Fort Collins Home Builders

Home Design

Working with Fort Collins Home Builders gives you the opportunity

to choose from a large number of home designs. These are pre-engineered and can be customized to your specifications. Alternatively you can work with an experienced design team to create a unique design.

A true custom home incorporates site specific design features. This means it fully considers the characteristics of the property as well as meeting building code and permitting requirements. Your designer will be able to help you create an appropriate site specific design.

• Why Site Specific Design is Important
• The Design Process
• Input for Budget Preparation
• Advantages of Working with Professional Designers

Fort Collins Home Builders can then help you make informed decisions for choosing the right building products and provide you with technical expertise and practical building options. Working with Fort Collins Home Builders gives you all the design support you need to get your home completed.

Why Site Specific Design is Important

A true custom home incorporates site specific design features. Site specific design considers the actual design of the house and its placement on the property. This means it fully considers the characteristics of the property as well as meeting building code and permitting requirements. The following key issues need to be considered when creating a site specific design:

• Elevations / exterior look / floor plan
• View / orientation / natural light
• Exposure / weather conditions
• Setback / access / zoning
• Slope / natural land features
• Geo-technical / engineering / well / septic

The first step in designing your home is to take your ideas and develop a preliminary plan, which can be used to make any changes necessary. Once the design concept is finalized, it can be used to create blueprints and a working budget.

Blueprints are also used to obtain building permits and for actual construction purposes. Getting planning approval can be a lengthy process. This means you should apply for permits as soon as you have finalized blueprints available.

The Design Process

The design process usually takes longer that people think. This is because there are a number of steps involved and some key decisions to be made to get a good finalized design. The decisions you make at the design stage will affect every aspect of your project.

Designing your home starts with deciding on an exterior look or an interior layout that is appealing. With modern construction methods, most floor plans can be designed to match the desired exterior look.

The next step in developing your concept is to take your ideas to preliminary plans, which show floor plans and exterior elevations. In developing preliminary plans, you need to consider how the home will be placed on the property. This requires looking at the characteristics of the property from both a features and technical perspective. Setbacks, zoning, placement of wells and septic fields also need to be taken into account.

These preliminary plans can then be used to generate blueprints. Accurate blueprints are the best basis for creating a realistic budget. Blueprints are also used to obtain building permits and for construction purposes.

Getting planning approval can be a lengthy process. It can take from 3 to 6 weeks just to get building permits. This is why you should apply for permits as soon as you have finalized blueprints available.

Input for Budget Preparation

The design chosen and resultant blueprints are the first critical step in budget preparation. An accurate final budget can only be produced when the information contained in the blueprints is available. Not only does this cover the size of the home and construction method, but also the type and quality of materials to be used.

If there is a maximum project budget specified, then some changes can be made to the design and materials selected to meet this requirement. Because of the nature of custom home projects it is generally not realistic to use average per square foot prices. There are major variables involved in the calculation of per square foot costs of decks, covered porches, garages, finished basements and main living areas.

This is why you need to prepare a budget based on project specific information. Any other way of calculating can result in serious budget overruns.

Advantages of Working with Professional Designers

A good design is vital to the success of your project. Homeowners will need to rely on professional designers to a greater or lesser extent to meet local permitting requirements. Permitting and approvals in the Fort Collins area requires specific local engineering approval of the design. The design should also be optimized for best use of materials, construction practices and environmental factors.

It is essential to use skilled people when designing more complex homes and subsequently preparing blueprints. Some homeowners try to use standard designs, but these may not be suitable for their property. Fort Collins Home Builders has access to professional designers who understand the permitting and structural requirements in the Fort Collins area.

We can help you get a good quality standard design, modify your existing design concept or develop a unique design. If you already have a suitable design, we can provide you with high quality finalized blueprints that meet permitting requirements.