House Design

[Instrument 41]

We are wanting to "redo" our existing house, (or so my WIFE wants to)...Anyway a question. Who do you consult with on something like this to see if your vision is possible? I don't think it would be an interior design person. Looking at adding walls, enclosing parking area, putting on a porch that wraps around the house, re configuring the master bath, vaulting a ceiling and adding another real fireplace. I think a builder would be able to do that but when describing what you want he's think how much money he can make versus "is this possible"? ANy advice is much appreciated

[Steve Viegas]

I would start with an architect.

[john70t]

Get her Sketchup CAD to play with, and tell her have at it with a couple different plans.
A virtual walk through makes a huge difference.

misc:
-A kitchen sink with a view and light
-Always plan for a nice view and something to look at from common areas.
-open kitchen to dining room is popular these days but requires structural bracing and expense etc.
-an interior wall window is cheaper and leaves usable counter space in small kitchens.
-add light with tunnels
-I have little storage space and have to become creative with 'wasted' corners.
-look at Houzz dot com and other design websites for 'that look' you both want. (actually first place to start)
-Consider simple daily functionality if possible: 1st floor laundry with doors direct to clothes line/porch, hallways and landings big enough to move sofas and desks, mud room for cleaning filthy skunk dog, guests bedrooms on other side of kitchen for privacy, etc

[VincentVega]

Sketchup is good. I also used some off the shelf home design software, easy to use and gives you lots of flexibility. Be careful with an architect. The few I spoke with were $$ and once you/she see's whats possible it can be hard to come back to earth. I'm sure there are good ones out there, I just didnt find one.

I ended up mostly with paper and pencil and a really good drafting guy. Also need to decide if you want practical or aesthetic changes, it takes skill to combine the two. You can design anything but building it for reasonable $$ can be interesting.

[Rtrorkt]

architect. The number of misses, goofs, just didn't get it rights in homeowner led designs is staggering. What you pay for with a good architect is full vetting of your needs, options for solving them and then detailing of the design that will produce the result. Example are my neighbors. Spent a ton of money on their kitchen. It is done to about 75% of what it could be. The other 25% is the benefit a design professional brings. Can you get by, yes. But do you want to just get by?

The other side of it is during construction you have a professional who does this for a living and can talk with the contractors about issues. Even the best intentioned contractors will hit you with changes that should have been anticipated.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

Be careful with an architect. The few I spoke with were $$ and once you/she see's whats possible it can be hard to come back to eart

Architects will catch major design flaws...but they are not necessarily structural engineers.

I was once adding additional wood to existing structure and hired one.
(not kach btw if you were wondering it).
The drawings were aesthetically correct and would hide all the new reinforcement pieces, and theoretically fulfilling his obligation for what we talked about,
But the actual load distribution itself was missing completely, and would have accomplished nothing.
Money wasted.
That guy was completely in the design world and not reality.

[look 171]

Architect, not your builder unless you have a really savvy builder that has a good eye for design. My experience is that those are really hard to come by. Having the architect's drawing, you avoid the "He said, she said". Its a binding contract with dates and stamps. This way, everyone is in the clear and know exactly what needs to be done. Tell them your vision and they will get you a sketch to start with. Make sure you don't pay up unless they bring you an approved and stamped drawing approved by the city.

[vash]

i noticed there are some builders with in house architects.

they take a project from cradle to grave. cant be inexpensive tho..

[Noah930]

Having gone through a recent near-total renovation of our house, I would start with a budget. Because that's the first thing any architect, builder, interior designer, etc will ask you. If you have no answer, they'll have no answer either.

Also, just about anything is possible with enough money. But that doesn't help you, the guy paying the bills.

That being said, I'm not sure if it really matters where you start. We started with having a couple builders walk through our house. We described what we wanted. They offered some input, and gave ballpark estimates of cost. Some things can be done, but don't make sense financially/economically (not worth the cost). And they'll think of potential building problems that you didn't.

After we had maybe 3 contractors come through, we hired an engineer/architect. We described our vision, and he sketched it out. He sketched out a couple options. We made some modifications, and settled on a final design. Then we went back with the permitted plans, and offered the contractors an opportunity to bid on them.

Still, nothing's perfect. For example, the architect drew in 3' x 5' bedroom windows. They passed plan inspection (permitting). The contractors all saw the design and made no mention of any problems. Then, when we finally got to the point of ordering the windows, the window company contact commented that she knew they wouldn't pass inspection, as they were undersized (code calls for a certain size for emergency egress). The windows matched the specs on the plans, but if an inspector were to take a tape measure to them (once installed) and be a stickler, they wouldn't pass the minimum size requirement. So, after having all the walls framed up, the framers had to make some changes (for which I had to pay) and larger windows had to be ordered (for which I had to pay).

[vash]

remodeling a home would be badass..

one day...

