Design-Build
is the most efficient option for your next project
You may have noticed lately
that most premium remodeling contractors are pushing something called
Design-Build remodeling services. What exactly does this mean to
you as the consumer? Let's look at the traditional methods
involved when you decide to tackle a home improvement project.
Typically, homeowners would seek out an architect
or designer and work with them to create their kitchen/bath/room
addition design that suits their needs. While architects and
designers are typically very good at what they do, they are not always
very good at estimating the costs involved for a project. Sadly,
what ends up happening more often than not is that you end up with a
fancy design that you can't afford to build. So you go back to
the architect and spend even more money to scale back and sacrifice
your dream project.
Why pay 10 to 20 percent of your project budget to
an architect for this distorted process? The modern design/build
method is handled in a more collaborative fashion. Your builder
now works interactively with the designer or architect to bring your
dreams to reality. When you work with a design-build contractor
your budget is established in the conceptual design phase and then the
budget is used as a guideline in establishing the direction of the
final design. The goal is to prevent you from ending up with a
$60,000 bathroom design when your intended budget was only $25,000.
This system works best if you select your contractor early in the
process and develop an honest relationship with them. Yes, that
means you will have to tell them what your budget is (at least a
range). You can always reduce that number by 15-20 percent before
you provide it to your contractor in order to keep yourself in a
comfort zone and allow for upgrades later.
Once your design-build contractor understands the
budget then several conceptual designs are created. Through the
use of modern 3d perspective design methods we are now able to sit down
with you at your dining room table and show the designs in real-time
3d. You select one of several options from the initial concepts
and then move towards the final design stages. Depending in how
many details you want to see we can show you every light switch, tile
layouts and spatial functionality (by showing 3d people using the
space). For most smaller projects the 3d designs we create are
suitable for construction, thus saving you monies over traditional
drawing methods. For larger projects we team up with certified
kitchen and bath designers and for additions we only used registerd
architects or certified building designers (certified by American
Institute of Building Design).
The Real Advantage: The
real advantage to design-build comes into play during the construction
phase. I remember when I personally started in carpentry and
frequently spent the first few days of a project trying to figure out
what someone else had drawn. There are suddenly a million
questions that need to be answered by the designer and it frequently
creates friction between the carpenter and the designer. Well,
with our method of design-build we are so intimately connected to the
design process that we barely need the plans to construct the project.
In fact, many of our carpenters create the design as well because
no one, and I mean no one, has more experience for kitchen and bath
design as an experienced carpenter. By the time we get there to
start construction we already have every detail of the design burned
into our heads. Also, there isn't any blame game because we
created the design so if we are short 1" then we figure it out instead
of complaining to your architect.
So we certainly hope you are sold on the concept of
design-build. And whoever you pick, whether they are a
design-build contractor or a standalone architect/designer then make
sure they are presenting ideas to you in 3d. If they aren't doing
that I would ask them if they use power tools yet.
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