So, I'm about to embark upon my first ever self-build project and would appreciate any and all pearls of wisdom that may help along the way.
The structure will be a single story, single family home. IRO 2500sq ft with a 3 car garage. Location is Southern California The lot is undeveloped, fairly remote and roughly 4 acres total.
So we're looking at installing a well (out of City water area), power and gas. Thinking solar and propane for power and gas.
We're not aiming for a custom designed mansion but neither do we want to do things on the cheap. Would be nice is the frontage had a little character and interior fixtures and fitting by no means have to be top of the range but should give an overall feeling of quality.
Any suggestions, ideas or a heads up on potential issues would be greatly appreciated!!
JLC-1
Jan 26, 15 5:28 pm
hire an architect, much easier
bowling_ball
Jan 26, 15 5:29 pm
I got this one, folks.
My advice would be to search for "architect southern california" on the googles. Spend a couple of hours looking at the work of a few of those architects. Call a couple up for a meeting, explain what you want to do, and hire one of them.
Further advice here is charged at $250/hr.
Miles Jaffe
Jan 26, 15 6:25 pm
As I am feeling exceptionally magnanimous today I will forgo my usual lambasting response to freeloading morons and solve ALL of your problems with a single link:
dear medical profession, I would like to perform self surgery to save a few bucks...any tips?
I'm thinking vasectomy to start, easy one, low risk. All I need is to know where to make the first incision. Thanks!
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 26, 15 8:29 pm
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
Picking a few names from Google and looking at examples of their work doesn't cut it in terms of convincing me that they're the best person for the job.
I was actually expecting responses more along the lines of:
Please make sure your architect has x type of insurance or is certified by y.
Or, for example, you could use a more senior architect for x part of the project but could look to a firm who can supply a more junior architect for y part of the project.
BulgarBlogger
Jan 26, 15 8:46 pm
I'm surprised no one responded to this:
We're not aiming for a custom designed mansion but neither do we want to do things on the cheap.
There are so many things wrong with this statement that I don't even know where to begin.
Firstly, why do you think doing something that is custom necessarily has to be expensive?
It sounds like you want something that is of pretentious quality- in other words fake... just like the rest of everything that is produced and regurgitated in traditional suburban homes. You probably are the type who's from New Jai Zey who calls tomato sauce gravy.
Hire an architect.. quit being a frickin guido
Miles Jaffe
Jan 26, 15 9:02 pm
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
You get what you pay for.
( o Y o )
Jan 26, 15 9:04 pm
Try Craigslist. Lots of good architects there.
cajunarch
Jan 26, 15 9:38 pm
Newbie
Its too bad that this forum often gets overrun by bitter folks sometimes - the critical pieces of info you need to take away IMHO is 1) get referrals from people you trust for a FEW architects 2) interview them and do NOT decide on fee costs alone (you wouldn't with your doctor, right) and 3) be honest with them and have a great time.
good luck
SneakyPete
Jan 26, 15 9:50 pm
Was being a professional one of the requirements of joining Archinect?
If so how did NewbieSelfBuilder get in here?
Non Sequitur
Jan 26, 15 10:15 pm
North is up.
That's my free tip of the day.
Janosh
Jan 26, 15 10:26 pm
What cajunarch said. Ultimately, the architects fees are tiny compared to construction cost - get a good architect and there might be savings many times greater than their fees.
shellarchitect
Jan 27, 15 7:55 am
man, way to run into a buzz saw.......
It sounds like you want some relatively complicated stuff when you say only solar power. This means you will need some giant and expensive batteries for when its dark or cloudy. You'll need to really know what you are doing or to hire good installer.
Designing a habitable home isn't particularly difficult, after all architects design only a very small portion of homes. The hard part is creating something that at best "just doesn't look right."
30 years ago now my dad (financial planner no architectural training) built the passive solar house I grew up in, i spent tons of time drawing ways it could have been better. I encourage you to talk to an architect because this is in all likelihood the most expensive and personal project your'll ever do, it doesn't make sense to me not to work with experts for a comparatively nominal fee.
Egad. No wonder people don't want to hire architects.
Zbig
Jan 27, 15 9:49 am
What Janosh said.
The architect's fee will be comparable to or smaller than your budget contingency. Hiring an architect will not only make it more likely that it will be YOUR house, but also that less of the contingency will have to be used.
It seems that you want green features for your house. Take that into account when you select your architect. Look for someone who has experience with the features that you want.
Solar alone will not be enough to power your house. You will need backup from the utility network if you are on the grid, or generators if you are way out of the grid.
shellarchitect
Jan 27, 15 9:50 am
you don't know what you don't know.
a house is too complicated and too important to do on the cheap. everyone thinks they can design but not many actually can
JLC-1
Jan 27, 15 11:42 am
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
What do you do? You give away your experience for free?
Just one hint, so you stop whining; find a house you like, find out who the architect is, ask him to show you more of his work, ask for a proposal.
your "scheme" will not work because you don't know how to do it, to hire a "younger" firm to do the work the "older" architect envisions has never worked.
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 12:24 pm
JLC-1 - Glad you asked. The answer is yes, I do give away free advice. And guess what, my pool of paying customers has yet to dry up as a result of offering some guidance to those who ask. In fact, I think it's a great way to promote a good image of my profession and assist in setting people up for success.
Thanks to those who provided constructive comments. I will definitely go do some research around solar. In addition to the house, I need to power electric fencing. Unfortunately there are quite a lot of power outages in the area and I want to avoid losing power at all costs. Not so much the power to the house but the electric fencing. A generator for backup/supplemental power may be the best option.
