Frequently Asked Questions

Every licensed plan package purchase (PDF Reproducible and AutoCAD) includes: (Click here for more information.)

A license to build the home ONE time unless you purchase the AutoCAD files, in which you receive the license to build the home an unlimited number of times.

Construction drawings, which include:

• Front rendering
• Foundation plan
• Detailed floor plans
• Exterior and interior elevations
• Roof plan
• Door and window schedules
• Necessary wall sections/details
• Structural plan
  
  

Heating/air conditioning layouts, plumbing, and electrical details are not included. Consult a local mechanical contractor for systems suitable for local climate conditions. The plans are consistent with the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code or the International Residential Code in the year the plan was created.

Reproducible Sets allow qualified architects and engineers to make simple modifications to the design without having to completely redraw the plans. A copyright release letter is included with the purchase to allow the plans to be copied as many times as needed to build the home ONE time. (We recommend you consult the professional making changes before purchasing.)

AutoCAD (Computer Aided Design) Drawings are electronic files that make up a complete set of construction drawings for the home design of your choice. This electronic version of your plan set can be modified by a CAD professional with AutoCAD compatible software. This is the only product in which we include the license to build the home multiple times. We recommend you consult the professional making changes and ensure that you have CAD compatible software before purchasing.

The number of copies you will need can vary depending on your specific situation. Besides a set for yourself, you will probably need sets for your builder, mortgage lender, local building department, and any subcontractors who need one. We require that you at least purchase the PDF construction set in order to receive the license to build the home.

We offer a PDF Review Set, which is one set of PDF plans stamped "Not For Construction" on each sheet. Purchasing a PDF Review Set and a Materials List for your builder to study is a great way to estimate the cost of building your home. You are not granted a license to build using this Review Set. You have to purchase a PDF Reproducible or AutoCAD package in order to receive a limited license to legally build the house.

Unless you purchased the AutoCAD files, which allows the registered purchaser to build the home an unlimited number of times, the other Plan Package products only allow the registered purchaser to build the plan ONE time. Plans are licensed to the registered user only. Reselling or transferring plans is prohibited and subject to license violation fines. PDF Review Sets are stamped "not for construction" and you may not build from a review set.

Returns and refunds are not acceptable. Please double-check your selection before ordering. We encourage you to learn the building codes for your area. If you have a builder in mind, show him the plan and determine what he will need to build the home and meet local building codes. Feel free to contact us to discuss any concerns you may have before ordering.

Once you receive your new house plans, you might be a little confused as to how these 24" x 36" pages will contain all the information to build a home. Essentially, house plans are a map of the home building process including drawings, symbol legends and elevations. Just like with a map, once you understand how to read a set of plans, you will see how a home comes together in those few pages. House plans, or construction drawings, are the sets of detailed architectural drawings used by a homebuilder and contractors to construct a house. These construction sets, along with the specifications outline provided with your house plans package, are typically included as part of the contract documents between the homeowner and the builder to build the house plan. These documents specify dimensions, materials, locations, construction, finishes, etc. that are to be followed to construct the house plan. Originally, architectural drawings were reproduced by a technique that resulted in pages with white lines on blue paper, hence the name "blueprints." Technology has advanced and today most drawings are done on a computer AutoCAD system and printed out as black lines on white paper. The term "blueprints" is still used by some to describe a set of construction drawings. Each set of Don Gardner home plans will contain a Cover Sheet with the front rendering, a Foundation Plan, Detailed Floor Plans, Interior Elevations, Roof Plans, Exterior Elevations, (the left and right side, as well as the rear), Cross-Sections and Wall Section Details, and Structural Plans.

At the time of creation, our house plans are designed to be consistent with the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code or the International Residential Code, but do not meet local climatic and geographical design criteria. National and local building codes vary with location and change from time to time. Consequently, it may be necessary for you to meet with a local builder, architect or other construction professional to review your local building codes and make any changes to the house plan these codes may require. Additionally, stock plans do not have a professional stamp attached. If your building department requires one, they will only accept a stamp from a professional licensed in the state where you plan to build. In this case, you will need to take your house plans to a local engineer or architect for review and stamping. If you aren't sure, building departments typically have a handout listing all the items they require to submit to obtain a building permit.

At the time of creation, our plans are designed to be consistent with the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code or the International Residential Code, but do not meet local climatic and geographical design criteria. National and local building codes vary with location and change from time to time. Consequently, it may be necessary for you to meet with a local builder, architect or other construction professional to review your local building codes and make any changes to the plan these codes may require.

