Home Improvement - I Think I Need an Architect

In My Humble Opinion
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I think I need an architectural consult, but I’m not sure how to go about getting one.

A few years ago, we bought the nifty little home of my dreams. It’s a 1920s bungalow on a street with lots of other 1920s bungalows. Sadly, at some point, all the cute details (porch, trim, etc) were stripped off and now my dream house is a basic boring box.

I have a general sense of things I would like to do – rebuild a front porch, un-convert a sun room, expand the small guest bedroom, and reconfigure the loft. The house is very livable without these things, so nothing needs to be done toot sweet. Financially, it makes sense to me to tackle one of these projects every 3 - 5 years or so.

What I do NOT want to happen is to do one of these things, and then later realize I should have done it a different way to better facilitate another project down the road. We actually have neighbors who have built on to their house any-which-way and the result is startling (yet oddly mesmerizing). It also speaks to the fact that we live in an area with very relaxed zoning regulations when it comes to things like this.

What I think I want is an architect to come in and create a master plan that could “grow” the house over a period of years in a manner keeping with the original era design style. Do architects do this sort of thing? And how would I go about finding one? I don’t want to create the expectation that the architect is then going to get all this work. I just want to pay for the time and the plan.

Does anyone have any experience with working with an architect like this? Or if not an architect, what other kinds of people could do this? Is this something a contractor could develop?

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Del - we know a darling architect in the city. Partner to one of our own. I’m sure they would welcome a trip to the cottage.

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[QUOTE=delphica]
I think I need an architectural consult, but I’m not sure how to go about getting one.

A few years ago, we bought the nifty little home of my dreams. It’s a 1920s bungalow on a street with lots of other 1920s bungalows. Sadly, at some point, all the cute details (porch, trim, etc) were stripped off and now my dream house is a basic boring box.

I have a general sense of things I would like to do – rebuild a front porch, un-convert a sun room, expand the small guest bedroom, and reconfigure the loft. The house is very livable without these things, so nothing needs to be done toot sweet. Financially, it makes sense to me to tackle one of these projects every 3 - 5 years or so.

What I do NOT want to happen is to do one of these things, and then later realize I should have done it a different way to better facilitate another project down the road. We actually have neighbors who have built on to their house any-which-way and the result is startling (yet oddly mesmerizing). It also speaks to the fact that we live in an area with very relaxed zoning regulations when it comes to things like this.

What I think I want is an architect to come in and create a master plan that could “grow” the house over a period of years in a manner keeping with the original era design style. Do architects do this sort of thing? And how would I go about finding one? I don’t want to create the expectation that the architect is then going to get all this work. I just want to pay for the time and the plan.

Does anyone have any experience with working with an architect like this? Or if not an architect, what other kinds of people could do this? Is this something a contractor could develop?
[/QUOTE]

I am an Architect and I would recommend that you find one to do this. A General contractor ‘can do’ this perhaps, but they will want to do it all at once. They are in the contracting business afterall. An Architect is your representative with the General Contractor and represents your interests. I often find it interesting that people pay 3-6% to sell or buy their house, but don’t want to pay anything to design it. A good design can help your day to day living and also the resale value.

The easiest way is to contact your local AIA chapter (American Institute of Architects). They typically have Architects registered there seeking this exact sort of client. Often they have a resume with similar projects so that you can see what they have done in the past.

Here is a link to the AIA national web site:

and here is a link to their Architect finder:
http://www.aia.org/architect_finder/

A good Architect will recognize your situation and can help you globally plan your project, and phase it. Otherwise you are correct you end up like your neighbors house–a hodge podge of good intents.

Good luck and feel free to contact me if you have questions along the way.

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IANAA, but I would also add, an architect would plan the whole renovation out in advance, coordinated. And would also provide pictoral views of how the finished project would look. A contractor would do it in small projects, each different part you mentioned, not according to an overall plan, resulting in your neighbor’s hodge podge that you spoke of.

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Those links are great, thank you! It’s good to know that this is something normal that people do – I was worried that a “real” architect would this this was too small to be worth his/her while. At first glance on the AIA search results, I saw that one of the firms’ web site features both big public projects and putting a deck on some house.

Now I am really excited to get started with this.

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[QUOTE=delphica]
Now I am really excited to get started with this.
[/QUOTE]

Be sure to take lots of pictures as the projects progress, so you’ll have before, ongoing and after shots.