[fireant911]

Instrument 41,
My recommendation is, hands down, Sketchup. We hired a designer earlier and it was not a good experience... all we got was what they wanted and little consideration was given to what we wanted. Next, we worked with an architect and no builder would touch those plans (seriously, five different builders said that a house could not be built from those plans). We spent a considerable amount of money with the designer and architect and had nothing to show for this other than a lot of lost time and a considerable depletion of our bank account. I used Sketchup to design our home which was then was built - we moved into it in November 2017.

Since you are using part of your original structure take a look at this - https://help.sketchup.com/cs/article/3000115. It gives some good instructions on how to draw your home from a photograph using Sketchup - this is a great way to play around and look at various designs. You can, of course, go around and measure everything but that is not necessary at this stage (the photograph method is quicker - I used this approach earlier and took four pictures of out home from the four corners and applied Sketchup textures). You can also purchase an inexpensive "Sketchup For Dummies" book from Ebay for cheap! - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-SketchUp-For-Dummies-For-Dummies-Computer-Tech-ExLibrary/273195696187?epid=57573328&hash=item3f9bbb803b:g:XBwAAOSw4A5YnbAX. Be aware that Sketchup licensing may have changed - I always used the free version but had difficulty the last time I tried loading it on my computer (I went and searched for Sketchup 2017 and it worked wonderfully). Maybe after the two of you arrive at a creation that you like THEN you can talk to an architect...

[look 171]

Originally Posted by vash

remodeling a home would be badass..

one day...

No, remodeling a home kicks my ass

[Jim Richards]

^^^

Originally Posted by vash

remodeling a home would be badass..

one day...

What Jeff said.

[Noah930]

Agree with Jeff (who graciously walked through my home once, to offer ideas and advice): remodeling is much more headachy than building new.

[jwasbury]

at the level of remodeling proposed by the OP, is it even possible to do this without sealed architect's drawings? I know in my neck the woods, you'll need them to get a permit for that kind of work.

We are 99.99999% done on a full gut reno of a 1910 Tudor. Massively expensive, but the end result is fantastic. We made pretty significant floor plan changes and the design and detail touches we worked up in collaboration with the architect are noticeable. I do think we had a good one.

[look 171]

Hey Jim, you guys didn't have to live there. I am working on hill side home now for a young couple that just purchased the home (known foundation problem). The have no access to half the house due to foundation issues. They are living in a dusty half of a house with 5-600 Sq' to move around. Hotel or apt isn't an option. They work from home. They are strapped from the purchase and the remodel. I have had many long meeting with them about the added stress for staying during the whole house is torn apart. They are young and are dealing with it well. Real troopers and fantastic people to work with. Its been 2 months

OP, this is usually my process. I was brought in before they purchased the house. We kicked around the design with the client once escrow closed. I usually sketch the layout and play with space planning along with inputs from the owner. Once approved, I bring in the architect to have them draw up the necessary plans or work out mistakes that we over look. I do this for free so they can save a few bucks and not pay the architect his expensive fees. Sometimes, I am hands off and let the architect deal wit it. I help with payment schedule between architect and owner and make sure owner doesn't pay all his money unless a stamped and approved drawings are produced before final payment. By then, I know the house pretty well and know what has to be done. We start after that. Its a lot of planning but once we get going, its pretty smooth sailing. If there's no interior designer involved, I will try and help with picking out fixtures and further design kitchen and bath. I don't charge them anything for that as that's a lot of fun for me. Been working with many interior designers over the years, I know many of their design tricks. Good luck. Interview them. You should get a good feel for people once you meet them.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by look 171

Hey Jim, you guys didn't have to live there.

True. We only came to SoCal 4-5 times per year for the 4 1/2 years the house was under renovation.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Architect!

Talk to a few, talk through your project and go with the one that is on the same wave length as you and your wife

I'm doubling the size of my house and managed to include a 4 car parking garage into a 2 car garage foot print.

The first guy I talked to was quite negative about what I wanted to do, the 2nd guy seemed very into it and we worked together very well to come up with exactly what we were after.

If your architect can't see your vision and wants to do his own thing, fire him and find one that will add/compliment your vision.

Be flexible to the architects ideas/suggestions as you may get far more than you originally imagined.

[kach22i]

Architect.

You could find a builder that typically works with an architect and get the design as a phase-1 of the contract. However such contracts typically lock you into using that builder so you cannot get outside bids.

By dealing with the architect first, the drawings can be bid on by any number of builders.

I've never seen an addition designed by an owner that added value to a home, the owner may have been happy with it but that was all.

There is some sad stuff out there, good intentions that lead to a disaster.

[island911]

Originally Posted by john70t

Architects will catch major design flaws...but they are not necessarily structural engineers.
.

LOL. Are you thinking of anyone we know? ^^

But seriously, they don't always catch major design flaws. My neighbor had an addition where the roof-line was offset by a foot or so. The Architect squeezed more money out of him to come up with a fix. ...of the Architect's mistake.