Yes! Our in-house designers will be glad to discuss your changes with you and provide an estimate. Please consult the Design Modification Services page of this website for additional information about the house plans modification process and associated fees. Click Here for more information on our modification services.

Reversing a house plan to meet your needs is a common request! Most plans have a Full Reverse option readily available, which is a mirror image of the plan with right-reading text. In some cases, the plan must be redrawn in reverse, which will delay your plan shipment while we complete your request. The typical time frame for the Full Reverse product to be completed is up to 14 days, and we will contact you immediately if your shipment will be delayed.

We do not offer custom design services. However, if you have found a house plan that is almost the perfect plan, our in-house modification services department will be happy to assist you in making the changes to make it the perfect house plan.

In some cases, depending on your building department's policies, you may be able to modify the plans simply by adding notes on the drawings describing the changes or substitutions to be made. Doing this on the PDF reproducible set saves time, as opposed to marking up multiple sets, and guarantees that all your copies are the same. For more extensive changes, a "cut and paste" method is usually a better approach, using an "intermediate" print in the process. For instance, if an area is to be substantially redrawn, you might tape a piece of white paper over it, or use white correction fluid, and have a new set of drawings created from that, providing a blank area with a fresh drafting surface. Or, you may be able to draw the changes on a separate opaque sheet, tape it over the affected area, and run your final set of drawings from that. In some cases, to make a "stretch," it might make sense to literally cut the plan apart and move one part by the desired amount, taping it to a backup sheet, then connect the lines and create the final set of drawings. The approach that works best will depend on the nature of the change to be made.

We offer various modification options for our plans. Most of our plans come with a standard crawlspace foundation, but you may purchase alternate foundations such as basements or slabs. We design most of our plans with 2x4s on a 16" center, however, most plans are also available with 2x6 exterior walls. Reversing a house plan to meet your needs is also a popular modification. Most plans are available in "full reverse" (mirror images with right-reading text). *Standard Basement Foundations are in-ground and unfinished. Note: Walkout basement foundations are a custom modification and priced per plan. Click Here for more information on our modification services. Please note: when converting to 2x6 framing, plans will typically retain the same exterior dimensions as 2 x 4 framing. This means that you will lose 2 inches of interior space in the rooms with exterior walls. Some plans may increase in square footage to accommodate 2x6 framing. For questions or concerns regarding a specific plan please call technical support at 864-288-7580 before ordering.

Most of our plans are designed with a crawl space foundation. However, standard in-ground, unfinished basement foundations and slab foundations are also available for most plans. Please call 1-800-388-7580 for more information on the foundation and plan you are interested in. Please note: Walkout basement foundations are treated as a modification and priced per plan. Click Here for more information on our modification services.

Thank you for your interest in Donald A. Gardner house plans. Due to the many factors that can affect the cost of building a home, we do not offer cost-to-build estimates for our home plans. As a residential design firm, we recognize that our clients want to be as certain as possible that the home they choose will work within their budget. Donald A. Gardner Architects strongly recommends that you consult a reliable home builder in your area to obtain an estimate for cost to build. To assist in this, we offer Materials Lists and Review Sets so that you may obtain pricing information from local builders and suppliers in your area, as prices will vary from region to region. If you are interested in several house plans and would like a "guesstimate" on construction costs, you may wish to try an online estimating service or an "off the shelf" estimating software package. Donald A. Gardner Architects does not endorse any online estimating services or estimating software in any way. Estimates may not reflect the actual cost to build in your area. Donald A. Gardner Architects cannot guarantee that estimates received from online tools or software packages will be true and/or accurate. Again, we strongly recommend that you consult a reliable home builder for an accurate cost estimate. Actual new home construction costs are affected by many factors, including but not limited to:

• The size of the house
  
• Land costs in your area Interior upgrades such as fixtures, cabinetry, flooring, etc.
  
• Site preparation or special site conditions, including tree or rock removal, sloping lots, or other conditions
  
• Contractor and subcontractor availability in your area
  
• Changes in economic conditions, including interest rates and inflation

A Materials List provides details on the types and quantities of materials needed to build a home as it is drawn. It is a quantitative take-off estimate of the materials required to build the home. The materials lists will not reflect the changes made to plans that include "add on" plan options (e.g. different foundation options). This list does not include finished materials (i.e. paint, carpet, etc.), electrical, mechanical or plumbing materials, as these items are customer specific.

