Archive for the ‘Home Plans’ category

Construction Plans – Products Of Conceptualization

November 18th, 2011

Good planners devote long hours of studies during the process of conceptualization of the home construction project. They conduct research and consult several technical people on the ground to aid them in order to produce the best building plans. A perfect blueprint is a complete plan depicting all the wishes and needs of the homeowner with supporting details presented in the form of drawings and technical specification manuals. Generally, these documents are prepared by an engineer or architect hired by the owner.

There are some ready made construction plans available on the market. Those who prefer to use these plans must carefully examine them as to their adoptability to their needs, site location and budgets. However, it is still more preferable to draft your own plans (through your architect if you are not capable) as you know perfectly your detailed requirements for your home construction.

What compose a construction plan?

A typical home construction plan includes but not limited to the following documents as tagged per page; to wit:

  • Site development plan. On this page, you will see your home building perspective and site location together with the proposed developments on the site as it would appear after project completion.
  • Civil works pages. You will see here your home building lay-out plans, foundation plans, designs of the columns, beams, walls, trusses, roofing and other items of work to complete your building structure. The drawings are complete with dimensions so that you could visualize the sizes of your rooms and other areas of the home building project.
  • Electrical plans. These plans will show you the location of the switches, lighting fixtures, outlets, panel boards and sources of your electrical power supply.
  • Sanitary and Plumbing plans. These will show you the clean water lines as well as your sewer system. The faucets, showers, lavatories, water closets and other plumbing fixtures are identified.
  • Mechanical plans- These plans will show you all the mechanical items like air conditioning units, water heaters, water pumps and other similar mechanical gadgets attached to your home.
  • Architectural plans- these plans will show you all the carpentry works for cabinets, ceiling, finishes on walls, ceiling and floor. The designs on baseboards, chair guards, cornices, doors, windows and other finishing items are shown here in details.

Technical specifications, what are they?

There are plans where the technical specifications are incorporated on the building plans. However, it is best appreciated when a narrative summary is prepared where all technical specifications are clearly discussed and with corresponding cross references on the plans. The technical specifications manual will guide the homeowner regarding the kind of materials that will be used on the project. It also includes quality control guidelines for the faithful compliance of the construction plans.

The homeowner needs not be an engineer or architect to understand the construction plans. A diligent research and attention is sufficient in order to read and comprehend the construction plans and technical specifications. Try surfing the Internet and start a good lesson on how to read home construction plans.

Posted in Home Plans

4 Things You Really Need To Consider Before You Build A Shed

November 14th, 2011

If you consider building a storage shed, there are some things you need to consider. Many people will instantly throw a lot of money in shed-plans, materials and expensive tools, even before they know exactly what they want. So what do you need to consider before you go all in.

What do need?

This is maybe the most important question to ask. Many people think: “I need a storage shed because I have a lot of things I need to store”. This is what I think the worst mind you can have. You need to define exactly what you need to store, is it a lawnmower? Cycles or anything else. If you write a list down of at least 5 things you know you can store, you can go down to step 2.

How big do the storage shed need to be?

There are many different sizes, and you can basically pick between almost any sizes. But a good thing to keep in mind is how much space you have to fill. It can be a very good idea to look at many different shed plans, to find the one that match exactly in your backyard.

How much does storage plans for sheds cost?

This is a question many people want to know because they really want to get the cheapest price. You can find many websites selling shed plans for about $50. Some will cost over $70, but you will often get around 10.000+ shed plans you can use. I will recommend you to pick between those big packages because as mentioned in step two, you have to pick your shed plan carefully. Not every backyard has space to every sheds. Some backyards can easily have a 12×12 shed while some gardens needs to have a more rectangular shed like 12×8.

Do I need to be professional to build a good shed?

No, this question is easy to answer because a lot of websites offers plans for sheds that have a step by step guide on how to build a shed. It cannot go wrong. If you just follow the exact plan the only thing you need is some great tools, and a lot of enthusiasm.

So if you want a nice looking shed, and you do not want to spend a lot of money on ready-made sheds, you can pretty safe buy a shed plan, and start right away. I hope this will work out for you.

Posted in Home Plans