Do we need an architect?

amother

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 8:36 pm

BEH we bought a house. It's our first home, a big expenditure so DH and I are still quite nervous about the whole thing. It's in a good location but needs serious renovation. I need to renovate bathrooms, convert basement into the play room. The kitchen is old so I want to knock it down completely to have an open kitchen leading to the dining living open area. Nothing fancy for kitchen, we don't have much spare $ after the downpayment so we may consider things like Ikea. I want to knock down a wall in one of bedrooms upstairs so we can make a walk in closet. Now DH knows a builder who did BIL's house very nicely so we trust him and we'll ask him to do the job. The question is do we need an architect? A friend of mine had a horror story, she commissioned an architect to redesign the house but ended up costing a lot more than they budgeted and the design had flaw so the builder had hard time working out plumbing. I'm not really savvy about interior designing and this is the first time we own a place to live. But the budget is tight so DH doesn't want to spends lots of $ just to get the design. He says architects just do the design on paper and thinks our builder friend can do that. What do you think?

saw50st8

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 8:48 pm

An architect is trained in structural, plumbing, electrical...they are often needed for permits. I would definitely be careful if you are knocking down a wall (it may need structural support).

Call your town planning board and ask what is needed for permits. Also, check out gardenweb - people will totally help you with layout planning and advice!

Maya

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 8:49 pm

I can't tell you whether or not you need an architect, but I want to point out that a good architect will only design according to your budget, if you ask him/her specifically. And having one horror story with an architect does not mean that all architects are bad.

6yeladim

Thu, Mar 10 2011, 4:14 am

For our apartment renovation, we hired an architect and paid him 10% of the cost of the project to oversee the workers. I am 100% sure that this decision saved us money, otherwise we would have been at the mercy of the plumber, electrician etc. He made sure they did what they were supposed to do--not more, not less, and (more or less) on time.

LisaS

Thu, Mar 10 2011, 5:00 am

We had an awesome architecht who made so many good changes we couldn't have thought of. Her fee was exactly as we anticipated, but there were many additional costs because of improvements that she suggested that cost more - each one we had to carefully decide if we would do or not.

Like the previous poster said, she was on top of the building, and when the plumber or carpenter had a question they turned to her.

I have also heard of bad architecht stories. Depends on who you hire.

Imashela

Thu, Mar 10 2011, 6:34 am

We didn't take one, and I regret it. Our house was identical to our neighbor's who took an interior designer (which may be cheaper than an architect, who had great ideas, and probably saved her money. All kinds of unexpected things come up when building and you have to make split- second decisions, which we were not equipped to make.
Another option is to hire by the hour for just a one time consultation. for basic questions and ideas. If you live in Israel you don't need an architect for knocking down walls- but you need to know if a wall can be knocked down - like if it's holding up the roof, but I understand you do need to in the States. Another option is to hire by the hour for just a one time consultation. for basic questions and ideas (that's what we did - and for the questions we asked it was great!).

amother

Thu, Mar 10 2011, 5:53 pm

OP back again. Thanks for feedback, I'm gonna share with DH when he gets home. Ya we forgot about plan approval though I thought you don't need it if you're changing internal walls. I thought it was builders job to do structural research to make sure the house doesn't collapse when walls are knocked down Lol. Also I wasn't sure if architects stick around and superviser the workers, is that a part of job? I thought they just help you design the layout and don't get involved beyond that. If we have an architect, we don't need an interior designer, right? I'm still confused about who does what.