Your Thoughts Please

[Frog Man]

Hello everyone My name is Gerald from West Virginia. My wife and I look forward to attending one of the upcoming classes in 07. We have been reviewing floor plans and even drawing our own. Here is a link to a plan we both totally agree on.

http://www.dreamhomesource.com/ViewLarge.asp?PlanID=33073&Image=FE

Your thoughts as to degree of difficulty and changes recommended. In Jan of 2010 we will be debt free and plan on starting that spring. This home location is one of three we own with good well water, septic, and free gas already in place. One of my concerns is logs may not be available in the length required for this at least locally.

[jeffro]

That's a very nice looking house plan. Large too. To keep the L shape, you would need very long trees, or to knock several feet off of each long side.

Or you could make it into a square (you'll learn why in class) by moving the master bedroom out beside the living room, removing that porch, and rearranging the master bath and laundry areas. That would give you a closer to 40x40 house, which a plan for is available to purchase plans for after you take the class.

Jeff

[adubar]

I'm not too sure you would need extra long logs--it depends upon what the dimensions of the two legs of the "L" are.

I can see that it could be built as two intersecting rectangles with the inner joint being a third plane. The inner join would be built using methods that another member employed to build a "tower" on his home.

The outer middle join, not visible in the picture and behind the house would be built as a standard butt-pass corner.

The roof outline is purely stylistic, and should not pose a problem.

In short, "yes" you could use the LHBA's preferred building methods to build your house.

With that said, wait until after the class to settle on any specific design. You will undboutedly find that even with this design you have now, you will want to do some changes.

-A

[Frog Man]

Folks I appreciate your thoughts. Yes we may have to scale it down a little but we really like the L shape on this one. It fits our needs perfectly. We have lived in a 1150 ft doublewide for 20 years and our need for more space is a necessity. This lot is right next door on my 3 acreas so if I can get it under roof in about two years from starting we have many years to finish the inside.

[akemt]

You can definately keep the "L" shape if that is what you want. But, if it is purely square footage that you want and you want it built quickly and easily, a square will get you farther. The decision is completely yours (we have members that have built more intricately designed exterior walls than this so it is quite doable) but I too would suggest waiting till after the class to get completely set on a design. It may be that with just a little bit of tweaking, you can make it much easier and more economical to build and still use the general exterior design or interior layout. There are specific reasons why they suggest building a certain way, but you should always weigh the costs and benefits yourself.

Me, I'd been going through house plans for about the past 3 years when I took the class and though I had a number of favorites and dream homes, all that went right out the window when I took the class. We're now starting our preparations for building a 3,200-3,400 sq ft home with the 40 X 40 plans they offer after you join. Yes, we're crazy, but you can definately build big with the Skip style and fairly cheaply, too. I never would have dreamed of building that big before class! Forget hoping to make mula that way...

Best wishes. The class is definately worth the money if you ask me!

[Frog Man]

WOW 3200-3400 ft out of a 40x40 plan thats great. looking forward to taking the class and no problems with a design change if it saves the bucks. That is if they can convince my wife.