I've been curious about this sort of thing ever since I first read about the Sears kit homes from the 20th. I mean, if anyone has those plans, then you'd think they'd have been scanned and uploaded to IA. I guess no one ever took Sears up on the "we'll send you the plans for free" page that was in the catalog.
I can say that the places that sell house plans, they want anywhere from about $3000 on up for the paper version, and they're usually numbered and watermarked. Digital ends up costing you several more grand on top of that, and I'm not sure exactly how they lock those down. On top of that, they're often missing important things like the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing plans. Your contractor is supposed to do that on the back of a napkin or something.
Ideally, any plans you'd find would have the following:
I can say that the places that sell house plans, they want anywhere from about $3000 on up for the paper version, and they're usually numbered and watermarked. Digital ends up costing you several more grand on top of that, and I'm not sure exactly how they lock those down. On top of that, they're often missing important things like the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing plans. Your contractor is supposed to do that on the back of a napkin or something.
Ideally, any plans you'd find would have the following:
1. foundation
2. floorplans, 1 per
4. exterior elevation
5. cross section
6. electrical
7. interior elevation
8. perspective
9. construction notes/details
10. materials list