Yes! Materials lists are available for most of our home plans and can help you estimate the cost of building the plan. A Materials List is a quantitative take-off estimate of the materials required to build the home. This list does not include finished materials (i.e. paint, carpet, etc.), electrical, mechanical or plumbing materials, as these items are customer specific.

For side elevations on your house plan, call us at 1-800-388-7580.

Aside from a select few home plans, we design all of the exterior walls for our plans with 2x4s on a 16" center. Please note: when converting to 2x6 framing, plans will typically retain the same exterior dimensions as 2x4 framing. This means that you will lose 2 inches of interior space in the rooms that have exterior walls. For questions or concerns regarding a specific plan, please call technical support at 864-288-7580 before ordering.

The framing design is based on the following loading conditions:

• Roof and Floor Dead Loads- 15 P.S.F. (25 P.S.F. Roof Dead Load on tile and flat roofs)
  
• Roof Live Loads- 20 P.S.F. (30 P.S.F. on some plans)
  
• Roof and Floor Dead Loads- 15 P.S.F. (25 P.S.F. Roof Dead Load on tile and flat roofs)
  
• Roof Live Loads- 20 P.S.F. (30 P.S.F. on some plans)
  
• Floor Live Loads- 40 P.S.F.
  
• Maximum Wind Speed- 80 M.P.H. (90 M.P.H. 3 second gust on Plans #1013 and up; 110 M.P.H. on some coastal designs)

Because local HVAC codes, climatic requirements and commonly used systems vary dramatically throughout the country, we do not include these details on our plans. Likewise, we do not know which direction the water flow will enter your house or where the electrical feed will enter. Your local HVAC contractor, plumber and electrician can determine the best layout for your new home.

Because local codes, climatic requirements and commonly used systems vary dramatically throughout the country, we do not include these details on our plans. Your local contractor, plumber and electrician can determine the best layout for your new home.

All square footage is calculated from outside face of stud to outside face of stud. For brick, it is calculated to the outside face of the brick. Total living square footage includes only the heated area of the house and does not include the garage, porches, unfinished storage areas or bonus room.

The height of each plan varies. Please contact our Customer Sales & Support department for information about a specific plan. (The dimension provided is from the first floor subfloor to the highest peak of the roof.)

For specific ceiling height information on your plan, please call us at 1-800-388-7580.

Room dimensions are typically underneath the name of the room on the floor plan. These are not exact and are an estimate of the measurements of the space. In order to provide a clearer view of the floor plan, dimensions for closets and most bathrooms are not included, but are available upon request. For detailed room dimensions, we suggest ordering a review set of the house plan you are interested in. This set is not to be used for construction, however, it can provide the information to meet your needs. Our Customer Sales & Support representatives are available to answer questions about specific room dimensions. Contact Us.

Yes. We hire a Structural Engineer to design the house structure to meet or exceed the Design loads indicated on the drawings.

At the time of creation, our house plans are designed to be consistent with the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code or the International Residential Code. National and local building codes vary with location and change from time to time. Consequently, it may be necessary for you to meet with a local builder, architect or other construction professional to review your local building codes and make any changes to the house plan these codes may require. Please contact our Customer Sales & Support team at 800.388.7580 or info@dongardner.com for more details.

Because Donald A. Gardner house plans are sold throughout the world, the plans have been designed with the most common construction practices in mind. However, some of our house plans can be converted to truss construction by a qualified truss expert.

Because Donald A. Gardner house plans are sold throughout the world, the plans have been designed with the most common construction practices in mind. However, our plans can be converted to ICF construction by a qualified ICF expert.

Because Donald A. Gardner house plans are sold throughout the world, the plans have been designed with the most common construction practices in mind. Our home plans can be converted to SIP (structural insulated panels) construction by a qualified SIP expert.

We recommend hiring a licensed builder to construct your home. Most states require a licensed builder for any residential or commercial project over a specific value. To find your local Homebuilders Association and other helpful resources, visit www.nahb.org. To find out if there have been any complaints registered against your builder, call your local Better Business Bureau or visit www.bbb.org Lastly, make sure you always ask for and check his/her references, along with seeing examples of his/her work.

We do not recommend or endorse builders in any area. We recommend that you contact your local Home Builders Association to find reputable builders in your area. For more information, visit NAHB.org

We respect our customers' privacy. Therefore, we do not release information on where homes have been built by our customers.

We respect our customers' privacy. Therefore, we do not release information on where homes have been built by our customers. Due to the high volume of Don Gardner house plans that are sold, we are unable to track each home plan that is built. If you would like to contact a builder who has built a particular plan, visit the House Plan Details page and scroll down to "Find a Builder."

