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Floyd County, Iowa | poverty-
You had a bad general, or a bad designer, or a combination of both. And obviously a bad experience.
I used to do both in my previous life.
Whoever draws up the plans needs to know what actually works in practice, vs what seems right to home buyers on a kitchen table sketch. And the prints/plans need to have precise details. There are many websites, cheap or free, that offer floorplans and drawings. They're OK to get a starting point, but I'd NEVER use any of them for actual construction or even bid solicitations, without going over them thoroughly in detail.
You would be surprised, maybe not, how many people can't picture in their head how everything has to mesh from the footing to the ridge cap. This only comes from experience.
There are accepted minimum norms in home construction: window sizes, door sizes, door locations (no, it's not OK to put the bathroom door in the living or dining room), room sizes, traffic patterns, etc, etc, etc. Deviations often result in unsatisfactory results.
The general should also be in the experienced camp. And he should be able to understand you and your wants/needs/expectations.
Did you act as your own general contractor: meaning did you draw up your own plans, specify and order the materials yourself, hire the individual subs: excavator, mason, framer, finish crew, roofer, plumber, electrician, flooring, etc?
Many times, the individual subs do excellent work, but do not always gel together. This ain't good.
I could go on and on, but will sum it up by saying that your experience is not the norm, if done correctly.
And it seldom works out well when the home buyer acts as their own general, or hires the cheapest general and subs.
Sorry about the long winded reply.
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If your building a new house (warning long post)
