choosing an architect
brandyleigh
8 years ago
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Matthew
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Choosing a Landscape Architect
Comments (15)I realize this has been explained previously, but the fee for an initial consultation by the designer/LA is pretty much SOP. And very different from the estimate outlined by the plumber in your example above.......lots of businesses give out "free estimates" when doing routine work - it's just to let you know what the approximate cost may be before you proceed. And that's what differentiates an estimate from a consultation - one applies to routine, proscribed work and the other is an exchange of ideas and assessment of a physical situation and a preliminary needs analysis. Again this is not a "quote" or estimate situation and does involve travel and time on the part of the design consultant without any guarantee of subsequent work. I can recall an early-in-my-career consultation I did where the homeowner was rather adamant about having something physical in hand at the end of the consultation. It took a fair amount of explaining exactly what 'consultation' meant and what the end result would likely constitute before I could assure her she had received exactly what she paid for. It is a common misunderstanding on the part of many homeowners who are unfamiliar with the design process, as deviant-deziner has so clearly pointed out. I now make sure prospective clients are very clearly informed of the process, the initial steps and the fees involved even before we meet so that there is no misunderstanding. FWIW, many designers will credit the consultation fee towards the full design services fee should they be selected as the designer but just as many others will calculate it as a typical cost of doing business regardless if a contract for additional services is signed or not....See MoreTalk me out of this architect
Comments (12)I'm having a lot of pain right now because while my architect does beautiful designs, he's not very good with detailed drawings. And as laymen, we had no idea how awful these drawings were. Most of his work is commercial, and there's a different way of communicating in that market, apparently. The drawing says "wall here" without details like how tall? Where are the studs? How big are the studs? How does this wall connect to the wall next to it? Before we got to this point, it took way longer than it should have to get our drawings and permits. We were the bottom of his priority list. So he'd tell us 3 weeks to work on the drawing, and we wouldn't hear from him for 3 weeks. We'd follow up with him, and he'd done nothing. Then he didn't remember what we talked about 3 weeks earlier. And he'd start working on it then. So A) I'd ask about his schedule. How much time is he going to devote to your project? And B) Ask to see his previous drawings, and take them to a builder and ask if they could work from them. We hired the guy we did because whenever we mentioned his name, people in the industry would gush about how great his work is. But clearly none of them had ever worked on his projects....See MoreAdvice on Hiring an Architect
Comments (23)Cpartist, Mark j wrote a post on finding an architect for his new modern farmhouse. He is also considering one out of state. Others have voiced concern over the codes. (Cpartist- I shared our lifestyle because while we are not millionaires- yet! We have to be careful right now in early retirement with kids! We are headed towards legacy funds for our kids, their own home down payments, college etc. We need to be strict about our plans running over budget to balance all our dreams, including our yearly vacations! We need to be on the ready to find good deals and not spending up to get the design right!.. in this regard working with our own "real" farmhouse needs (root cellar, wood stove heat, wood storage, solar farming, 8 new pets/strays!) was unusual and we decided the cost of hovering carefully over our project was the best way to control the budget.. ) I wanted to share, however only having experience with our $350k total budget including land and site development, that with our small budget for house left, we had to spend a large amount of time on setting the home ourselves. We even designed a home and changed our minds to an even better spot that was hiding from us because we felt the urge for privacy, in retrospect, the most private acres are best for growing food and very hot (2.5/5 acre buffer vs 10 acres.. enough afterall) He should maybe think about a site helper for new raw land if out of state best Architect may not have the chance to visit site for a good amount of time to understand best site. Additionally, studying modern and old farmhouse design ourselves for two years, we noticed a lot of trendsetters. We grew strong feelings overtime for the moods that each of the exteriors gave, he may easily look over many Pinterest pictures of white farmhouse and other rural homes to get a feeling for how much of a sharp contrast or softness his family home will have. I tried to leave it open if he will be giving so much thought to the interior, full of choices (and headaches!) But invited him to think of how each room in each season will be used for his dream the best. This helped me and I hope his architect will ask these questions rather than leave them to their art. To us, It is much more about family time and living well in the end (and how we use our home.) You don't have to pick out