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How to Design Your Own Home

wikihow.com — "If you've already decided to design as much of your home as you can without the help of an architect, this planning scenario takes you through the beginning steps required to gather the information, resources and examples necessary to enable you to design your own home."

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  • michaelyurechko, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15It's one thing to design a house, but paying for the actual house is another story.
    • dtd00d, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Step 1: Get poor and needy. Buy a video camera in the process.
      Step 2: Do something extremely heartwarming.
      Step 3: Because you are poor and needy and now have a story, videotape yourself and send it to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
    • rockforever, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Step 4: Profit
    • jamison18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4well you can max out 10 credit cards and move into the house you just built with a new address and change your name of course
    • rheaume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually judging from the style of house design in my neighbourhood, it seems people might want to suggest features for their homes. View facing side of the house with no deck or windows or both = MORONIC
    • Mootabolife, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Just wait outside of Sears a few days. Eventually you'll get a cardboard box big enough.
    • Cleanlyness, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3um lame. seriously, just cause kevin submitted this doesn't mean you have to stroke his *****. I'm sure that's not the meaning of democracy which every digger here seems to be such a professor at. Ironic that people here think bush has too much power, but maybe this is just example you will do anything to stroke *****
  • hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3you could use the free version of google sketchup
    http://www.sketchup.com/?section=product
    • hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6..oh and..
      FTA
      "Capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that motivates you in the first place to design your own home. Write it all down, keep a scrap book, bookmark pictures in books, take pictures, whatever your preferred method."
      do that scrap book - organise your ideas ...Yes

      design it yourself..No
      - id say its a false economy
      but you could brief a designer using your scrap book
      - so you get your own ideas but get it done professionally

      the brainache of leaning to design properly would be too much...i really think the learning curve would be too steep
    • betacmag4u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Why does it always have to be about "the google"???
  • MrBuckley, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Its funny to think what would have happened to this story if I had submited it

    ...Brace yourself were going down!
  • tuxidomasx2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11i just use the Sims
  • greerso, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Interesting article. Sketchup not great for floorplans, as a recent switcher to mac I'm missing the hell out of Visio.
  • SavageBlackCat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1There's always http://www.coolhouseplans.com or http://www.frankbetz.com
    • DrinkPaint, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Those sites are full of tacky designs. They all look like crap that would have been built 20 years ago.

      Tacky
      Tacky
      Tacky
  • ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1yeah, im going to build my house according to a wiki.
  • chance1376, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have worked on many houses where people took these steps. Sad thing is it ends up costing them more in the end than if we would of did the design up front. Sure making a list and having pictures are nice but people that have a floorplan drawn up already have it set in there head that this is it. A quick look by a pro shows that their design would never work or there are many things wrong with it. It ends up taking more work to massage their design than to come up with something from scratch that they would probably like just as well.
  • tonich03, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hey thanks, I was just going to build a house, wtf?
  • tonich03, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7BTW Kevin you could submit an article about ***** colours of rare Vietnamese three-legged dogs and it will still be dugged. That's awesome.
  • scoyndizzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5My mom designed our house and not only did it save us tons of $$ but because it was done by her the whole thing was a lot more personal. What she did, that I did not find in the wiki, was that she made a 3d model out of foam board. I saw the 3d computer programs on there, but it's really neat to have a little model, being able to physically handle and view the future project was pretty awesome.
  • ReallyChili, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8As an architect, I'll just say, good luck.
  • knolansmith, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36. Draft the Plans........

    the whole f**king reason to hire an architect anyways......
  • JeffDM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I have to agree with the nay-sayers on this one. Even with some people that have experience building houses, they aren't designers, architects or engineers. If an inexperienced person goes in with a thick skull, they are only going to cause themselves and their contractors excessive grief. If I was a contractor, I'd rather decline the job. Even with my Dad, he's built houses in the past, but that was based on actual plans drawn up by sensible people. Convincing him that particular features weren't reasonable and would never worthwhile based on what else has to be given up was an incredibly tiring project, he finally relented but some things were already built and couldn't easily be unbuilt or rebuilt so we're stuck with some rooms that were too small to make space for a big room arrangement that was not necessary. The lady that cuts my hair made the same mistake of being thick-headed when she laid out a specific design, and it turns out she made the room sizes wrong! She didn't know this until she tried moving her equipment in, but it was an error that an architect would not have made.

