Residential Construction Guide

It depends on where you're building. Our plans contain enough information for a professional builder to construct your home, but your local government may require additional information before permitting. We strongly advise that you talk with your builder before you get started. If you are building for yourself, we recommend visiting your local building department to start your diligence. Read more here.

Absolutely! Our modification service allows you to customize almost anything - whether it's adding an extra garage bay, adjusting square footage, changing the roof pitch, or more, the plan modification service is a great value and can be completed quickly. Additionally, if you purchase an electronic plan set (PDF or CAD), you may have the option to make changes locally. CAD files offer the most flexibility for custom edits. Just let us know what you're thinking, and we’ll provide an estimate and timeframe to get started. Learn more here.

Find out! Build costs vary based on the size of the home, materials used, and local rates for goods and labor. Our Cost to Build report is a great way to get some basic costs dialed in before you order your plans. Just plug in your postal code, select your desired construction quality, and we'll calculate for you.

Learn more about Cost to Build reports here.

Founded in 2004, Houseplans works with hundreds of architects and designers to offer their plans at a fraction of the price of custom design. Houseplans has an "Excellent" rating on TrustPilot.

Read more about us here.

Yes, Houseplans has a dedicated team of house plan advisors with decades of experience between them. You can reach them by calling, emailing, filling out a form on the page of a plan that you like, or going to the Contact Us page. We're available to talk every day, even on weekends.