finishes, (or design artful floor plans!) but consider room dreams and wishes for living. (Though in the end we hyped up the modern and light, the "matte" and "flow simple minimal" to drop the custom time consuming work older farmhouses seemed to have and in the end found it seems easiest clean anyway ;) nice! We also decided on traditional building practices using all solid wood beams that are still standing today vs glued TJIs.. but that is not so easy to do!) I highlighted windows! Because windows are a big deal! From the installer and the manufacturer. If his architect told him Anderson for example, it would be easy to go with the high high end! But it would be hard to not compare that with? Marvin? Or some one else.. even if they said to go with a certain type of window they were not expecting; due to weather and they thought looked to industrial or whatever. They may want to be prepared to understand the intellect behind that choice and to double check and concur. Especially if they hire one from another region. A local architect may have strong reasons for a window design, not the simple farmhouse grilles, how the window operates in muggy heat! .. forgot to add.. last one I would concur or make sure they think right is the roofing material for the region. I would double check the warranty true expectations. For us we wanted the least amount of pollutants, grape vines close by and new orchard plans.. Surprisingly.. after rain barrel study ready.. asphalt is at number one! Not the treated pine natural shingles I was hoping for (the worst) or metal..so I need to understand the lifetime of the asphalt in my area. I understand the hotter they are the faster they wear out....See MoreHelp Choosing an Architect/ Builder for New House Construction
Comments (25)@John Hrivnak, ArCH, AIA, MBA, NCARB, LEED AP - This is a problem with anecdotal evidence. You are not going to architect your way out of a bad builder. When we look at the advantages and disadvantages of design/build firms in aggregate it is pretty easy figure the trade-offs inherent in the model. This is not rocket surgery, it is a simple backward or forward vertical integration business combination and they have been happening a long time now. Somewhere deep in the past a wine maker said. "I think we would be more profitable if we grow the grapes." THE GOOD Every combination requires synergy, so the two parts being better together than they would be apart. In the case of the winery owning the grapes it is a change in the decisions around growing and harvesting grapes. Essentially you can tailor your wine to your grapes and your grapes to your wine. In design/build firms plans will be tailored to take advantage of builder proficiencies and enhanced communications. The designer will be able to anticipate areas where the builder may struggle and will design away from that when possible and communicate more clearly when not. Plans are more likely to hit cost targets as the design process is automatically designing to efficiency. There will also be more communication between the builder and designer during the design phase when they are in the same office. THE BAD Every combination has a sacrifice because of the exclusive nature of the combination. In the case of a winery, if you own the fields and have a grape harvest that is not particularly fantastic while a competing grower has a fantastic harvest, you are still required to use your grapes. If you sell your grapes and buy the others you have destroyed all of the value in the combination. In design/build firms that tailoring of plans to building efficiency will limit creativity. An architect for a design build firm is not going to design towards something the builder is not good at doing. They are going to design to strengths and away from weaknesses. Those strengths and weaknesses might not be shared by every builder. This is a tangible weakness and should be given serious consideration (e.g. If a builder has a preferred window supplier the designer is likely to find a way to incorporate those windows in the design even if a different window would be better). --- This entire thing assumes that quality is equal across the board, which it is not. I can assure you that the answer above is correct, yet it is also meaningless in your decision. Your decision is going to be based on your needs and your market. In your market you may well have several architect driven design/build firms (forward vertical integration), or you might have cost conscience builders providing design services (backward vertical integration). Do your due diligence and then pick the arrangement that you are most comfortable with. I would advise that you take pricing quotes with a grain of salt, the best value is not likely to depend on a quoted upfront price. Also I personally would not look at portability of plans from a design/build firm. This seems like the worst of all worlds... You limit design to strengths of one firm and then don't use that firm. Just my 2 cents... Good luck....See Morebrandyleigh
8 years agoOaktown
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Brian 's
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Architectrunnerguy
8 years agobrandyleigh
8 years agobrandyleigh
8 years agoArchitectrunnerguy
8 years ago
PROMark Bischak, Architect
8 years ago
cpartist
8 years ago- PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
8 years ago - PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
8 years ago
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