10 Tips to Help You Choose a Timber Frame Plan
It can be hard to find an existing floor plan that meets your wants and needs for the new home you plan to build. It can be even be more daunting to drum up ideas for your new home if you plan to work with a designer to create a custom floor plan from scratch. Below are a few tips to help you choose a floor plan for your new timber frame home, panelized or stick-built home!
Establish a budget for your new home. Setting a budget is crucial so you can determine if your desired square footage meets your budget.
What style home do you like? Do you prefer a more traditional or modern looking home?
What style home is predominant in your neighborhood? Do you want your home’s architecture to resemble the styles found in your region?
Also consider your site before you choose a house design. Choosing a house plan to maximize views or natural lighting for energy efficiency according to your land is key. Remember many Davis Frame timber frame floor plans are flexible.
How many floors do you want in your new home? Are you looking to build a home you can retire to? Most of our clients who are building a retirement will either build a one story home or design a two story home that will accommodate them as they get older.
Determine how many bedrooms and bathrooms and all additional rooms you want (great room, kitchen, dining, office, etc). Determining how many rooms you want will help you work on how much square feet you need.
Draw a bubble diagram to map out the layout of the rooms.
Do you want to add any guest rooms? If you do, do you want it in a separate area from the master bedroom?
It helps to plan now if you want to add a garage or not. If you choose to have a garage now or down the road and you want to connect it to the house, this could affect your floor plan.
Do you want a full basement? Will it be a walk-out and/or finished basement? Will the basements purpose be for living space, storage or both? Using a basement for additional living space can cut the cost per square foot. Many choose to utilize a finished basement for living instead of adding to the overall dimensions of the home.
The tips above provide basic information to help you find the perfect house plan or to help you gather ideas to bring to your designer or builder when you plan your new home.