated and
air-conditioned. So the garage, attic and in some cases,
the basement is not included in the square footage listed
on the floor plan.
Normally a dark solid line on the floor plan represents a
wall. A series of thin lines shows windows. Doors are
shown as cutouts in the form of a half moon shape --
showing the direction the door opens. A thin line
indicates there is brick on the side of the house.
When looking at the floor plan -- look closely at the
layout -- how does the house flow from room to room? Does
it fit your needs - for instance, is the dining room
close enough to the kitchen?
Quickly look for the size, shape and length of hallways.
They are nothing but wasted space, seldom big enough to
put furniture in.
Look carefully where the builder has placed the garage.
If it is on the side of the house, you will want to know
how much room you have to turn the car into the garage.
If there is a nearby retaining wall, you may have to make
several turns. Be sure and ask your builder about
additional space.
Walk through the model home again before you start making
several or significant changes to the floor plan. A
simple change can have an impact on literally dozens of
construction elements. In fact, the more volume a builder
does, the less likely they are to make changes to an
existing floor plan.
Finally, as you settle on the floor plan of your new house,
don't forget to talk with your builder about the placement of
such amenities as kitchen islands, phone jacks, electrical
switches and even the placement of the garden hoses. Your time
and effort here will pay off handsomely on the day you move in.