Can I Modify One of Your Floor Plans?
Yes. Here's what's simple to change, what's more involved, and when a new plan makes more sense.
Yes. Every one of our plans is designed to be modified. Adding a bedroom, expanding a kitchen, working in a home office, or upgrading finishes are all normal requests, not exceptions.
Modifications that are usually straightforward
- Moving an interior wall to resize adjoining rooms
- Changing a room's use, such as turning a flex room into an office or a fourth bedroom
- Expanding or reconfiguring the kitchen island and layout
- Adding or relocating windows
- Adding a bathroom where plumbing already runs nearby
- Deepening or widening the garage
- Swapping the exterior style, since each plan comes in four
- Adding a covered porch or expanding an existing one
Modifications that are more involved
- Widening or lengthening the whole footprint. Affects the foundation, roof structure and every dimension downstream.
- Moving the stairs. Touches both floors and usually the structure.
- Removing a load-bearing wall for a larger opening. Doable, needs a beam, sometimes needs engineering.
- Adding a second story, or converting a two-story to a ranch. This is effectively a new plan.
- Moving the primary suite to a different floor. Significant re-plan.
- Mirroring the plan for lot orientation. Simple in concept, but it changes the elevation, driveway approach and every dimension label.
None of these are refusals. They're just scope, and scope shows up as time and cost. See change orders.
What constrains modification
- Structure. Load paths, spans and roof geometry.
- Code. Egress, stair geometry, ceiling heights, energy requirements. See Ohio's residential code.
- Your lot. Setbacks, width and slope. See lot evaluation.
- Community rules, if applicable. See deed restrictions.
When a fresh plan makes more sense
If your list of changes is long enough that little of the original remains, starting from a clean sheet is usually faster and cleaner than reverse-engineering an existing plan into something it wasn't. We'll tell you honestly when you've crossed that line.
For the wider question of what is and isn't customizable, see can I customize every aspect of my home?
The best time to modify
During design. It's essentially free then and expensive later. See changes during construction and browse our plans.