The Old Barn’s Frequently Asked Questions will get you answers to your questions around home designs and floor plans for your dream living. If your question is not in the Frequently Asked Questions, feel free to contact us.
1. Cover Sheet
2. Foundation Plan – This is a dimensioned foundation plan for estimating and planning, not for construction. Because this is a stock plan and not designed for a specific site, it is our strong recommendation you have an engineer design your foundation based your site-specific conditions.
3. Dimensioned Floor Plans
4. Exterior Elevations – Four exterior views of the house
5. Roof Plan – Birds eye view showing all roof pitches, ridges, valleys and other necessary information.
6. Electrical Plan – Displays locations of lighting fixtures, outlets and other necessary electrical items.
7. Wall Section – Detail of wall materials and assembly.
8. Door and Window Schedules
9. Interior Elevations – Displays kitchen cabinets layout.
10. Persepctives
Yes, we offer modifications to our plans with free quotes at reasonable rates. At Old Barn Design, we understand that you want your plan to be modified to suit your exact needs and any of our house plans can be changed accordingly. Please give us a call at 469-693-1108 for more information. You may also take this plan to your local draftsperson, architect, or builder for changes.
The first thing you should do is contact a builder and your local building & planning office. You MUST get the specific requirements from your local building department. You or your builder will also need to contact a local engineer to get the foundation designed for your specific site conditions and local codes. The foundation drawing in this set is for planning, estimating, and layout only. At Old Barn Designs, we provide “working drawings”. There are no engineer or architectural stamps/sign-offs. Engineering is not provided with any plans and should be provided by your own hired, local Engineer, since they would need to be familiar with YOUR local building codes and conditions such and wind, snow and earthquakes. When we email the drawings we will send you info about how to download, where to get prints made, and more.
Many times changing a foundation type is a very simple matter and can be done during construction. Our plan is drawn with a standard post-tensioned slab but can be modified for basements, crawl spaces, etc. It is recommended to have your foundation engineered by a local professional based on soil and local conditions. Please call (469) 693-1108 with any questions.
Just go back to the plan page click on “add to cart” and continue with the information requested.
Yes. Our designs have rear and side elevations available upon request.
Generally, square footage is calculated as the finished (dry-walled, painted, carpeted), under heat and air square footage. It would include footage from outside framed wall to outside framed wall (not including brick, siding, stucco etc.), and anywhere the floor joists would project, such as in a cantilevered (overhanging) bay window. Other things that are typically not included in a home’s square footage are garages, front, back or side porches, courtyards, patio, etc. Basements are also not included in the square footage unless they are finished. All room sizes shown on floor plans are rounded off measurements.
Unfortunately, no. Since it is possible to make illegal copies of the plans you received, we do not allow any refunds. You need to make sure of your order before placing it. It is also VERY important that you check the dimensions of your lot or land before selecting a house plan.
Our plans are designed to specifications published by the International Residential Code, (IRC), and the Uniform Building Code, (UBC). This plan is designed to meet or exceed the national building standards. Because of the great differences in geography and climate throughout the United States, each state, country, county, and municipality has its own building codes, zone requirements, ordinances, and building regulations. Your plans may need to comply with the local requirements regarding snow loads, energy codes, wind loads, soil and seismic conditions, and a wide range of other matters. Please check with your local building authorities before making your purchase. Most plan can be adapted to comply with a few simple additions and notes by a local engineer.
As a registered purchaser of a plan, you are licensed to build only one structure from the plans. If you intend to build a plan more than once, you’ll need to purchase the unlimited use set.
A readable reverse is exactly like looking at a set of plans in a mirror, but all the text is still readable (not backwards).
At this time I am only offering services to make small modifications to the plans sold on this website. There may be a waiting list for my services.
No, full architectural drawings don’t include a materials list, however, floor plan specific materials lists are available at checkout. These will come as a spreadsheet outlining the materials needed. You may need to make adjustments to certain materials. It may be helpful in getting ballpark-type bids for difficult tocalulate items like roofing, brick, an siding. The material list does not include every piece of lumber, usually your lumber company will do a lumber take-off.
Building codes are safety regulations pertaining to how a building (commercial or residential), should be built. They are intended to protect both builders and home buyers from building an unsafe structure. They deal with everything from nail spacing to wheelchair accessibility. Many restrictions, regulations and inspections are regionally required due to soil conditions, weather conditions, etc. Every state, county and local municipality has adopted some form of one, any or all of these standard building codes.
Our house plans are designed to meet or exceed IRC and average conditions and codes in the State of which they were designed. Because codes and requirements can change and may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, Old Barn Design cannot warrant compliance with any specific code or regulation. All of our plans can be adapted to the local building codes and requirements. It is the responsibility of the purchaser and/or builder of each plan to see that the structure is built in strict compliance with the governing municipal codes (city, count, state and federal). In addition to the complete building plans that you order, you will also need a site plan that shows where the house is going to be located on the property. Your builder can usually help you with this. You may also need a septic design unless your lot is served by a sanitary sewer system. Many areas now have energy codes that have to be followed. This normally involves filling out a simple form proving compliance. There are some areas of the country that have very strict engineering codes. Examples of this would be earthquake-prone areas of California or hurricane risk areas on the Florida coast. If you are building in this type of area, it is possible that you will need to hire a local engineer to analyze the house and provide additional drawings and calculations required by your building department. If you aren’t sure, building departments always have a handout they will give you listing everything you need to submit for a building permit.
Yes. Our plans include most everything you need to build, including elevations, floor plans, foundation plans, electrical plans, roof plans, etc. Important details, such as where the home will be located on your site, and how the water, sewer, and electrical hookups are made, is something you will need to address with your contractor and local building inspector. You will also need to have a local engineer design the foundation based on your specific site conditions.
You will need a set of plans to present to your builder who will prepare a detailed estimate. You can get an estimate from the builders in your area of their average price per square foot and multiply that number by the square footage of the floor plan you’re considering.
If you find you need/want to save money, we can help you save at least 20%++ off the cost to build with a builder by owner-building using our proven system, Bootstrap Builders, to guide you through the process.
The purchase of a set of plans in no way transfers any copyright or other ownership interest to the buyer, except for a limited license to use that set of home plans for the construction of one, and only one, dwelling unit. In 1990 the copyright law changed. The changes effected intellectual property which includes architectural drawings in any tangible medium or form, such as magazines, books, CD-ROMs, or the Internet. Under the law, it is not permissible to modify a plan from such sources. It is illegal! All home plans sold through OldBarnCompany.com are protected by copyrights held by the individual designer. Reproduction of these home plans, either in whole or in part, including any form and/or preparation of derivative works, for any reason, without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited. Copyright law has been reinforced over the past few years. Willful infringement could cause settlements for statutory damages up to $250,000 plus attorney fees, damages and loss of profits.
Completely. When you place an online order on our secure server, all information is sent encrypted to an automated payment-processing center to see that everything is correct. Your order information is then sent to us without your credit card information. This way, no credit card information is ever stored on our server and no one will have access to it at any point in the transaction. As for your privacy, we do not give out any private information to anyone for any reason.
If your question is not in the Frequently Asked Questions, feel free to contact us.