Dear Homeowner, Please Take My Advice. Sincerely, An Architect: A Guide To Establish Budgets, Priorities, and Guidelines Early On To Save Time, Money, and Maybe Even Your Marriage

by Stephanie Wascha (Editor)

Overview

About to remodel your home? Overwhelmed with the number of design options for your kitchen, bathroom, addition, etc., or not even aware of what your options are? Tired of disagreeing with your spouse/partner over what to include in your project? Want to avoid paying an architect and/or contractor loads of money, only to determine that you can’t afford to remodel?

Let licensed architect Stephanie Wascha teach you how to guesstimate your budget, determine your priorities, and save money by properly preparing for your construction project before you call an architect. You will have many decisions ahead, regardless of whether you are just selecting finishes, fixtures, and décor, adding a deck/patio, or renovating your entire home. Why not make that process easier on everyone?! Learn to stay on schedule, manage your budget, and avoid arguing about things over which you have no control. Additionally, find out what soft costs you should be anticipating... like how much it costs to hire an architect and what that fee affords you. Interested in the secret to selecting the right contractor? Yep, it is all included.

Unlike any other guide for construction or remodeling, Stephanie shares not only project challenges but emotional challenges commonly associated with remodeling as well. You will be privy to her 18 years of observations, and learn how others have managed typical stresses, mistakes, and challenges of this complex process both successfully and unsuccessfully. Avoid the avoidable, get inspired, and confidently navigate your way through your remodel to your new amazing home haven.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998117614
Publisher:	Wascha Studios
Publication date:	01/18/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	140
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Have you ever created something (a product, piece of art, or great meal for example) and felt an enormous sense of satisfaction watching the end-user enjoying or benefiting from it in some way? That satisfaction is what drove Stephanie Wascha to become an architect, write her blog, and ultimately become the author of Dear Homeowner, Please Take My Advice, Sincerely, An Architect. Stephanie is a licensed architect with over 18 years of residential experience and runs her own architectural design firm, Wascha Studios, in Seattle, Washington. The positive reader response and homeowners' overwhelming need for helpful information when commencing with any kind of home modification, lead her to accompany her architectural business with an online consulting business to help people everywhere properly prepare for their next big project.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi Acknowledgments xiii chapter 1 : My Promise to You: Tough Love and Homework 1 chapter 2 : Begin By Collecting Inspiration For Your Project 9 ◆ How Do You Know What to Use as Your Inspiration? 10 ◆ How an Architect Might Utilize the Information You Give Her 13 ◆ Why Explaining the Inspirations Behind Your Priorities Can Save You Money 15 ◆ Questions to Help You Determine Your Inspirations 16 chapter 3 : Clean Out Your Crap before You Bother Modifying Your Home 19 chapter 4 : Remodel or Move? 23 ◆ Put Moving and Remodeling on A Level Playing Field 23 ◆ How Long You Plan on Staying Makes a Huge Difference 25 chapter 5 : Plan Ahead for Partner Predicaments 29 ◆◆ It Is Okay to Admit That You Don’t Understand 30 ◆◆ Agree to Disagree 30 ◆◆ Who Will Be Making the Decisions? 31 ◆◆ How Will Decisions Be Made Efficiently? 32 ◆◆ What If One of You Has Less Time to Spend on the Project Than the Other? 34 ◆◆ Develop Ways to Get Past the Gridlock 37 ◆◆ Be Patient and Learn How to Listen 38 chapter 6 : How to Determine Your Priorities 39 ◆◆ Create Your Lists 40 ◆◆ No Judging! 42 ◆◆ Don’t Forget to Think Long Term About the Long Term 42 ◆◆ Don’t Add Things to Your Project for The Wrong Reason 44 ◆◆ When You Begin Crunching Numbers, Remember This . . . 45 ◆◆ Create Your Inspiration Ideaspace 48 ◆◆ Always Continue to Update Your Ideaspace 51 ◆◆ Let’s Review the Priorities You Will Share with Your Architect 53 chapter 7 : Yes, You Can Add a Second Story 57 chapter 8 : Your Homework: Determine How to Properly Calculate the Cost of Your Project 61 ◆◆ A Quick Side Note About Kitchen Remodels 61 ◆◆ And Now, On with Our Homework 62 ◆◆ Only You Can Determine Your Expectations 64 ◆◆ How to Determine Your Total Project Budget 65 chapter 9 : How to Guesstimate the Area of Your Project 73 ◆◆ Two Examples: Bumping Out vs. Going Up 74 chapter 10 : Now That You Have Crunched Some Numbers . . .What’s Next? 91 ◆◆ Determine Where the Money Is Coming From 92 ◆◆ Should You Phase Your Construction Project? 93 ◆◆ Phasing Consists of Three Main Steps 94 ◆◆ A Common Phasing Mistake You Want to Avoid 95 ◆◆ Plan Ahead to Minimize Your Stress 97 ◆◆ Share Both Your Guesstimates and Your Assumptions With Your Architect (Once You Have One) 97 chapter 11 : Selecting Your Team: Architect, Contractor, or Engineer . . . Who Do You Call First? 99 ◆◆ The Short Answer Is Call the Architect First 99 ◆◆ How to Select Your Architect 101 ◆◆ How Much Does an Architect Cost? 105 ◆◆ What Exactly Do These Fees Get You? 106 ◆◆ What Types of Architectural Estimates Are There? 110 ◆◆ The Reason Why Architectural Drawings Are Important 113 ◆◆ Your Relationship with Your Architect Should Be Based on Trust 115 ◆◆ How to Select Your Contractor 116 ◆◆ How to Be a Good Client 118 ◆◆ If You Are Contemplating a Design-Build Company, Consider This 121 ◆◆ Choose Your Team Wisely 122 A Letter to You from Me 123 About the Author 125