    If you want to go the dutch way and be cheap, go on ahead, but most architects have experience and knowledge on how to avoid stupid pitfalls that is well worth the money. Many of those steps are a good idea so that you can communicate what you want.
    • betacmag4u, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5My architect tried to tell me having a pyramid shaped home with a go cart track and a polo field would be impractical so I fired him......idiot.
  • rtmag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This came across on people's How To of the Day feed yesterday...
  • BanthaFodder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you're building a house for yourself or your family, by all means, be a part of the design process. I'm a big fan of Christopher Alexander's work: A Timeless Way of Building ( http://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Way-Building-Christopher-Alexander/dp/0195024028 ) and especially A Pattern Language ( http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Construction-Environmental/dp/0195019199 ) are both great books on the subject of what gives a building life. Much of A Pattern Language is on the web ( http://www.ahartman.com/apl/ ) as well, if you want a taste.

    To me, though, there's a difference between designing your own home, and...what would be a good word...engineering ("architecting") it. While, having studied Alexander's work, I'd love to have a go at doing the general layout of the house--I'm hoping to build within a year or so--I also know that I'm not and will never be a trained architect. I took Drafting in high school, but that doesn't mean I can engineer an entire house. I know enough about the subject to know that decisions I make would have a really good chance of blowing up in my face. After all, people study this subject for years; why on earth should I think I can do just a good a job just because I read a book or two?

    That said, the average person can indeed do a lot more than they might think. It's all about how much you're willing to learn, I guess. Just know your limitations. Challenge them, but know when you're out of your depth.
  • rusty075, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I should preface this by saying that I am an architect, so this comment is obviously hugely biased.

    The average architect's fee for designing an average-type house is generally 5-10% of the construction budget. If you're planning a multimillion dollar house there's no question you'd hire an architect, so articles like this are really aimed at the low-to-middle of the market. So if you're building a $300,000 house, an architect would charge you somewhere around $15 to $20K, assuming its a pretty simple project. Included in that fee are a bunch of things besides actually designing the house, which many home owners are unaware of, and would have to end up paying for themselves anyway. Things like researching building codes and HOA regs, coordinating civil and structural engineers, getting building permits, and probably most importantly - supervising construction. Average homeowners are completely unprepared to make sure that the contractor is actually building the house the way they intended it to be built. A single uncaught construction error can easily cost you much more to fix than an architect would have charged for the entire project to begin with.

    There's also the idea of "How Much is Your Time Worth?" Personally, I'd rather pay someone some cash to do something for me, rather than devote myself to months of nights spent learning building codes and how to draft at a level that a city plan reviewer and builder can understand.
  • nedergras, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Just get 3D Home Architect, draw up some plans, then hire an architect or designer to refine it and finalize it if you can't yourself. Designing a house isn't hard at all.
  • kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Or live with a person who has a Bachelors in Interior Design. Interestingly enough when the school the SO went to introduced the Bachelors program they didn't have a lot of material for it. So they substituted architectural classes. So what he actually has and it's on the degree is Interior Architecture.

  • abbehhl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0my mum and dad wanted to build there own house.
    but it has become so bad for them
    and they have lost LOTS of money :(
    IT'S SAD.
    so dont try to build your own house.
    :)
  • amrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Disclosure: I am an architect.

    My first impression was that the writer is pretty ignorant about architects and reinforces much of the stereotypes that are out there. The article is a gross oversimplification of the design process. Every design and construction professional that reads this wiki article should bury it and point out its inaccuracies. Remember your silence is an approval.

    Part of the problem is that most people don't understand what architecture is or what architects do. Architects are simply an advocate for the owner and are there to make sure that the owner gets the most value for their money. The client's bottom line and not the builder's is the primary concern. I could write and bash contractors, but I won't. I have friends that are contractors, and I was employed by them. There are good ones out there, but I would recommend having an architect around in case you run into a bad one. If a homeowner does not have the technical knowledge to monitor the work of a contractor, how are they going to know if its done right? I recommend watching Holmes on Homes to see some examples of bad construction. There is a saying -- "If it is not inspected, it is not expected."

