home design

Important Note about Time and Costs (Q&A at Bottom of the Page)

A growing number of my clients are enjoying the process of seeing their new home or remodel come to life with todays modeling software. Years ago people settled with what was drawn and trusted that the Architect had their best interest at heart. Which we do. However, because of the ability to edit a life like model and seeing varying results, more clients are engaging more heavily in the design process and willing to spend more time and money on their house plan to feel more confident in the final result of their new home or remodel.

I have a proven record of producing the desired preliminary layout and style the client has asked for 98% of the time. And the plan is always 100% what the client wants by the time I am done. However, there are times, once the preliminary plan is seen by the client that a different path is chosen. I call this, “working through what we don’t want to find what we want”. This can become a costly way to design a plan. There are times, very rare when the new direction requires me to start over. This should not be seen as a failure on my part or on the clients part, but rather the path that may be required to obtain the results a client is looking for.

My costs are kept very reasonable based on about 90% that flow through in a timely manner. A number of changes are made, plans marked up or a few extra meetings to work through things, for example. However, when a client wants to explore different ideas to see if they like something or not, more charges will incur for this added time. There is nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time and try things, but note that more time than typical will be spent and therefore more charges will apply. To avoid more charges, give added thought to what you want in your new home before our meeting to provide a more specific and clear direction.

Important Note about Shear Walls and Engineering Costs

Over the past number of decades house design and its structure have changed. New codes are put in place and plan requirements are increasing. The latest thing that Architects are running into is Shear Walls.  Most of the changes over the years required extra details on the plan to meet these changes and code requirements. However, Shear Walls are not simply a new detail or code note to add to the plan, but a process by which an Engineer must get involved.

Today house structures are also less traditional, and window and door openings are getting larger and/or pushed to the corners of their spaces, leaving little to no room for common structure, materials, and fastening. Many of these structures also have tall walls and open spaces that are now requiring structural engineering and various materials and assembly details. Getting a permit for these untraditional houses requires an Engineer to provide details on these Shear Walls.

You can expect several more weeks to a month to be added to the design time, and pay an Engineer from $1000 to over $6000 depending on the complexity of the structure. I just want you to be aware of the added time and cost in the design of your home if you have some of these Shear Wall situations in your design.