I've been struggling with this also for a couple weeks.  We got our plans in .pdf format.  I tried to post them to our journal by adding a file,  but they wouldn't upload.  I tried a test photo to see if it would post and it worked so I took off that test post, converted our plans to .tif format and tried to upload them as photos, but they wouldn't upload.  I though that  maybe it was size, but I tried to upload one of the files that was only 72K and it didn't work either.  I've emailed Jeff a couple of times, but he hasn't been able to figure out what's wrong.

Any ideas?

P.S.  I'm trying to upload one of the pages as an attachment to this post.

  Click here to download attachment...

Mary Beth,

I agree that it depends on what services you are looking for from the architect. A designer can do most of the design planning/drafting for you and the lumberyards will work with joist/truss companies to get the engineering verified. For instance, I used Punch software to design our "dream home." I took those drawings to Pat McBride at CADScape in New Carlisle. She drew them up in AutoCAD and made a few good suggestions for improvements. 

I took those plans to some local lumberyards to have them put together a materials list/take-off. They took the plans to a local joist/truss company whose engineer designed a floor joist plan. I gave that back to Pat and she is updating her drawings. I guess I can't speak yet to how well the whole process worked, since I don't have them back yet (hoping for tomorrow) and they haven't been through the county plans office yet, but so far the process has been great. Her fees are based upon her hourly rate and normally end up costing $600-$1,200.

The architects can do the engineering work and have more experience (she has two years of architectural training), but if you have an idea of what you want, this route is much cheaper. 

You can see examples of the work in my journal named "Taking the Plunge."

Bryan

George,

Here in OH, just about any lumberyard will do that for you. I don't mean the big boxes like HD and Lowe's, but rather the local lumber companies or even a Carter Lumber, etc.

Bryan

Mary Beth,

Dublin is a very expensive place to buy a home, but don't think that those prices are a good estimate of what it costs to build in this area. I'm building on the SE side of Springfield and am in the $75-$80/sq ft range for 3,700 sq ft w/a high level of finish. I'm saving a decent amount with a simple design (i.e. two-story w/o lots of gables, roof angles, etc.) but materials and labor in our area aren't that high. I'm even pulling some subs from Columbus.

Bryan