    As far as aesthetics and design are concerned, a design professional's role is to assemble the clients sketches, design scrapbook, and ideas and produce a coherent building. Anyone that has gone through a building project will know that at times the building codes, owner's requirements, building circulation, structure, hvac, materials, budget, and design language can or will be in conflict with each other. Through a process of editing and the prioritization of goals, the design of a building comes about. This constant push and pull of all of these requirements are managed by the architect. Unfortunately the final products, the construction documents, renderings, and models, do not reveal the process behind it. Some people are mislead when they see an elegant simple design and think it was easy to produce but in reality it may have involved a lot of work.
  • Homerr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As an architect, I'll just say, I'll be laughing at your poorly designed house.
  • ab2650, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Next up on digg, "How to cheaply do surgery on your own pets." Now you can have your very own four-assed monkey.

    Some things are better left to the professionals.
  • Skinhorse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Most architects and contractors will not work from drawings that are done by another party because of the liability reasons. If you decide to design your own home be prepared to pay for someone to redo all of the work that you put into it yourself.
  • rimotoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As an architect, I will probably never take on any project (residential/commercial/institutional) in which the client has already made a set of "plans" and merely wants approval for structural/aesthetic reasons. The legal reasons alone wouldn't want me to go near the project.

    To go about the construction of a proper dwelling (without the use of an architect) by making a scrapbook is as ludicrous as performing an appendectomy and basing your prognosis & procedures by note-taking episodes of House MD and ER. As stated by other architects, the visuals of a building are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the culmination of design & construction. I (and I'm sure every architect/engineer/contractor) could go into all the details about what this Wiki has neglected to mention.

    Though I do believe there are people out there who have the drive, intelligence, and persistence who are not in the profession to do this, considering it seems like most people have problems putting together Ikea furniture, I would strongly advise against this Wiki.
  • akatsuki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The real problem is many architects are also just plain terrible. Sorry to say it, but they just aren't earning their keep. I have seen houses oriented the wrong way on land so that no sunlight gets in, energy inefficiency all over the place, and tons of dead, useless space that adds onto the square footage without actually being part of the living space.

    A good architect should add value, but a lot of them don't.

    Then again, I will probably just purchase a Marmon Radziner prefab house when it is time for me to build. (http://www.marmolradzinerprefab.com/). They seem pretty much ideal to me...
    • amrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Akatsuki,

      I'm confused as to what you are referring to. Much of the production housing that you see comes from builders not architects. According to NAHB, 1/4 of the 1.4 million homes built last year were designed by an architect for a production builder. Roughly 120,000 custom homes were designed by architects. With those numbers, chances are that your criticism is really directed toward production housing. Even if the home was designed by an architect this doesn't necessarily mean that the masterplan of a community is designed by an architect. Civil engineers and landscape architects play a big role in the design of production housing. Some of these decisions are made before an architect is brought on the job.

      I agree that there is a lot of energy inefficiency in homes, but this is a reflection of the choice of materials by the builder's subcontractors that they employ. Much of what I have read indicates that architects are providing leadership in the green design movement. Marmol Radziner, is a great example of this. They are the architectural firm that designed your energy efficient LEED rated prefab. There are other energy efficient prefabs that are available as well. If you are near Santa Monica on March 30- April 1, you should check out the CA Boom Design Show to ask questions and meet some of the architects and builders that are designing energy efficient prefabs. http://www.caboomshow.com

      If you want to do futher research on energy efficient design you may want to visit these sites http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2487 , http://www.mcdonough.com , http://www.mbdc.com , http://www.pathnet.org , http://archrecord.construction.com/features/green , http://livemodern.com
  • x911oz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is worthless go for it if you want a crap building but ask someone who knows once you've dug yourself a blackhole.
  • superop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0very cool article. heres a great site that offers stock house plans and garage plans http://www.designconnection.com/
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