Modifications
Making Your Dreams A Reality!
Have you found a Donald A. Gardner Architects home plan that's perfect … except for a few things? If so, our modifications team can help. The designers are able to customize floor plans to your exact specifications, so the home built is your custom dream home!
Modifying A Home Plan
Our modification team has more than 35 years of combined experience and will guide you through the entire process making it easy and convenient. Options to make a plan uniquely yours are nearly endless, from simply changing a garage door from front entry to side entry, to more complex customizations such as stretching the width and depth of a plan or even rearranging rooms. Click on the links below to discover how you can take any of our plans and turn them into custom house plans.
How the Modification Process Works
Modification Process
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Find Your Plan
Browse through more than 1,000 different portfolio house plans on our website and select the one that most closely fits your needs. Our website allows you to search and compare plans based on a variety of desires. Once you select your almost perfect plan and have your customizations in mind, you are ready to submit a modification request.
Start The Request
You may start a modification request by clicking on the link at the top or bottom of this page or by clicking the “ Submit Modification Request" link at the bottom of any plan page. While there is a $49 consultation fee to receive an estimate, that fee is credited toward the total cost of your house plan customizations. The credit will apply to the final modification payment.
Calculating the Cost
Once you submit a modification request, our team will calculate the cost to make all of the changes you requested to the plan, with each requested change priced separately. This allows you to decide whether to proceed with all the modifications or pick and choose the ones that are most important to you and fit your budget.
Cost Estimate
Within two to three business days we will email you with a modification cost estimate. This email will contain the total estimated cost for the modification, your plan package choices with pricing, and an itemized breakdown of your requested plan changes. The quote you receive will be valid for 30 days.
Review the Estimate
Review the modification estimate, confirm your choices, and then just let us know that you are ready to move forward. We will send you an agreement letter to sign and return, as well as collect the plan package fee and a 50 percent deposit of the estimated modification fee.
Project Review
When we receive your signed agreement letter and fees, your project will be assigned and placed on our schedule. As soon as we start the plan modifications on your home, we will send you an email letting you know. We then revise every detail on the original plan affected by the modifications, yielding a complete set of working drawings. This complete coordinated set reduces the risk of construction errors during the building process. It is also a vital link between the owner and contractor if any disputable issues arise when building from custom house plans.
Modification in Progress
The process to customize house plans is very interactive. While your modifications are underway we will communicate with you through email, by phone, and/or visually using PDF illustrations of the changes. You will have an opportunity to see drawings or sketches of your requested changes and the opportunity to have them changed or refined if needed before the final working drawings are completed. Additional plan modifications may sometimes be needed for code compliance and require additional fees. Some necessary services may be required from local professionals. If you aren't sure, building departments typically have a handout listing all the items they require to submit to obtain a building permit. In the unlikely event that work beyond the original estimate is requested or required, you will receive an email with the explanation and cost for your approval.
Modification Completion
Lastly, electronic documents are emailed based on your choice of plan package. We encourage you to write us about your home's progress and send photos throughout construction and after completion.
Additional Modification Information:
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Virtual Modification Consultation
If you would prefer a virtual meeting to speak directly with a designer about your house plan modifications, please submit an online modification request form with your anticipated changes listed, and in the notes section, ask for an appointment. Please keep in mind there is a two to three 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.
Benefits of Using Donald A. Gardner Design Services
Why choose Donald A. Gardner Design Services, LLC for your home plan modifications? Three reasons: experience, continuity of design, and technical support. The Donald A. Gardner Design Services, LLC team has offered home plan modification since 1998, and who better to tailor a plan to suit your needs than someone who knows the Don Gardner portfolio in and out? By maintaining the integrity of the design and assuring all changes are made to the highest standards, Donald A. Gardner Design Services designers ensure that a modified plan set is just as complete and accurate as the original plan set would be. Best of all, our designers work closely with you through the modification process and listen attentively to your needs and desires so they can be translated effectively into the finished custom house plans. We can take your needs and desires and blend them with our experience to create exactly what you are asking for in the final plan. We will answer all of your questions and provide support while modifications are being made, and throughout the construction process.
Common Modifications
At Donald A. Gardner Architects, we customize floor plans regularly for our clients. These and many other modifications can be made to nearly every Donald A. Gardner Architects plan. If you don't see your desired change(s) listed, please contact us for an estimate or submit an online modification request.
- Moving the garage door location from the front to side or vice-versa
- Adding a third garage bay
- Changing a hip roof to a gable or vice-versa
- Adding/removing brick or stone on the exterior
- Adding a screen porch or sunroom
- Completely changing the exterior facade to a different style
- Adding a walk-out or finished in-ground basement
- Stretching a plan either in width or depth to make various interior spaces larger
- Reducing the width of a plan to fit on a specific lot
- Flooring over a two-story or vaulted room to create more living space on the second level
- Adding extra bedrooms and/or bathrooms in unfinished space such as a bonus room or unfinished second floor, or expanding the plan to accommodate more rooms
- Adding space for an elevator
- Changing interior ceiling heights
We can also customize house plans to embrace a particular architectural style that you love, while including the elements you need from the plan you choose.
Modification Pricing Estimate Guide
Home plan modifications begin at a minimum cost of $1,200. Estimates are based on the time expected to be needed to revise every detail of the original plan affected by the modifications, yielding a complete set of working drawings. The sample prices below are intended as a guideline. Please complete a modification request form for a more accurate estimate based on a specific plan.
- Foundation Alterations: Standard Subterranean Basement to Daylight Walkout Basement - starting at $2,000
- Garage Alterations: Side Load to Front Entry, Front Entry to Side Load, Two Car to Three Car - starting at $1,200
- Modify Exterior to Brick - starting at $2,800
- Stretch a One-Story Home - starting at $1,600
- Stretch a Two-Story Home - starting at $2,400
- Completely changing the exterior facade to a different style - starting at $1,600
- Modify 8' Main Level Walls to 9' Main Level Walls - starting at $1,600
- Modify 9' Main Level Walls to 10' Main Level Walls - starting at $1,600
- Learn more by reviewing our Frequently Asked Modifications Questions
Submit an Online Modification Request
