Monthly Archives: August 2013

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Ever gone to a new housing development and gone “I really like that this house is exactly the same as the one next door.” Or “I can’t wait to see the other three options?” Nope? Neither have we. A house should be as individual as the person that owns it. While some may like the idea of being in a community where everyone’s house/yard/tree looks exactly the same, it isn’t for everyone. That’s why many people opt to buy house plans and build their own castle rather than go with a planned development or community.

Not having the same shade of aubergine as the house five doors down is nice. And being able to add in a workshop or in-law suite where you want it is great. Now imagine your house being a completely different style. Like colonial but live in Alaska? Live in Texas but not a rancher at heart? No problem. With Monster House Plans, you can access any of our over 23,000 house plans to find the one that fits your dreams and your budget.

Ordering a house plan from us is as simple as point and click. Hop on to our Monster Search; choose the plan type you want (single family, duplex, etc.); select your foundation type (basement, crawlspace, pier, etc.); optimal square footage; desired style (Georgian, Mediterranean, Victorian, and more); and whichever add-ons and features you want, and see what we have available. Love the sweeping grandeur of Gone with the Wind? Take a look at our selection of plans with grand entrances and plantation-style houses. Once you find the one you want, just head to the check out and once it is processed we will ship it directly to you within 1-2 business days.

But why buy a house plan when you could have a custom built house? On average, buying a house plan means saving approximately 80% of what it would cost to hire an architect, and while these houses are really cool, not everyone can afford an architect’s fee. As well, with our cost-to-build software, for a small fee, we can estimate for you what it will take to build the home of your dreams, which means fewer surprises for you down the road. Not to mention, our plans can be customized to meet the zoning requirements of the area you live in, so there is no worry about your house not being up to spec.

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 Buying a house plan is an affordable way to create the house you’ve always dreamed of and with the Internet and companies like us, it is easier than ever to find that style that speaks to you. Cookie cutter houses and carbon copy developments are not for everyone, and the best houses are those that truly feel like they are your home. Choosing to buy a house plan gives a person the freedom to choose how they want to live, with none of the restrictions of planned communities. So be unique, and see which style tickles your fancy. Log cabin in Sarasota, anyone?

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You look at brochures and scour different sites online and think, wouldn’t it be great to live in a log cabin? Yes, it would… maybe. Yet there are a number of issues to investigate seriously to see if this romantic idea will be worth the hassle. Issues such as should you buy a pre-built or purchase log home plans and build from scratch.

First, is it even feasible? Can you really live in a log cabin… unless you own real estate on a beach? The promotional brochure looks idyllic, and claims to be beautiful in any setting, but is a log home plan even functional? Is it really practical in a climate more than 10 degrees north of the equator? Aren’t you just asking to freeze to death?

Secondly, what’s the purpose of your log cabin? A permanent residence or a vacation home? A couples’ getaway place or an alternate family gathering location? The answer to this question will determine the square footage needs of your log home plan and the quantity and quality of features to include in your design. At some point, one needs to ask the question, “How much money do I want to spend building a log home?” A large gathering place for your family as you and your children grow older may mean you are essentially building a second home, not a simple log cabin getaway. There is almost no agreement on the cost of building a log home versus a conventional home, some indicating it is less expensive and other identifying higher costs.

Part of the reason for the cost debate is because one needs to understand what is and is not included in the package. Most log home builders provide a cost for a cabin’s shell as described in the log home plan. Yet cupboards, cabinets, closets, etc. are necessary for the home to be liveable and those are often additional to your basic price estimate. The type of roof, quantity and quality of extra features, windows and other accessories obviously affect the cost also.

Finally, when it comes to the cost of a log home, while you may intend this to be the family gathering place for the next 50-100 years, you will pass off the scene and the next generations may wish to sell the cabin. Since you don’t know what will be trendy years down the road, the more unique features included in your log home plan, the more problematic it may be for resale value. Just because you didn’t need a “front door” but chose an open deck at the front of the house in 2012, doesn’t mean that will be appealing 50 or 75 years down the road to buyers. If there are a few of those quirky features, you might leave your family with some great memories but some awkward resale explanations.

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Log home plans can be a beautiful idea! A log home can be a one-of-a-kind, durable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly home for generations to come. Yet wisdom urges a person to thoughtfully consider a number of issues before investing in this picturesque venture. At Monster House Plans, we offer beautiful log home plans to consider for you and your family’s future!

