changing a house design

i was just wondering, when you are planning to build a house, are you able to make any changes to the house plans? is it a hassle to do so?

i was just wodnering, as i have been looking at floor plasn (purely out of curiosity.. we're not buying for a few years yet!) i see a lot ones i like, but i always think 'id rather have this here and this here etc

what about coming up with a plan yourself? i mean the basic layout idea, not so much exact measurement and stuff.

one thing i would like to have is in both 'kids' bedrooms, a WIR. not a hug one, but just more than a sliding door and hanging space.. i know its not a big deal, just something that would work well for me.
also the laundry, one house we rented had a lot of bench space and i loved it! more like a 'room' rather than a pokey little laundry that you cant move in....

just wondering if anyone had done any changes similar??

Yep, I've changed floor plans on both houses I built, and it was no worries at all, and at no cost. Both companies had their own architech(sp?) so changes were free.

Having your own drawn up will cost, and I dont think its cheap.

It depends on the company, the change, and the timing.

If you want to swap rooms around etc that doesnt effect floor space size its can usually be free, if you are making rooms bigger etc, then while there may not be a cost to change the plan, the build cost would go up for the extra materials etc.

Also some builders will charge you a fee per change to the plans after they've all been signed off on and materials "supposedly" ordered. (Funny that, builders will tell you they order all your materials in advance, then when its time to put in your floor tiles they've been 'discontinued...')

PM me if you want some more info

I just replied to this and it my post got lost somewhere in the system :(

Anyway, I used to work for a home building company, and changing the house designs were somewhat encouraged to make it more your own. Obviously you can't change things like load bearing walls, but little things like WIR's and benchspace in the laundry should be fine.

As for your own plans, like PB said you can have them drawn up by a draftsman, and it could be costly but they are then your plans for you to persue your own builder then... obviously a builder won't go ahead with a building unless the plans are drawn up properly.

HTH

DH is a draftsman for a leading Perth building company and this is his :twocents:

It depends on the builder. A company that markets to first home builders will generally offer very few changes, if any, because they make their money by having streamlined plans. A mid range builder will allow more changes. A top end builder will allow you to design your own house, but this will always cost more.

The best idea is to find a plan thats the closest to what you want, and then ask if you can change it a bit.

HTH :)

We're owner builders and saw an independent architect. IIRC, it cost a couple of grand for him to completely design our house from our brief to him.

cool, thanks for the replies guys!

i think i would be more inclined to find what i like then make a few adjustments. i wouldnt want to totally design the house, too much effort for my liking!!

We've done that recently Krystal, chose a house design we liked, and we made a few minor changes, moved some doors, added storage, moved windows, changed benches, that kind of thing. :)

yeah some builders will let you change some won't...a lot of it is to with the fact that a lot of the bigger builders now prefabricate their frames in a factory and get the sections shipped to the site....it is hard in this case to make changes to what is essentially an automated process. When we built we made so many changes to the structure of the house that the builder had to give it a different name to the spec home we had seen......the labourers that worked on it said they really enjoyed it because they were building something so different and had to think for a change!