Can i get a blueprint of my house

If you've ever purchased a home or rented an apartment, your first consideration might be the house's floor plan. It is very helpful when you visualize and communicate design ideas with designers, architects, and contractors. 

Can i get a blueprint of my house

A floor plan is usually a simple 2D line drawing that shows the rooms of a house’s structure, as seen from above. Having a floor plan will give you a bird's-eye view of your house. Now, you may be wondering: how do I get a floor plan of my house? 

Well, house floor plans can be collected from different places, including municipal offices, local planning offices, builder or developer offices, and so on.  

If you know more in-depth details about getting a floor plan for your house, keep reading.

Why Do You Need A Floor Plan For A House?

The advantages of having a floor plan for a house are endless. It will allow you to design your house according to your dreams. Below we have outlined why you need a floor plan for the house.

Visualize Your Ideas

Floor plans in 2D and 3D help you visualize the layout of your home. It will let you take your ideas and employ them in your house. A floor plan will work as a blueprint that assists you in getting a visual before designing the house. 

For example, if you want to build a Brando, floor plans will help you a lot. In that case, following the barndominium plans, you can easily design your dream house. 

Contain Important Details

A floor plan contains all the necessary details about your house. The details include the location of doors, windows, closets, furniture, and even appliance layouts. This is very helpful to get a visual of your overall house.

Determine House Decoration

As floor plans are created with the proper measurements, you can decorate your house with accurate size appliances. For example, you can easily determine which furniture or appliances will look better in each room. It also helps ensure you have enough space for the instruments you require.

Easy To Change

Once you arrange your ideas to design a house, you can compare the floor plan to determine whether the layout looks good. If don’t, you can easily change your design ideas and apply the changes to your house. Even, it will even allow you to easily modify your house's different parts, like windows and doors.

Budget

A floor plan will help to define the budget for painting your home. As the floor plans are created to scale, you can easily calculate how much money it will cost to repair your house. Not only that, if you want to sell the house, you can give a proper idea of your house through the floor plan.

Can i get a blueprint of my house

How Do I Get A Floor Plan For My House?

After reading the section above, you may understand the importance of a house floor plan. But how do you find a floor plan for your home? Typically, floor plans can be collected from different places. Below, we discuss all the possible places where you can get a floor plan for your house.

1. Municipal Office or Local Permit Agency

A floor plan or blueprint of the building must be submitted to the municipal office or local permit agency at the time of construction. The permitting agency or municipality stores the floor plan and necessary documents for future records. 

So, if you want to get a floor plan for your house, you should first contact your local permit agency or municipality office.

2. Local Planning or Zoning Office

Along with property documents, local planning or zoning offices store a blueprint of the house in a certain area. So, local planning or zoning offices should be your second option in locating a floor plan for your house.  

In some cases, these offices don't allow access to the property documents without the real owner. If you fall into such a problem, you have to collect a signed affidavit from the real owner of your house.

3. Contact Builder, Developer, or Architect

Your house's original architect or developer probably has a copy of its floor plan. It is common for prominent developers and contractors to store copies of the blueprints for their projects. So, if you somehow collect the name of the developer of your house, you can contact them to get a copy of your house floor plan.

4. Contact Your Real Estate Agent

If you fail to find the developer name of your house, you can check with your real estate agent. Typically, real estate agents store all the information about a property to attract buyers. There is a chance you may get your house floor plan for them. Even if they don't have any blueprints, you may know the developer's name of your house.

5. Ask Your Neighbors

If you are unable to know the name of the real estate agent or developer of your house, you should consider asking your neighbors. Neighbors are usually building a house with the same contractor or developer. If you find someone like that, you have to find the name of the developer or real estate agent of your neighbor's house.

6. Hire A Professional

Hiring a professional is another way to make a clone floor plan for your house. In that case, hiring an architect or structural engineer will be the best option. This is because they are highly experienced in measuring and other details to recreate the floor plan of your house. However, hiring a professional to create a floor plan may cost additional money.

Conclusion - Getting a House Floor plan

Having a floor plan is the prerequisite for re-designing a house. It will let you design your house with your own preferences. Unfortunately, getting a floor plan can be tedious and time-consuming, especially if the house is very old. 

For your convenience, we have discussed some places where you can get the floor plan of your house. Typically, floor plans store local municipality offices, permit agencies, planning offices, and contact builders. Apart from that, you can collect information about your house by asking your neighbor.  

If you fail to find a floor plan after contacting these offices, you should consider hiring an expert. A skilled professional will help you to create a blueprint for your home.

How do I get the blueprint for my home?

Where To Find Blueprints of Your House.
Search your local building department or archives. ... .
Contact the original architect or builder. ... .
Find the original owner. ... .
Ask your neighbors. ... .
Pay for a new blueprint..

How much does it cost to get blueprints?

Drafting Fees per Square Foot Drafting fees run anywhere from $0.40 to $3 per square foot. Architects charge more, from $1.25 to $5 per square foot and sometimes up to $10 per square foot. For a new construction set of plans, architectural fees typically run at the higher end of the spectrum.

Where can I access blueprints?

The best way to find blueprints is through the local public official's office. Most jurisdictions have an assessor's office or public records office.