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[QUOTE=KlondikeGeoff]
Be sure to take lots of pictures as the projects progress, so you’ll have before, ongoing and after shots.
[/QUOTE]

Good lord, don’t encourage me :slight_smile: or you (and the rest of the board membership) will regret it when I can’t stop posting links to pictures (here’s one of the paint drying … here’s one where the paint is almost dry …)

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Yes, an Architect is an excellent choice. Some GCs engage in design/build projects-I don’t, but have to fair is saying that many in my profession do.

One aspect of your OP makes my ears prick up: that being doing this over time. You have an older home, and I embrace your desire to enhance its intrinsic beauty. Does your present municipality of residence have a Historic Area Rehabilitation Board, or some other variant? In many communities, these associations hold permitting authority regarding what one may or may not do with respect to remodeling on their property. That being said, are you aware of discussion regarding creation of such within your municipality? It would not be wise to begin a project spanning several years, only to find that a new entity refuses to permit the remaining phase of your master plan.

Feel free to email me privately for further dialog. Good luck.

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Thanks to the edit function which refused to work, I could not correct the first paragraph to read:

I don’t, but have to be fair in saying that many in my profession do.

Apologies for my previous post which failed to make sense.

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An architect can provide general design work but unless you have your house already torn apart you aren’t going to know what it needs until you’ve dug into it. Think in terms of “This Old House”. They’re great at telling owners what they need when the house has already been gutted.

My own personal experience is that if you open up a wall or ceiling with plumbing work you are going to have to fix whatever dumbass thing was installed wrong. My last project was a sewer line that let go because it was installed with a slight back-flow. Found that out when I added a chemical to clean it out. When I opened up the ceiling I found the joists all hacked up from the installation of drainpipes.

Same goes for wiring. You open up a wall be prepared to fix something.

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[QUOTE=danceswithcats]
Thanks to the edit function which refused to work, I could not correct the first paragraph to read:

I don’t, but have to be fair in saying that many in my profession do.

Apologies for my previous post which failed to make sense.
[/QUOTE]

I even got the gist of it the first time around! Thanks for your response, you have a good point about the boards/associations that influence building regulations. Right now (at least), this is not so much of an issue in our area, but it is definitely something to keep my eye on in the future in case the climate changes.

Magiver, the one thing I keep holding on to is that nothing I’m planning to do involves any plumbing (or is adjacent to any plumbing). For some reason, I feel like I could emotionally handle surprises about electric, or even the gas lines, but plumbing … that would just be too daunting.

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If you are rehabbing a bungalow, I assum you are already familiar with these forums, but I thought I’d post a link just in case. I believe they list “bungalow-friendly” architects somewhere on that site as well.

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[QUOTE=delphica]
Magiver, the one thing I keep holding on to is that nothing I’m planning to do involves any plumbing (or is adjacent to any plumbing). For some reason, I feel like I could emotionally handle surprises about electric, or even the gas lines, but plumbing … that would just be too daunting.
[/QUOTE]
I know what you mean. I was capable of doing the work needed (replacing all the drain lines) but It was a rubics cube to put together. My brother in-law came over and we knocked it out in an afternoon. Best birthday present I ever got. Found out you can cut cast iron easily with a sawsall and the right blade.

What bothered me was that I had a cast iron tub that was sitting on a series of joists that all tied into 1 joist. Guess which joist was all hacked up. We ended up laminating some wood to it for some peace of mind.

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[QUOTE=Magiver]

What bothered me was that I had a cast iron tub that was sitting on a series of joists that all tied into 1 joist. Guess which joist was all hacked up. We ended up laminating some wood to it for some peace of mind.
[/QUOTE]

But that is the beauty of old houses! I recall tearing out my bathroom in my old house and seeing the same thing—everything being held in place by original joists–but that someone had hacked away 3/4 of each joist to run a pipe from here to there. Or the pleasure of going up to my attic and seeing 2x4 joists at 30 inches on center, then realizing that it is holding up the original roof, and then 3 additional shingle roofs over it! Then finding all that dry rot…oh sorry, was just crying remembering it all. :slight_smile: All I can say is it is a good thing that older wood fiber has a much higher strength then new wood! I had a couple of petrified 2x4’s that I couldn’t hammer a nail through.

I would caution the OP to get ready to be shocked when they tear out the walls. You never know what you will find behind those walls! I did have to admit I did enjoy the 1958 Playboy magazing though!