Our magazine is filled with inspiring log and timber home designs of all sizes and architectural styles. From cozy cabins to mid-century-inspired ranches to stately lodges, the options are abundant. And while choice is a wonderful thing, it also can create confusion. It’s kind of like being at an ice cream shop — there are so many varieties, how do you know which one you really want?
To stay on track, we present our short list of factors to keep in mind as you’re evaluating floor plans whether it’s in magazine pages, online, in your log or timber company’s plansbook or in your architect’s portfolio.
Remember why you’re building this home.
There’s a tendency to follow current trends whether they fit your lifestyle or not. Even if you’re starting with a pre-designed layout, this is still a custom build. Take this opportunity to ensure it has all the spaces and features you and your family really need.
Make sure the space allocation is appropriate.
There’s a tendency to over-design a house these days. Bigger isn’t always better, but it is often more expensive. Before you arbitrarily decide you need a certain number of square feet to be comfortable, determine what kinds of activities you need to accommodate and think about how much space you need to do them comfortably. Once you have that number, tack on another 15 percent to account for walls, halls and traffic flow.
Determine how much customization you need.
The plans in these pages have been designed and, in many cases, already built for other clients who came before you. Often called “stock” plans, they’ve gotten some of the bugs out, so to speak. But rarely are these houses built exactly as you will see them here. Whether it’s due to site specifications or clients' wish lists, almost all stock plans are customized in some way. This is great news for you because a lot of the preliminary work is complete and all you need to do is tweak. But keep this in mind: Customizing a stock plan likely will result in additional cost, and if you make too many changes, you’re negating the advantages of starting with a stock plan in the first place. Try to find a design that meets the majority of your needs and keep customizing to a minimum.
Prepare for compromises.
Managing size, layout and budget is a balancing act. Plans with oodles of square footage and lots of bells and whistles are hard to resist, but ask yourself if these are features you really need for your daily life or are you just dazzled by the design? Often there are ways to infuse a simpler floor plan with a few of the extras you may see in more elaborate homes — without going overboard.
Know Your Floor Plan Rights
Like books, music and works of art, floor plans are protected by copyright. If you opt for a floor plan from a log or timber home company or designer, be aware that you won’t own the actual plan — just a one-time license to use the plan to build your home. Likewise, it’s unethical to ask a company who didn’t design the floor plan to use it to fabricate your log or timber package. This knowledge is necessary to protect both the company and you from copyright infringement and potential lawsuits.
If you do plan to build or alter an existing floor plan from a designer other than your own, make sure to get permission. A reputable designer will never knowingly use a copyrighted plan from another company. To protect yourself from copyright violations, remember the following points:
- Under U.S. copyright law, a floor plan is protected the moment it’s created, regardless of whether the creator has registered the plan with the U.S. Copyright Office.
- Copyright applies to the interior layout of a home as well as the elevations and exterior design.
- Copyright law protects derivations of a plan. You can’t change a wall or roofline and consider it “original.”
