You can find floor plans by exploring various resources, from real estate professionals to historical archives.
Key Ways to Locate Floor Plans
Finding floor plans, especially for existing or older properties, often requires checking multiple sources. Here are several methods to help you in your search:
- Ask a Local Realtor: Realtors often have access to listing information, which might include floor plans or can suggest local resources. They are familiar with the properties in the area and may have encountered similar requests before.
- Contact the Builder: If the property is relatively new or you know the builder, contacting them directly can be a good option. Builders often retain copies of the original plans for the properties they construct.
- Ask the Previous Owner: The former owners of a property might have kept copies of floor plans from their purchase or renovations. Reaching out to them, if possible, could yield results.
- Chat With the Neighbors: Long-time residents in a neighborhood, particularly if the homes were built around the same time by the same builder, might have floor plans for their own similar properties or know who does.
- Check With Municipal Records: Local building departments or assessor's offices sometimes keep records that include blueprints, building permits, or property surveys which may contain floor plan information. The availability varies significantly by location.
- Look at Fire Insurance Maps: Historical fire insurance maps (like Sanborn Maps) can sometimes show building footprints and internal structures, offering insights into the layout, though they are not detailed floor plans in the modern sense. They are particularly useful for older buildings.
- Access Historical Archives: Local historical societies, libraries, and university archives may house architectural records, building permits, or historic property files that include floor plans, especially for historically significant buildings.
- Search Through Historic Catalogs, Newspapers, and Advertisements: Old advertisements for selling homes, builder catalogs, or architectural pattern books published historically might feature floor plans for standard or popular house designs from that era.
By exploring these diverse avenues, you increase your chances of locating the floor plans you need.
