OUR PROCESS
Initial Meeting
Fee & Schedule
After an initial phone call, we meet you at the home if it is a remodeling project. For a new home, we would request a meeting in our office to discuss style and preferences.
We will be able to give preliminary fee ranges for our services. We will also give a time schedule for the first preliminary design to be complete. We will also schedule a time for the home to be measured, if needed for a remodeling project.
2
Your Homework
Ingredients List of all rooms that will be included in the project. Take your time and note all things about that room that need to be considered.
Make boards if possible of photos from magazines, books, floor plans, etc. that will help us to understand your thoughts and desires. It also helps you to narrow down your choices, rather than compiling a folder full of ideas that cannot all be visually integrated.
Obtain a survey (not a mortgage inspection) to be able to determine all setbacks, etc. for your lot.
3
4
Preliminary Design
During this phase, we attain the information from you that enables us to begin. Tim Winters will then create a first scheme that attempts to answer all the needs proposed. Many times, all items cannot be resolved the first time. Some desires may conflict. Sometimes, two or more passes may be needed to finish the preliminary design phase.
5
Construction Drawings
After the preliminary design is approved by the owners, we will prepare construction details of architectural and structural portions of the work. Tim Winters will supervise project managers in the office that prepare those plans.
6
Bidding
Construction Administration
When your project goes out to bid, we will answer any questions that the contractor may ask. We also assist the owner in reviewing bids from contractors.
Then, during construction, we will visit the site periodically to observe the progress of the work.
How We Bill
We bill on an hourly rate. We give an estimate of each phase of work before we begin that phase. We can give a guaranteed fee, as a percentage of construction cost. The second choice will nearly always be a higher cost to you.
On remodeling projects, we will bill for the first meeting. It will require meeting at your home to go over the design changes you prefer.
On new homes, we are happy to have a free one hour meeting in our office to discuss the basic approach we would take with your home.
Who's Who
Tim Winters will create the initial design and work with you on design aspects. After the preliminary design is approved, your project manager in the office, Chris Winters or Chip North, will oversee the construction drawings, under the supervision of Tim. Visits to the site will be performed by Tim Winters or your project manager .
Outside of our Office
A structural engineer for the construction drawing phase. He would design all the structural elements. The average house built today has much guess work as to structural elements. We will not guess. The elements will be calculated by the engineer for our drawings. His services will be involved also in the construction phase, observing his portion of the work.
A surveyor many times is needed to create a survey if the owner does not have a current drawing. Often, the owner has a mortgage inspection when they bought the home. Currently, those drawings will say that they cannot be used for construction purposes. An accurate boundary survey is necessary, as well as topography many times.
A soils engineer is needed most often to determine the soil bearing capacity and to determine if rock exists (during the construction drawing phase).