Frequently Asked Questions

A typical set of plans from The House Plan Source will include the following sheets. Please note that any given set of plans may contain more sheets than what are shown here. Our plans will always include all the information necessary to construct your building. Some construction knowledge on your end is important; and if not, it is highly recommended that you work with a licensed residential contractor.

COVER SHEET

FOUNDATION FOOTPRINT

FLOOR PLANS

ELEVATIONS

SECTIONS

INTERIOR ELEVATIONS

ROOF PLAN

ROOF FRAMING PLAN

ELECTRICAL PLANS

DETAILS

Yes! If you require customizations to any of our pre-designed plans, please contact us for special pricing.

It is important to note that plan customizations are limited to 20% of the plan area. On a 1,000 heated sq. ft. house, we allow customization of up to 200 sq. ft. Anything over 20% is considered by us to be an entirely custom plan, which we do not offer.

We strive to keep customization fees affordable, so we only charge $0.40 per square foot of customization. For example, a 200 sq. ft. customization would only cost you $80; a 1,000 sq. ft. customization would only cost you $400; and so on. This charge is in addition to the original cost of the plan.

To request your plan customization, simply purchase your plan and then contact us. You will receive your customization price quote within 24 hours.

An architect’s stamp is not required in every municipality. However, we do not offer this service; so please check with your local municipality to verify if a stamp is required for permitting and/or construction. If a stamp is required for your area, it will be your responsibility to have this taken care of at your own expense.

We do not provide foundation plans, but we do provide you with a foundation footprint drawing. It is important to note that our foundation footprints are not set up for basements. An explanation and example of this drawing can be found below this section. Any foundation plans must be designed by an engineer licensed in the area of your build at your own expense.

As a standard practice, our plans are designed for concrete slab foundations. We can add an unfinished basement plan, but cannot offer other types of foundations at this time. Please contact us for basement plans.

Basement plans are priced at a fixed cost of $500 in addition to the purchase cost of the plans. Expect up to 7 days for foundation changes to be emailed to you.

Please also note that some basement plans could increase the square footage of your plan by up to 100 square feet; however, in most cases, it will probably be closer to 60 additional square feet. This additional square footage is to account for stairs and/or other features required for the foundation change. Not all plans will require an increase in square footage, but some will.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer such a service. Due to the nationwide nature of our business, we have no relationships with any architects or engineers in specific regions.

Your purchase does not include the rights to your plans. You may, however, print your plans as many times as you need; but you may not redistribute your plans to anyone not associated with your build. Doing so is in violation of US copyright law. Your purchase grants you a one-time build license only

You may contact us in the event you do wish to build your plan more than once, and we will gladly sell you a conditional license allowing you to build your plan as many times as you wish.

Our conditional license fees are based on the square footage of your plan and the amount of times you expect to build from your purchased plans.

We do not currently offer this option; however, we do plan to do so at a later date. Our plans are formatted for ARCH D size, which prints to the proper scale on 24 inch by 36 inch paper. Should you choose to print on smaller or larger sheets, it is your responsibility to scale your drawings accordingly.

Yes, you may purchase CAD-formatted versions of your purchased plans. The additional cost of any plan set in CAD format is a flat fee of $550 in addition to the cost of the plan set. This allows you to make your own customizations to your plans as you see fit.

Due to the fact that our plans are modeled using BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology, and not CAD software, we cannot guarantee that your CAD file will be completely functional. We do everything within our power to make sure your CAD files are fully usable, but by purchasing CAD files, you are doing so at your own risk.

To purchase a CAD file of your drawings, please contact us directly.

Yes, we do offer bid sets of our plans. Bid sets are priced at 1/2 of the total cost of the full plan set. If you require a bid set, please contact us using the Contact page on this website. Note that you are requesting a bid set, and for which plan you require a bid set, and we will send you the cost of the set and a link to make your purchase.

Bid sets are NOT complete plan sets. They do not include all the necessary information to build from, and are stamped with Bid Set. The bid set will include the four main elevations, a basic floor plan with all exterior dimensions, basic wall sections, and an electrical plan. Building from, or attempting to build from a bid set is in direct violation of US copyright law, and will result in legal action against you. In short, do not build from, or attempt to build from, a bid set.

When you receive your bid set by email, you will receive a one-time-use, unique discount code to apply to a future full set purchase, should you choose to do so. This discount code will apply the cost of the bid set to your purchase, so that you receive credit from your bid set purchase. If, for any reason, you do not receive this code in your bid set email, please contact us immediately so that we may rectify the situation. Please also make a record of this code so that you have it to use when making your full construction set purchase.

Yes, we do! Material takeoffs are priced at 50% of the total plan cost. If your plans cost $1,200, then a material takeoff will cost $600.

Material takeoffs will include basic construction materials. Items such as concrete, finishes, fasteners, engineered beams and trusses, etc., are not included on takeoffs. Doors and knobs/locksets, windows, wall studs, bracing, wall and roof sheathing, roofing quantities, and siding quantities are included. Waste factors are also calculated into the quantities and are listed on the takeoff so that you may adjust as desired.

Please note that it is highly recommended that you or your contractor verify all quantities by comparing to your construction plans before purchasing materials.

In order to purchase a material takeoff, please contact us directly.

Material takeoffs are not readily available on all plan sets at this time, so please expect it to take up to 5 days to receive your material takeoff. In some cases, you may receive your takeoff the same day. Customized plans will require more time to create material takeoffs for, so it could take the full 5 days for these takeoffs. Please plan accordingly.

Due to the entirely digital nature of our business, there is no way to know if the purchased products have been used for construction, bidding, etc. For this reason, we cannot offer refunds.