In selecting a good draftsman, I would suggest the following questions and qualities to consider:
(1) How much experience does the draftsman have and how many homes have they designed?
I know for myself, I knew a lot when I worked for the Architectural Coalition. When I broke off to do plans on my own, I was able to apply what I had learned over the previous 7 years and come up with what I felt were good plans at the time. Now that I've been in business for myself for the past 4 1/2 years and have built my own house, I look back at some of those plans and cringe. The more houses a draftsman has personally done and seen through the building process, the better he's going to be.
(2) Does the draftsman understand how to design cost effectively?
Again, this is another one of those things that comes with experience. Does the draftsman consider what the roof framing is going to be like as they design? Do you see overbuild all over the place when it's not necessary? Do they consider the size of the floor joists when they put in bearing walls? A 9" joist is less expensive than a 12" joist. Do they stick to exterior dimensions that make the most sense? For example, if your draftsman is designing homes with exterior dimensions such as 31'-3", they might as well have rounded up to 32'-0" since the sheeting comes in 4' increments. This saves on waste and cutting, but provides the framers with easier dimension to work with to save on error.
These are just a few things that should go through a draftsman's mind as they design. If they understand what they're drawing, these things are all considered and implemented during design, not retrofitted on site.
(3) Can you get in contact with the Draftsman easily?
This is a consideration for many trades in the building industry. a sub contractor who you can never get a hold of isn't much good. Building isn't a perfect science. When you're building a house, if you come across a discrepancy or question, you need a draftsman who you can get a hold of and get quick answers or solutions.
(4) Does the Draftsman take the site into consideration?
Many lots have unique attributes that need to be addresses. For example, the lot may slope a certain direction or might have a high water table. The lot may have a wonderful view to take advantage of. This is a big problem with using a stock plan. It wasn't designed with a certain lot in mind. A good draftsman will make the best use of the lot. Whether it's positioning the house in a way that you can keep a huge oak tree, or designing the roof in a way to drain water to the sides of a house when the lot naturally slopes towards the back of the house in order to avoid excess water that could flood a basement.
(5) Is the Draftsman Creative and are they open to your ideas?
It's important that a house has curb appeal on the exterior so that it can sell easily in the future. That doesn't mean it has to be expensive, it just means that the Draftsman has to take some thought when designing the home. They should however, be open to what the client wants and not try to force their own tastes upon them. Just because a Draftsman loves craftsman style homes does not mean the person building it does. The job of a draftsman is to take your ideas and put it all together in a way that is not only functional and cost effective, but looks great and makes you happy when you drive up to it.
(6) Does the Draftsman make the best use of the space in the plan?
The solution to every problem when designing a home should not be adding more square footage. For example, I've designed a 1000 sf home that not only had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, but still felt open and functional. Adding square footage isn't always an option and doesn't need to be with a good draftsman.
Hope that helps!
Gregory D. Brown
http://www.legacyhomedesign.com/
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