We are constantly updating our website with new photography. While we do have photography for many Donald A. Gardner house plans, we do not have photos for every plan. To find out if photography is available, go to the House Plan Gallery found on our home page and enter the home plan you are interested in. If there is photography available for that floor plan, it will be posted here.

Some of the home plans on our website that have been photographed have been modified from the original plans. These modifications are typically made to reflect homeowner preferences or lot requirements. Please refer to rendering and floor plan images for the most accurate house plan depiction.

The majority of our home photos are sent in by our customers, and we rarely have information on the products or colors used. You are welcome to show our home photography to paint and materials suppliers to try to find a match.

We are continuously generating new plans in order to meet the demands of our customers. As these new plans are created, they are posted to our website.

We understand that searching our portfolio of hundreds of house plans can be a bit overwhelming. Our Advanced House Plan search allows you to enter specific information about the plan features you are looking for, such as the number of bedrooms, exterior style, or even master bedroom dimensions! If you still need assistance choosing a house plan that suits your needs, we offer free plan selection assistance. Let the professionals who know our portfolio best provide you with a selection of home plans to choose from! For more information about free plan selection assistance, contact our Customer Sales & Support department at info@dongardner.com or call 1.800.388.7580.

At this time, we do not offer pool house or cabana house plans, however, we are always adding to our portfolio of house plans and we may add them in the future. For notifications or updates on the Donald A. Gardner portfolio, sign up for eDAG, our monthly newsletter or our Plan of the Week emails!

Because a set of house plans can be built an infinite number of ways, for example, value-engineered for cost-efficiency or "green" for energy efficiency, any of our house plans can be built "green". Many people consider a home plan to be "green" if it has a small footprint on the land, however, others depend on guidelines from various sources to define what is "green." The materials that you use and placement on the lot determines how "green" a home can be. For more information about green building, check out our House Plan Blog for articles about green building.

More and more builders and homeowners are choosing to build green, and as a company Donald Gardner Architects is fully in support of building homes to be as energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly as possible. The answer to this question is a bit of a conundrum, because while we don't offer an official "green" design option, ALL of our plans can be green depending on how you build them. We encourage you to work with your builder to investigate the various programs with third-party green certification, such as Energy Star, Earth Craft House, the National Association of Home Builder's Green Certification Program, LEED, and others. There are several reasons we cannot offer green certified plans. They are:

• Our plans are generic and able to be constructed anywhere in the country. The variety of climates across the continent make it impossible to create one energy-efficient standard that can work everywhere.
  
• If a home buyer wants to meet the requirements of Energy Star or similar programs, it is up to the builder to follow the guidelines set forth by that program to get the home in compliance. Specifying it on the plan does not guarantee builder compliance.
  
• There are many variables within these different programs that can be combined to meet requirements – many affecting final costs. We do not want to list specifics that may limit our customers' choices; instead we recommend working with your builder to select items that satisfy the program yet are still within your budget.
  
• Information on the various programs is available from each program; clients can easily find the requirements online.
  
• All of these programs are constantly evolving and improving. Therefore, what meets requirements this year may change by next year. We do not want to lock in to "old methods" by specifying on the plans themselves.
  

You can visit links to various green building programs and choose one that is right for you by following this link.

Yes! We offer a variety of marketing pieces including web-quality digital renderings, print-quality renderings and floor plans and plan pages. Call for more information.

If your order has not arrived as scheduled, please contact our Customer Sales & Support department at 800.388.7580 or email us at info@dongardner.com. PDF and AutoCAD plan packages ordered before noon Eastern Standard Time, Monday-Friday, will be emailed the same day. Orders placed after noon Eastern Standard Time will be emailed the next business day. If you have requested an alternate foundation or wall construction, full reverse option or other modifications to your plan, consult a Customer Sales & Support representative for more information about the status of your order.

You may speak with a Customer Sales & Support during office hours (Monday-Thursday, 8:00AM-4:00PM EST and Friday 8:00AM - 12:00PM EST). If you would like to speak directly with a designer about your house plan modification needs, please submit an on-line modification request form with your changes list and in the notes section, ask for a phone consultation. Please keep in mind there is a 2-4 business day turnaround time when requesting an estimate for modifications and we will contact you once we have reviewed your request. For virtual modification consultations there is a charge of $200 per hour, billed in half-hour increments. Payment may be made by credit card. Checks are not accepted. Modification Estimate and Virtual Consultation fees are separate charges.