Being an Architect for about a quarter of a century now, specializing in home construction, affords us the insight to not only perfect the vision of our Client’s remodel, but as General Contractors as well, we help to ensure a cost effective project, by the way we design our home remodel plans.
The home addition and/or remodel Scope Of Work that is developed between us and our Client, is processed through our Design-Build system with scrutiny and alternatives, relative to the many different paths that can be taken, with regard to budget conscious design and ultimately construction decisions.
When designing a second story addition onto a home, integrating the functional characteristics and aesthetic qualities, must be sensitively incorporated into the overall budget, as well.
At this point, our remodel Architect now interfaces with our remodel General Contractor, to analyze, refine and implement, the most cost effective design alternatives, into the architectural plans.
We have decades of multi-faced cost data in our files, inclusive of the most current trends, that afford us and our Client’s, with selective specifying for optimization of construction expenditures.
Thus our unique capacity as both a home architect, and General Contractor, provide our Client’s with significant savings, even before construction has begun.
I recall recently seeing a similar size second story addition being framed just one block from our project, whereby steel beams; steel columns; special Inspector requirements; certified Welders; etc. were needed for construction of this second floor addition.
At the same time, we were constructing our project with all wood and lumber members, at a swifter pace and in my estimation about $18,000 less than the project built with steel. Both projects obviously meet code, but one is much more cost effective and one is much more timely to construct; the decision and fate of the Homeowner’s budget, lies in the hands of the licensed Architect, who is also the licensed General Contractor, with the combined authority to design and construct a home project, in a cost efficient manner.