I was my own General Contractor so I got to make all the decisions! I knew I had a very competent carpenter to do the work who had told me to get whatever I wanted and he'd make it work. I knew from experience he would/could so I bought what I wanted. I talked to him twice from the time he said he'd do it until the day he came to work. That arrangement worked for us but it might not for everyone. We will start week 5 on Monday and I doubt very much he will have anything left to do on Tuesday unless I can throw in one more "while you're still here" thing ;-) I need to be done with my list because he'll take all his tools! He has the good stuff and I have the bargain brand. Good stuff is better. I had a three ring zipper binder with dividers. I did my cabinets at Menard's and every time I had a question or an "I wonder" or the girls I dealt with all the time had one of those, I hauled out my binder and everything was right there. I had a graph paper drawing of the kitchen as it was and as I wanted it. I had photos of how it was then. I kept their floor plans and cabinet list print off in it and replaced them with the new floor plan every time I was there;-) If I happened across a bargain I had my measurements with me and knew whether it would fit or not. I had a divider for everything! One for sinks with subdividers for single, double, fireclay, silgranite, etc. As I norrowed it down, I took pages out. I printed off everything that took my eye on line. I printed threads from here that pertained to what I was wondering about. I used plastic sleeves and put brochures/samples in them. I have a large key ring full of Formica samples. The huge ones fit a plastic sleeve. When I chose my farm sink, I printed the pages with the specifications printed on it so I knew which sink was which. That saved me from looking them up over and over. I kept some of my inspiration photos in my book also to make it easier to explain what I was looking for while shopping. Saved many, many words and no one misunderstood what I was looking for! Start anywhere because you will certainly be adding pages/ideas/questions as you become more familiar with what's out there. I kept several lined notebook pages in the front for lists and questions. Keep those. I often made a note on my shopping list about something I'd seen and needed the information weeks later. I would guess you will have a notebook for each room before you are done.

Hi KD - there was a thread a while ago that I saved about how to inventory your current kitchen items as you design your new one. There are some great suggestions here to get you started; we just used bethv's list the other night to ensure our cabinet design made sense. We also referred to a lot of books/magazines. No one list stands out though; it was more an amalgamation of ideas. If you google "kitchen design checklist", there are a number that come up that might get you started. HTH, Eliz Here is a link that might be useful: List of stuff in kitchens

To follow up on this...If in the base spec was the construction of the garage, what would be the actual spec upgrades that would be incremental (ex., base spec is subfloor can't support weight --> upgrade is subfloor that can support through 16" OC floor, existing insulation --> upgrade is incremental insulation)...ie, don't want to double count specs....apologies if this is convoluted

Well, haven't had time to come here as much but I've been drafted to be on the building committee for redoing our marina clubhouse which will be actually kind of fun sitting on the other side of the table for a change.....Yes! My turn now to be a PITA!!! Anyway, I drafted up a list of questions for potential architects. Keep in mind this is for a community as the client and the project is commercial and it's a straight unedited C&P but I hope this helps. But as another architect here wrote here last year on finding an architect.... "Finding an architect is like finding a spouse. You'll know when you've found the right one. It's even easier....you don't have to sit through dinners or go to boring movies to together." But good luck with your build. Exciting times ahead! Questions for the Architect 1. How would you approach this project? 2. What are some of the largest obstacles on a project like this? 3.What do you see as important issues or considerations in our project? 4. What is your perception of Bay Ridge and how will that influence your design concepts? 5. What architect or designer most influences your design philosophy? How do you describe yours? 6. What do you consider to be your firm’s major strengths and achievements in design? 7. What are the challenges of the project? 8. Based on your current knowledge of this project what do you see as the major design issues with which you must cope? 9. How will you gather information about our needs, goals, etc.? 10. What would you identify as a single, unique characteristic of your firm, and its practice, that distinguishes it from others? 11. Should conflicts arise between specific requests from the Building Committee and sound design principles how would you resolve these situations? Could you give us an example of this kind of situation from a previous project? 12. How will you establish priorities and make decisions? 13.Who from your firm will we be dealing with directly? Is that the same person who will be designing the project? Who will be designing our project? 14. How interested are you in this project? 15. How busy are you? 16. What sets you apart from the rest? 17. Do you use the standard AIA contract? If not, can you provide us a copy what you will use? 18. How do you set your fee? 19.What would you expect the fee to be for this project? 20. What design software do you use? 21.What are the steps in the design process and how often will we be meeting? 22. How do you organize the process and how interactive is it? 23. What do you expect to provide? 24. What is your design philosophy? 25. What is your experience/track record with cost estimating? 26. What will you show us along the way to explain the project? Will we see models, drawings, or sketches? 27. If the scope of the project changes later in the project, will there be additional fees? 28.What services do you provide during construction? Will we have a regular meeting time during construction with yourself and the builder? 29. Have you been the defendant in any past lawsuits and, if so, what was the outcome? 30. Do you have errors and omission insurance and if so, what are the policy limits? 31. Who will be your consultants (structural, MEP, fire protection, etc.) and same question on E&O insurance. 32. How long will this project take for design, building permits and construction? 33. If the project construction bids exceed available funds, how would your firm assist in determining the best ways of bringing the project within budget? How would such work be reflected in your fee? To what extent would you assume responsibility for the redesign of the project? 34. Describe the procedure your firm will use to minimize the necessity for change orders during construction? 35. How disruptive will construction be? How long do you expect it to take to complete our project? 36. Do you have a list of past clients that your firm has worked with? 37. Can we see and visit some examples of your work? 38. Can you give us referrals for contractors you like? 39. Are we missing anything?