What About Design Fees? If you’ll be working with an architect, they’ll likely base their fees on either your total project cost or on the log home square footage. There are major advantages in working with a local architect, especially if they’re good. He or she can meet with you face to face, and they can obtain the information from you that they need to create the log home architectural design that you want. They may also be able to oversee the construction process to help ensure that your log home is built as intended. This option will likely cost the most. Ideally, you’ll find and investigate several architects, then choose the best one for doing your log home architectural design.
What Is Your Budget? Somewhere early in the design process, the total value of the proposed log home must be considered. If you are not up front about your financial limits for the log home project, you are likely to receive a log home architectural design that will exceed what you can really afford. If this happens, everyone loses, since at some point, reality must be confronted and design changes made. Have a budgeted amount and hold your designer to it!Where Will Your Log Home Be Built? Whether your land is urban or rural, flat or sloping, with trees or without and so on, finding the land to build your dream log home may be one of the major hurdles to overcome. Once you have your land, your log home architectural design begins with the site plan.
You’ll need to check with city and county officials about what building permits are needed, for example. Local building and zoning regulations may restrict where your log home can be placed, how far from the road it must be and so on. Utility companies may have ‘easements’ or the legal right to access or cross your site to do their utility work or maintenance. Floodplain restrictions, soil permeability and topographical features can limit the log home construction that can be done. You’ll want to be sure that your site will accept the log home architectural design that you’re planning on building.
Can You Find Log Home Designs That You Like? If you prefer not to work with a professional designer, consider looking for existing log home plans that will fit your site and is the home design that you want. Every plan you see can give you ideas and you never know, there may a log home design that’s just right for you that exists already. You can save considerable time and money if you can find great plans that have already been built somewhere, which means the plans will work.