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Building a home is one of the most daunting tasks a family will ever go through. There are so many questions, so many unknowns and a tremendous amount of anxiety over what and how to build your dream. And always, the penultimate desire is to have the best possible home for the best possible cost. More and more, people are turning to the positive benefits afforded by the smaller home to address these concerns. Plans for smaller homes are becoming increasingly available and growing more popular all the time. The demand for small house plans is growing steadily and their popularity illustrates this shift in consumer preferences. It is becoming well-known that small house plans are the ideal place to start when embarking on the foray into building a home to suit your dreams.

With so many unknowns and variables, more and more people are choosing to go with smaller domiciles. The smaller house has a lot of merit when compared with some of the truly massive miniature castles on the market today. With growing concerns over energy consumption, ecological footprints and green living, the smaller home is often an answer to these concerns in and of itself. The idea that “bigger is better” is falling by the wayside in a cultural movement that calls for more responsible stewardship of our limited, and thus precious resources. The smaller house, like the smaller car, is by its very nature not only more affordable to you, but also less costly for our already overtaxed, overburdened environment. These are the kind of careful considerations designers and architects are now putting into their small house plans with you, the consumer, in mind.

Having considered how smaller homes offer an answer to many of the concerns and anxieties that arise when you first begin to contemplate building a home, let’s take a closer look into the benefits of small house plans. House plans are now widely offered through a variety of venues from hardware stores to online, searchable archives such as on offer through Monster House Plans. With 23 556 plans available on our site alone, you, the consumer have a great array of choices to suit your needs and ideas. In keeping with the philosophy of the smaller home, small house plans abound. These plans are carefully drawn up considering the best possible stylistic, architectural and construction options available through the work of leaders in the industry.

While searching through our small house plans you can rest assured you are looking through the best in what the housing design world has to offer. Efficiency is absolutely key. With the amount of knowledge and expertise that has been used in the development of house plans over the many years of their existence, these plans have grown steadily more refined. Redundancies have been cleared away. New techniques and technologies are considered. All in all, the value contained within the small house plans available rivals that of much more costly custom designs.

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When you are looking for the best possible smaller home for the best possible cost, small house plans are clearly worth your consideration. At Monster House Plans, we have a vast selection of small house plans for you to choose from.

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Many small children spend their time looking around, examining, wondering and thinking about their surroundings. Sometimes, it is merely: “My, these walls are tall and that ceiling is far away.” And sometimes it is along the lines of: “What is between the ceiling and the sloping roof that is above the ceiling? I know where the ceiling ends in conjunction with the outside view of my home, and from the outside I can see the shape of the roof and where it starts, and from there I may deduce that the ceiling is not an accurate representation of the space in my home…so what really is between the ceiling and the pointed top of my roof?” Well, as many children later learn, this would be the attic. The attic is a common feature in many house floor plans, though depending on the culture, fashion and utility, the attic may not exist at all!

For one, the utility of an attic depends largely on the climate of the region in which it is being built and will be shown in the house floor plans being used to build one’s home. In snowy climes, where winter reigns often throughout the year, one may often see steep steeples on almost all the homes in order to prevent snow from piling up and collapsing the roof (much to the detriment of many people inside). While hot air rises, it will always pile into the attic and diffuse into the air around the house. To prevent this, every good house plan will include placement of turbine ventilators or exhaust fans and total area of the attic ventilation must be equal or greater to 1/150th of the floor area of the attic, with at least half of those vents in the upper half of the attic. This prevents the buildup or moisture and heat so that mold growth and wood decay does not occur as fast. Never thought an attic could be so complicated, huh?

Enough about attics! The main purpose of house floor plans are to give the builder, consumer or renter a sense of what they are, quite literally, getting into. After all, a blueprint for a house could be completely nonsensical, if being contrived by an amateur. And attempting to read a blueprint could be a very confusing task for the uninitiated, though given time and a little thought, any amateur could discern a doorway from a wall! The point is that while there are oodles of house plans to choose from, there will only be one in which you will live with for a very long time (unless you are a builder or someone who is building properties to rent).

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Assuming you are building your home with the intention of living there for a very long time, you should really do the research into which house floor plans will work for you. No matter what house floor plans you are considering, we have a variety to choose from, for a variety of locations.