Plans you bought or love
Why pay for planning when you can buy a plan online for $200?
Fair question. A plan you bought online can be a great start, and we're happy to work with it. But no stock plan knows your land, Colorado's snow and wind, or what your house will really cost to build. That's the part we add.
01 / The short answer
You don't have to choose. Bring the plan, and we make it build-ready.
A stock plan is drawn for typical conditions, not for your lot. To build it on your land in Colorado, it has to be engineered for our snow and wind loads, fitted to your site, checked against your county's code and energy rules, and priced line by line.
That is exactly what our Build-Ready Package does. With a plan you already love, we start from your plan instead of a blank page.
02 / What a stock plan doesn't know
Four things no plan bought online can know about your build.
Colorado snow and wind loads
A stock plan is drawn for typical conditions. Here, the roof, walls and foundation have to carry our snow and wind loads and sit on the soil you actually have. That takes engineering for your house on your lot: a licensed Colorado engineer designs and stamps the structure, and we keep it in step with the design.
Your land
Which way the house faces decides how much free winter sun warms your floors, what you see from the great room and where the wind hits. Slope, soils, septic, well and driveway decide where the house can sit and what the foundation costs.
Your county's rules
Building and energy codes, setbacks, wildfire requirements where they apply, and the complete drawing set plan reviewers expect. The plan has to be checked against all of it and finished for your permit.
What it costs to build
The price of a plan says nothing about the price of the house. Without takeoffs and a line-item budget, you find out what your dream home costs when the bids come in.
03 / What we add
Everything that turns a plan into a house you can bid, permit and build.
All of it is part of the Build-Ready Package. Specialist work, such as the structural engineer, soils report and survey, is billed at cost through the third-party allowance.
Engineering for Colorado
Structural engineering stamped by a licensed Colorado engineer, a soils report and the truss package, coordinated with your design.
Fit to your site
We place the house for sun, views, wind and drainage, adapt the plan where your land and the way you live call for it, and draw the site plan.
Energy and comfort
Energy code compliance, an efficient-versus-code comparison in EnergyComfortCalc, and Manual J, S and D for right-sized heating and cooling.
Optimized for construction
We tune the plan for savings during the build: framing optimized in the 3D model, right-sized systems, fewer change orders.
Material takeoffs
A framing cut-and-buy list from the 3D model and quantities for every other trade.
Budget, specs and bids
A line-item budget that tightens to ±5% with the permit documents, plus a spec book and bid package, so every sub prices the same thing.
Permit documents
The complete permit bundle, ready to submit. When we build your home, we submit it for you. If the county asks for changes to our drawings, we revise them at no charge.
04 / Bring your plan
We love working with plans you bought or love.
Already purchased a plan? Great, we'll work with it. Still looking? Send us the plans you love, even links or screenshots, so we see the style, the layout and the feel you're after. Either way, we do our best to turn it into a house you'll love living in, on your land.
What to send us
- A link to the plan you bought, or to the plans you love
- The plan set itself (PDF or CAD), if you have it
- The license that came with your plan, if there is one: it tells us what changes the designer allows
- What you would like to change, and what you love most
Paste the link in the request form. Files can go by reply to the email we send you.
05 / Your planning cost
Depending on the plan, it can lower your planning fee.
When a plan already covers part of the design work, there is less to draw from scratch. That's why we quote plans you bring individually instead of using the standard fee from our calculator.
How much it saves depends on the plan: how complete it is, how much has to change for your land and for Colorado, and what its license allows. We review it and send you a written quote. We won't promise a number before we've seen your plan.
Third-party work, such as engineering, soils and survey, is still needed and is billed at actual cost.
Want a reference point first?
Our calculator shows the standard Build-Ready Package fee for your size of home. A quote for a plan you bring can come in lower.
Calculate the standard fee06 / How it works
Request a quote in three steps.
Send us your plan
Use the request form: choose "Purchased a plan" or "Found plans I love" and paste a link. We follow up within two business days.
We review it
We look at the plan, your land and what has to change, and send you a written quote. Your fee is fixed in writing at signing, after the free Land Feasibility Check.
We make it build-ready
Engineering, site fit, energy, takeoffs, budget and permit documents from one team, until you have a house you will love, ready to bid and build.
No plan yet, or not sure your land is ready? Start with a free Land Feasibility Check.