On 28 Apr 2004 06:42:20 -0700, (Mike) wrote:

I was looking for house plans and can't seem to find exactly what I am
looking for. Is there a search engine for house plans out there where
I can plug in the specs and it will spit out all the plans that match?

Or, if that doesn't exist, how much would it cost to drop off my specs
with someone and have them show me a handful of plans for me to choose
from?

I would suggest that, if you've exhausted the possibilities from
published plans (magazines, books, etc.), then you should contact a
local residential architectural firm. We found ourselves in the same
situation after collecting a closet full of house-plan magazines and
countless folders of sketches on graph paper. It turned out that,
after listening to me describe what we were trying to build, the
firm's representative said we really didn't need their architect. We
were offered the services of their designer/draftsman, to draw up what
we had already sketched out.

In the meantime, I bought a copy of 3-D Home Architect, and was able
to produce floor plans to show the designer what we had in mind. He
joked that he was just copying what I had already drawn with my
software, and next time we could probably do it all ourselves. (Our
area does not require architect-certified plans for residential
construction.) All-in-all, the hours I spent going over and revising
the floorplans with the designer were among the most pleasant of our
home-building experience (which was not a bad experience at all). I
don't remember exactly what he charged, but I don't think it was more
than a few hundred dollars which was well worth the cost. He billed a
flat fee up to the first official print-out (including floorplan,
elevations and detail drawings), and then an hourly fee after that for
any changes.

C. Brunner