Possumblog

Okay, here we go with the house question.

Okay, Jordana sends in a two-parter this morning:

Assuming you weren't an architect and were considering putting an addition on your house -- how much would you spend on an architect to make sure you got a useful and attractive addition that didn't look really stupid?

Well, that one's hard to say without knowing your overall budget, and without knowing how involved you want to get. I do know Jordana and Justin have a pretty well-defined sense of composition, so what I would suggest is first doing some homework of your own--but before you sketch ANYthing, first settle right now on the very most you would be willing to spend. From this, you will have to back out fees for whoever you get to draw it up, and things like furnishings and such that are necessary parts, but not things that are done by either the contractor or the designer. After you take out the fees and extras for filling the room up, you're left with the construction budget--what the cost will be that you pay the contractor. Then do yourself a favor and reduce that amount by another 10-15% to cover contingencies you haven't thought of. That budget number will give you some guidance as to just how much you might be able to afford.

A house is very personal, and so you have to have thought about what you want beforehand. This also makes it easier if you do decide to hire an architect, because he or she won't have to review and research all this stuff, and you won't have to pay them to do it. Think about what you like and dislike about the way your house works now, and why you think an addition would solve your problems, and write all those things down. Think to yourself of some neat ideas that you've seen and think might work for what you're trying to do. Think about what furnishings you intend to place in the rooms, and if they will require any special wiring or accomodations. All of these things have an impact on cost and on whether or not what you want to do actually CAN be done for the budget you have in mind.

Thankfully, a house is not so complex that it's beyond the reach of non-architecty types, so you might want to take your list of ideas and see if they might work in reality by making a scale drawing of your house on graph paper--if you want, you could even get one of those home-planning booklets from the bookstore. Lay out where you think you want the addition, how you might want to access it, where you want to put stuff. You'll probably have to work on it a bit at first, since people aren't used to working in scale, so that you don't wind up making doors or windows too big or too small. But, you'll eventually get to a point where you think you like it.

At this point, you have several options, depending on where you live and the legal requirements of your jurisdiction. Some localities require any such addition to be sealed by a registered architect, and some don't. Call your local city hall and ask. Be prepared to get lost in bureaucratic limbo at least once. If you don't necessarily require an architect, it is possible you might be able to find a competent home builder who can take your sketches and ideas and come up with a perfectly satisfactory addition that does everything you want. Or, maybe not. You might be able to find a home designer or intern-architect (one who is working toward registration but has not completed his licensing exam) who might offer you a better quality of product and level of service. Or, you might hire an architect who (hopefully) brings with him some level of professional competence and experience that could be lacking in the other alternatives. In any case, you will not get out of having to ask around.

Word-of-mouth is still one of the best ways to find out who's good at what they do, and who should be avoided at all costs. Talk to your friends and neighbors and see who they like. Get several names, and talk to all of them and see if they think they can help you with your project--some people who are good may be too busy at any given time to help, so they might offer suggestions of other people you could consider.

But as for whether an architect is essential (unless required by law) is really up to you--if you have a good idea of what you want and can express that clearly to the person who does the drawings, you are in effect your own architect, and the person you hire is your draftsman. And sometimes a clever and knowledgeable draftsman is much more useful to you than someone with big ideas of his own which might not really gibe with your own. Sort of like a caddy who knows the lay of the course, the draftsman might be able to offer you some advice he came to through observation and experience that even a pro might not have thought about.

Design can be a very subjective thing, and like anything else, there are some people who are hacks, yet have big reputations, and there are geniuses who scrape by in obscurity. Do your homework, and you'll have a better idea of which is which.

Now then, the second part:

And/or what do you do when you and your spouse disagree about what looks stupid?

Hey, what does she know about stupid-looking things!? She married me, right?

In actuality, our tastes are very similar, so we rarely disagree on design-related questions. If we do, I go into full-pedant mode and detail ad nauseum exactly why one thing is better than another until she relents to the superior heft and density of my arguments. And then I tell her I'm very sorry, because it's obvious I am wrong and was mistaken in my characterizations. This is done in an attempt to arrest any further diminishment of my prospects for nocturnal connubial activities. Hey, sorry, but some things are more important than being right about artsy-fartsy stuff.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at May 17, 2006 10:56 AM