Moved: Our architect process.
bry911
8 years ago
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Comments (26)
Oaktown
8 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Just some updates & pics of our building process...
Comments (6)Congratulations on all of your blessings! Your home is going to be beautiful, but your baby will be your true joy though. What a special time in your life! Enjoy! My baby will be 2 in June and I don't know where the time has gone and then when I look at my oldest, I realize time has really flown by! Best time of my life. Wouldn't trade these memories for anything. Live and love all the moments, even the tough ones because you can't ever get that time back. Congratulations again and Good luck!...See MoreStalled in our building process. Help!
Comments (43)According to the Looney, Ricks, Kiss website, the Tucker Bayou plan got an Aurora award for homes in the $1,000,001 - $1,500,000 price range. So there's that. And you don't know whether that's a real retail price, or a price less donated materials (from advertisers), never mind land, legal, permits and site development. In my neck of the woods, this plan, at the finish level shown, would easily be a couple of million. This plan is going to be relatively expensive whether it's on a basement, crawl space, or slab. The framing itself is not simple, and all the little features that make it cute cost serious bucks. Also the large, numerous windows. And lots of porches. And custom millwork, custom cabinets, lots of upscale appliances and plumbing, hardwood and tile, etc. You're in the classic conundrum of a budget that won't budge, so you have a choice between a smaller house with more detail, or a larger house that's plain. IIWY I'd revisit the sloped part of the lot. See if you can put the kids' bedrooms, lauundry, "family" room, etc. down there on a walk out. Then put the rest of the rooms upstairs. Try to make it a one story with some high ceilings, and a simple shape, e.g., a rectangle. Build simple decks or gravel terraces instead of wraparound porches. Stuff like that. The point is, to save money, the whole house should have a much smaller footprint, an overall simpler concept, and that gives you a shot at making your budget. Unless you've really got a couple million to spend, in which case you might as well give Looney, Ricks, Kiss a call....See MoreTrying to pick our architect! What should I ask?
Comments (15)Well...lemme see... Important categories of information and insight include: architectural design experience and skill; process for creating design and construction documents; project schedules and management; communications; range of services provided; professional fees; typical consultants which are often needed; construction cost control approaches; jurisdictional review and approval experience; extent of time and range of experience of architectural practice; ever been sued or taken to court; method(s) for billing; client references; contractor references (if you are looking for contractors); what kind of clouds can you draw, and which types do your prefer? If you have prior architectural and construction experience, these categories will make some sense. If not, mebbe not so much. It's hard to know about those things you don't know about... At the end of the day, you are looking for someone with the needed creativity and experience, who is trustworthy, communicates comfortably and reliably, is dependable, looks after the client's interests and that is trustworthy. You and your architect will not always agree, and how you handle these (normal) differences during the process is an important issue. Chances are, your architect will have substantially more experience than you, and can foresee issues, problems, challenges and potentially better solutions than you. Unless of course, you have 20 years or so in the residential design and construction biz. This, of course, is exactly the reason one retains an architect--to take advantage of the greater range of knowledge and experience. Good luck on your project!...See MoreNeighbors from hell during our construction process
Comments (25)Two disclaimers before I start. First, I am not your attorney and this is not legal advice, this time I thought I needed to say that. Next, I tend to be fairly aggressive in stopping this type of BS before it starts taking up too much of my time. ----- If this were one or possibly two neighbors I would advise ignoring it and just moving on. However, at some point it becomes a self-reinforcing problem and I suspect with three neighbors participating you may be at that point. In those situations they don't need your participation in order to have drama, they can participate in the drama with each other and may attempt to escalate in order to get a reaction. In some of these situations their need to prove you are the bad guy will extend to outright criminal behavior in order to get a reaction from you that they can use to prove they were "right about you all along." I am going to focus on one thing specifically and relay what I would have done. Again, this works for my personality but may not for yours. Harassing contractors (yelling, threatening, hovering, spraying with a hose) The above is what I see as your most actionable thing. Especially spraying with a hose as technically that is assault (not saying that you will get a prosecution for it). I would instruct the general contractor that if anyone on the job gets sprayed with a hose that contractor should immediately stop working until they have dried sufficiently to work "safely." Please call the police to report the incident and present me with a separate bill for all the charges related to that delay. I would then present that bill to the neighbor as actual damages caused by their action. I would hand the letter to them as well as mail a copy. When handing it to them I would simply say, "I will give you a chance to settle this but I sincerely hope you don't because I want to escalate it." The whole point of this is to get all the actions out in front of an authority figure. If your side of the story is accurate the judge is likely to do you a solid and issue a warning to them, even in small claims court. This is essentially reporting the bully to the principal. Usually that stops these kinds of problems. Publicly shaming them on the internet is the other option, I just don't love that option as it can get away from you. I guess my only real advice is listen to your attorney but do let him help you stop this now if he thinks he can. Otherwise it is very likely to continue to get worse....See Morebry911
8 years agobry911
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8 years agoOaktown
8 years agoOaktown
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agonini804
8 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
8 years agobry911
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8 years agobry911
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