Why won't my architect let me choose windows?
stasiyork
3 years ago
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amodernmountainhome
3 years agoMrs. S
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
I wish I hadn't let my architect talk me into...
Comments (32)He didn't talk me into anything just wasted 7 months of my time and $50,000 for a plan that was 3X more than I told him on day one (very emphatically) that I was going to spend. So here I sit $50k poorer with a large set of drawings I'll never use that I put so much time into helping develop. I have no idea what to do next. That's what my architect inadverantly talked me into. He had no idea whatsoever how much anything costs as he evidentally only worked with millionares with unlimited budgets. Heck the biggest red flag was in December when he and the only contractor willing to even discuss the project at that point with me were wasting my entire work day when they were supposed to be talking about reducing the cost on my project but, instead they spent an hour or 2 talking about their experiences with rich clients and how very funny it was to have clients with unlimited budgets that would build something, not like it, and tell them to just tear it down and do it again another way. Knock me in the head with a hammer(pardon the pun)! IMO it seems architects in my small city (Baton Rouge) like clients with unlimited money who don't care how many anything costs. I am a hard working person who has worked their behind off for all that I have. I was so intimidated being a female going to get a huge loan and hiring an architect (seemed pretentious). But, I felt with an investment this large, I thought it was the right thing to do. I felt sheepish doing it. It took 5 month in the process to finally go to bid and 2 out of 3 contractors refused to waste their time doing a formal bid and personally told me so. They said the architect was crazy and it was a totally unrealistic project and that I would be wasting my money and that the drawings were horrible. On December 24th (yes Xmas Eve) the architect told me he would do everything in his power to make it right. The story ends today March 2 with me having NOTHING still and waiting. So, I would also advise never, ever use relatives or feel obligated to use someone related by marriage. No matter how good people say they are. Trust your instincts and stick to your budget. Or you will be sitting here waiting 7 months later with no plan, much poorer and frustrated. I know I sound mad. I am. He is now fired. I don't have any recourse that I know of. I finally got my loan approved (post mortgage crisis) after much frustration architect frustration. Now I have to start over. PS I signed the first architect agreement or SOW on 7/28/08. Put timelines in writing or it will cost you money! My SOW said 4-7 weeks for drawings to go to bid? That was 7/28/08...See MorePC won't let me download
Comments (9)WOW, thanks to all you guys for all your help, it really is much appreciated. I have checked to make sure the firewall is switched on. In fact the Windows firewall is off but I presume that's because I have McAfee virus and firewall and McAfee says "enabled and up to date". Also I use CCleaner and Ad-Aware, both were recommended to me by this forum and are used regularly. Thanks again for that too. Anyway to get to the point, I followed the PDF instructions by bpgreen and I'm very glad to say it worked fine. I already had version 8.1 so it was great. Thanks very much. I have got a free version of PDF Factory and I had a feeling somewhere along the line I'd messed up something. I use my PC such a lot but am useless on the technical side so I really do appreciate the help I get on this forum. You're a great group. Many, many thanks for all your replies, Marian...See Morewant to rename files? Won't let me?
Comments (25)Posted by ravencajun "so if you change a name make absolutely certain you are NOT removing the file extension" That's kinda what I suspect. Do you have file extensions set to be shown? Not shown? With extensions shown you'll see a dot in almost all of your file names The extension is the part after the dot(last dot if there's more than one), When you rename the file, you need to not change the part after the last dot. Unfortunately, with extensions shown, it would also be easy to right-click-->rename-->type in a new name, hit "Enter", and wipe out the file extension... causing Windows to throw a warning, which if ignored would cause Windows to no longer know how to open the file. If you have extensions hidden(as Windows comes), it seems unlikely that you would accidentally change/remove the file extension. The extension isn't shown nor highlighted when renaming the file, so couldn't be accidentally changed. Is this possibly the warning you're getting? I don't really know, just throwing it out there... just in case. I agree though, that it would help to have more info. such as file name and especially the file extension. BTW, I always set Windows to show me extensions. Nothing wrong with that, just gotta make sure not to change the extension when renaming. :)...See MoreWhy oh why won't the city issue me a permit to start work???
Comments (4)I feel your pain! I've worked with our architect for over 16 months before we pulled our building permits. We're converting our 1825 2 family back into a single family, gutting the kitchen and 2 baths, adding 144 square feet to the kitchen, adding a half bath and adding a 78 sq. ft. mud room. My contractor was going to pull the permit on a Wed and asked on Fri - did you sign the tree permit? I was not familiar with THAT permit and went down to city hall to get it on Mon. Since I was going to be at inspectional services anyway I decided to run my plans by the inspector. (Also, one big reason I picked my architect and contractor is that they do most of their work in our town). In our town (Newton, MA) about 15 different permits are needed. Everything was in order EXCEPT the board of alderman made an "oops" change in the zoning laws 2 months previous. Now 20% of the town's housing stock needs a special permit for any addition - even though it meets the other laws. We fell into that 20%. They said the special permit process has been "streamlined" and is "quick and doesn't cost any more than a regualar permit". It will take a minimum 4+ extra months, my neighbors all get to weigh in on my modest addition at a town public meeting and it will cost an additional $10,000! I have complained loudly. Also, once you get a special permit you have to have a special permit for any changes to the exterior including like removing a walkway, changing garage doors, etc. even though it meets all zoning codes. If you don't do exactly what's on the permit you have to change it. One guy didn't want to change his stairs and they sent him to jail (this was told to me by the special permit review board)! I haven't even started construction and have had so many headaches. In parallel I'm trying to get the alderman (24!) to make the correct changes to the zoning laws - this will allow me to procede smoothly. With summer and 24 of them this is a difficult task. I HATE town politics. We want to pour our cement before winter! Oh, did I mention I gave my tenants notice to move by last July 1st. Thank goodness they were our of town for a few weeks and didn't find anything. Oh, I did have my HVAC guy drain the 1st floor radiators so there's no heat (we're putting in central air in heat). Yes, I feel your pain!...See Moredoc5md
3 years agostasiyork
3 years agoMrs. S
3 years agostasiyork
3 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
3 years agostasiyork
3 years agoShola Akins
3 years agoMrs. S
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agorobin0919
3 years agodan1888
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agomillworkman
3 years agostasiyork
3 years agomillworkman
3 years agostasiyork
3 years agomillworkman
3 years ago
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