Does anyone have some kind of program that would let you design a house? I have a floor plan that I like but I would like to modify it some. I lost the log home I was going to buy so I'm thinking about having a small cabin type house built.

I don't own one, but there are a bunch available.

And I'm sorry to hear about losing the cabin.

I tried a ton of these kind of apps when we were looking at building. The one that I found to be the most capable was Punch Pro Platinum by http://www.punchsoftware.com (this was as of about 2 years ago -- they've come out w/ some new products now that I haven't used). Keep in mind that they all kind of suck in different ways, but this was the best of the pack from my perspective.

ms

I've priced some of the CAD programs and it wouldn't be much more to pay an architect to do the design work. I'm really sorry about the log home too, the people needed to back out of selling it for a very valid reason and I just couldn't make myself force them out, which I could have done since I had a signed contract.

Lucky for them they were dealing with a reasonable person. Sorry it turned out that way, though...

Well, 3D Home Architect is only like $100 for their top of the line product (they have something that sells for $10), but I don't think that I'd do anything without a real architect. There's no way an untrained person could know all of the things that need to be known to design a house without a lot of training and experience. If you tried to design it by yourself and handed those plans to a contractor, you'd end up with way more cost in change orders than an architect would have cost you to begin with.

Good point.

I have a construction buddy that uses this program exclusevly, he loves it...

Sean

In most jurisdictions, you won't be able to get a building permit without plans and mechanical drawings signed and sealed by a licensed architect.

--Dan.

I know around here that it depends on what you're building. For example, my friend isn't a licensed architect, but he can design houses. I'm not sure what the exact cutoff is, but I know that he can't design big office buildings without signoff, although he has done so with signoff.

lots of places you don't need an architect, just a structural engineer. But a good architect can help you realize the full potential of a small space. They do go to school for a while to learn stuff.

There are plenty of home design book, with each page having a house plan, that can give you ideas for floor plans. They are really cheap and have thousands of plans. You can steal ideas from several plans and put them together.

Quote:
You can steal ideas from several plans and put them together.

now, presenting the FRANKENHOUSE!!!! but it needs to be struck by lightning every so often to make it work

Well today I went and met with a builder and looked through a house that he was building, he does decent work at a good price. Then I gave him two floor plans that I liked and discussed what features I wanted from both of them and he is going to take them to someone who does his designing and then show me what he comes up with and a price it would cost to build it. We also walked a 5 acre partially rolling, partially wooded lot that he has and possible sites to build on it. I'm looking forward to what he comes up with. It won't be a log home but it will be custom built.

( I'm not interested in having network cable run and a wiring closet or anything. This is the country where you get dial-up )

Why, you going to run the cable for me

I was going to nominate Rob and Derrick.

You know, this wouldn't suprise me, and as good a reason to hold a meet as any.

Don't leave me out...I've wired several full buildings. We could also set her up with a long-range directional wireless link into the nearest town so she could get broadband.

Now...where did I leave that spare tower and mast...

Running wiring isn't that annoying, but I wish I'd installed the plastic conduit when I did.

If I bought a log home kit, do you think you guys could build me a house over the weekend and then run the wires?

I run wires, I don't build. Well, not if you want it done right.

Also, keep me away from oil tanks.

Self construction of a log home kit??? Uh... No.

I did a lot of research into log homes, and had a design and down payment on a kit before I had to abandon the plans for personal reasons. This is not a DIY kind of project...

Log homes can come as a kit? You get a forest and a saw or something??

I know, the kits are less than half the price of the home, I was just hoping to save a few bucks Most builders won't even touch them unless they specialize in building log homes, even they know how difficult they are to build.

Plus a shovel for digging the foundation

There are quite a few manufactures that sell the homes as kits, they come with most of what you need besides the land and the plumbing and the electrics and the fixtures.