Lainey, Val, Deb and others have asked questions about design stuff. An architect's role is often a little mysterious to most folks.....some have the misconception that it's overly expensive to hire an architect.

Here is a LINK to a new webpage that gives real life examples of working with an architect. It's actually a beta test sent out to AIA professionals, but it seemed to work well.

There are two videos at present....one walks you through a new house design (at this link); while the other one documents the design process related to a school in Princeton NJ (hit the tab that's labeled HowItWorks or similar for this one). There is also the customary FAQ listed on the directory

Disclosure: The videos are pretty long, but could be bookmarked to read in a couple sittings. I have only listened to the first 2 parts of the 'house' one. Feel free to post any questions.

This may be to some but fascinating to a select few I'll be interested to hear any feedback... Let the thread rise or sink (more likely....no sex content ) on it's own account.

 

and I appreciate the suggestions you gave to me. We are still mulling over ideas and may or may not make changes. Only time will tell. We're content for the time being but maybe in a year or two will decide to either stay here and redesign or move on.

 

Boy your timing is lousy!

I have spent the last month trying to correct misteaks made by an architect. This week has been particularly time consuming and expensive. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incidence in that I have 3 homes under construction or soon to be under construction that 3 different architects have caused very similar issues. It's as if they all went to the same school.

I used architects thinking they would add value to the transaction and I would be getting more than just a draftsman. Not only was I wrong but I actually found them to be destructive to the home design/building process. I will attempt to be clear and to the point but I tend to ramble when I get mad. Add costing me lots of money and time to the mad issue and my wife says I sometimes get irrational.

Let's forget the malfeasance of "fudged" measurements by all 3 architects in an effort to minimize work on their part, let's focus instead upon their "resistance" to learning codes or even to learning what are standard or common sizes to minimize costs.

I haven't found an architect that can be bothered to learn, or even utilize the knowledge when it is given to them, that if you place a window within 18" of the floor or 24" of a door then you have increased the cost of the window significantly because it now needs tempered glass.

Standard sizes that you can buy from a window manufacturer? Why bother! Let's do what looks pretty on the elevation and the cost be damned!! Try an EXTRA cost of almost $20,000 for a custom window package vs. standard sizes and types. You would be amazed at how much latitude and the variety of windows that are available in the standard sizes.

Door sizes are common knowledge, right? Not to any of the architects I've used. I can almost hear them saying "Well only a 17" door will fit in this space or I've got to redraw something . . . so a 17" door it is!"

Custom trusses to correct the "fudged" measurements cost me a lot of extra time and $$$. It got so that the framer wouldn't/couldn't begin work on any section of the house before we remeasured and reworked the plans to make sure things fit properly. Naturally this wasn't free. On the plus side we redesigned some rooms to work better than they would have.

Needless to say I have bought my own software and will be drawing my own plans from now on.

You may be absolutely wonderful and have the utmost regard for your customer and their pocketbook. Are all architects complete idiots? Probably not. But all I can base my opinions on are my personal experiences and to date none of them have been positive.

Let's not even talk about the extra time it took to get the plans developed even when I brought them almost complete plans (minus only a master bath and a few measurements around the top of a stairway. I designed the bath and HE tightened up the upstairs measurements at the top of the stairs).

To date I have over $20,000 down the drain on architect fees and that's not counting the money and time lost correcting issues and customer dissatisfaction.

I do have to shoulder some of the blame. I also own a mortgage company and for years I have heard all these horror tales about the architects but put them off to unrealistic demands or a builder covering for his ineptness. Boy was I wrong!

 

So how does one go about finding a good/appropriate architect?

The reason I ask, I have a traditional Cape Cod, but I have no dormers on the 2nd floor. I have studied lots of designs and based upon my floor plan I have decided exactly what I want to do, which is one gable roof dormer on the front about 5 feet wide and then one shed roof dormer on the back about the same width.

I have been around the building trades long enough and have spent enough time in my attic to know that this would be a relatively simple mod. I have drawn up floor plans, and even some basic elevations, but to really get contractors in for accurate estimates I suspect I should have some real architectural drawings, as I'm not able to do anything to that level of detail.

 

I got an architect for the first time to do the kitchen design. We'll see how good he is starting the middle of March, but I do like his plans and I made almost no changes. He has worked with the contractor for several years, so I expect a fairly smooth project. He double and triple checked his measurements, because any mistakes will cost him plenty.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. No, architects aren't perfect but I haven't experienced any 3-in-a-row rants like yours.

Wondering if you hired registered architects or a 'house designer'? I'm surprised that the general contractor (who usually provides the cost estimates) did not alert you to things like the 'custom window' package and the tempered glass deal. If you're talking about 3 projects of any size, $20k in fees does not sound like an adequate fee to 'do the job'. Did you beat them down on the fee? If you 'provided the plans', it sounds like you only 'bought' limited services.

As in most professional services, I would strongly recommend getting advance REFERRALS from other friends/ acquaintances who have been pleased with services provided. Did you take that precaution.....just as you would do with a doctor, cpa, lawyer, etc?

Feel free to post here (or PM me) if I can suggest any route for you to gain better satisfaction with the service that you received. If there is real incompetence that is not in line with the 'standard of care', you can take legal action and/or report them to the state licensing board.....not sure which state you live in.

 

Doug,
A good general contractor should be able to provide what you want without an architect....depending on what's required by your local municipality re: building permit, etc. Dormers are almost a 'template' type of detail that an experienced carpenter will know how to build. If you PM a FAX number to me, I can provide a copy of standard dormer framing details....both types.

 

I designed the house we built 4 years ago from scratch with off-the-shelf software.
Over the course of several years, I got the plan to a point that my wife and I thought it was perfect for us, and started to shop builders (we already owned the lot).
I was a bit nervous handing over our 1-off design to an architect before inking a deal with a builder, but through his consultations we made some minor tweaks that were well worth the fee he charged for his services.
A previous architect we met with said right up front that he was going to make changes to the plan based on his subective feelings of how the front elevation should look (his 'signature' as it were).
We said, "no you won't" and thanked him for his (rather brief) time

Good ones are out there!
Brian

 

Hey Jerry ..... you know I had to put in my 2 cents here.......

It doesn't take an architect to design a house. I'm not an architect, I'm a designer and I've been designing houses for 13 years - 9 years in business for myself, and my builders don't care that I'm an architect or not. They think because I'm a women with a degree in Interior Design that I can design a better house than a man because I'm thinking function......

BUT when I get into the million dollar homes the key to a house is a GREAT structural engineer. I have a wonderful guy who works with me when I need him and we work together on plans and if I have to move a few walls around or tweek a few areas to make it work better structurally then I do that. Not sacrificing anything with the design to do this of course.

I have worked with plenty of architects that WILL NOT move anything around or be willing to work with the engineer and that can become a problem. Some of them are arrogant and very difficult to deal with (NOT YOU JERRY) but some of them are from my experiences - and they can be over priced.

There are many web sites that sell plans, already designed and ready to build but even those are not always right. My builders will often purchase a set of plans on the internet and have me redraw them...... only to find that structurally they do not work. I spent 2 hours this morning with my engineer discussing the mistakes on a set of plans a homeowner purchased for 1,000 dollars on line and now they have to pay me and an engineer to correct what they purchased.

Just find someone you can work with and will work WITH you to make YOUR design your dream. A lot of architects want to do it THEIR way and they need to remember it's YOUR house. Not theirs.

 

[QUOTE=paS2K,Feb 21 2007, 01:12 PM]Doug,
A good general contractor should be able to provide what you want without an architect....depending on what's required by your local municipality re: building permit, etc.