I've already purchased two sets of plans that show many of the features I'd like to include in this build. It has been the intention all along to hire an architect, would be foolish not to, however that doesn't mean I shouldn't do plenty of research prior to hiring someone.
"You probably are the type who's from New Jai Zey who calls tomato sauce gravy."
"It sounds like you want something that is of pretentious quality."
These comments couldn't be further from the truth. Just an FYI, I'm Scottish.
JLC-1:
:your "scheme" will not work because you don't know how to do it, to hire a "younger" firm to do the work the "older" architect envisions has never worked."
This is not a "scheme". It's a technique that is successfully used in software architecture (my profession) and I wondered whether it may also apply in this scenario. Your also assuming that I was thinking of hiring sr and jr architects from separate firms. Not the case, I was suggesting a couple of individuals at different levels in the same organization.
Non Sequitur
Jan 27, 15 12:28 pm
^
this is the reason I stay away from residential.
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 12:29 pm
Non Sequitur - care to expand on that
shellarchitect
Jan 27, 15 12:32 pm
^^ that is what will happen no matter what. you hire the firm and they allocate the work appropriately among their staff according to their skills, workload, and wage. Its not something you will really have any control over.
x-jla
Jan 27, 15 12:34 pm
did he just say electric fence? are you building in an area with a tiger problem?
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 12:36 pm
jla-x SHE did say electric fence. I have several Clydesdale horses. Very muscular and weigh upward to 2000 lbs. Regular fencing isn't sufficient to keep them contained. The only thing that's effective is electric.
x-jla
Jan 27, 15 12:39 pm
thats horrible dude. If I were a Horse I would kick you in the face.
Non Sequitur
Jan 27, 15 12:42 pm
... because of clients who think they can have a say in how the project/office is run. Everyone here get's that individual residential projects are personal, it's just that some/most clients cannot accept criticism because their future house is their precious baby.
Everyone and their neighbour thinks they know how to design a house. A very small percentage actually can. Make a few interview calls with local firms and give the best one the reigns on the project instead of seeking real advice on the cheap.
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 12:52 pm
"thats horrible dude. If I were a Horse I would kick you in the face"
Hahaha, don't know very much about horses, do you! It's not painful, it just startles them so they move away from the fence. What would be horrible is one of my horses escaping, causing and RTA and killing someone or coming into contact with some idiot who doesn't know the first thing about horses and kicking the idiot in the face ;)
Non Sequitur, as I stated previously, it has been my intention all along to hire an architect. And no, I don't want to tell them how to run the project however, I don't want to understand the available options so I can ask the correct questions. Unfortunately not everyone out there will act in the best interests of the client so it's always good to go in with some idea of the options.
Non Sequitur
Jan 27, 15 1:00 pm
If you're paying them, the architect will act in the interest of his client... within reason of local laws, available materials, budgets, pesky physics, etc.
JLC-1
Jan 27, 15 1:19 pm
Well then, you are what we call a "client" and you can have your saying, but let's review that contract first. Too many times, (and I think I can speak for many architects around the world) we get dismissed by owners only to find out 4 months later that they passed your ideas to somebody else, usually cheaper and less experienced. Don't know much about software architecture (the name just baffles me) and how you could rip off a colleague by taking some "idea" and make it work for a cheap client, but believe me, in Architecture it's very common. You can say they were acting in the best interest of the client. Can you?
proto
Jan 27, 15 1:39 pm
depending on your location, a wind turbine can be useful in lieu of solar (i'm imagining a rocky seaside bluff in scotland with an overcast sky and the cries of gulls in the dying light of a late northern summer evening)
NSB, i think you'll find some resistance from architects when you try to parse out when/how they do their jobs (ie, handing them purchased plans; picking who does what & when; etc), especially if you don't have the expertise and experience to make informed decisions about the process of design. If you tie their hands just because you want to save a few bucks; you'll end up with partial solutions.
if someone asked for your professional advice that circumvents the need to pay you, I suspect you might be a little reticent to provide that advice. But maybe your field is not tied to professional service & advice and more to product delivery...I don't know.
SneakyPete
Jan 27, 15 1:42 pm
The initial post you made would be a great opening for a consultation with an architect. One that could then leverage it for a paying gig.
None of that is going to happen here, so there's no incentive for anyone to help you except through a wealth of charity.
You should know that if all you do is whip an animal you're unlikely to get anywhere positive and I am of the opinion that you're all out of carrots.
greatescape
Jan 27, 15 3:03 pm
Just hire me, Newbie.
JLC-1
Jan 27, 15 3:04 pm
I need to learn how to put that copyright symbol in my name, so cool....
greatescape
Jan 27, 15 3:07 pm
@JLC-1®
It's easy.
Alt + 0174
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 3:08 pm
JLC-1, as a software architect I'd normally be more than happy to tell you how to put the symbol next to your name. However, since it's apparently not to norm to offer free advice, I can forward details of my PayPal account. That way you can make payment in advance!
timothy - thank you, that's exactly the sort of advice I was looking for. Very much appreciated.
( o Y o )
Jan 27, 15 3:31 pm
So, I'm about to embark upon my first ever self-build project and would appreciate any and all pearls of wisdom that may help along the way ... Any suggestions, ideas or a heads up on potential issues would be greatly appreciated!!
Where exactly did you mention hiring an architect? It says self-build, with the very direct implication that you're doing it all yourself. If you had asked about how to select an architect - like some who've come here have - you would have gotten a number of helpful responses. Backtracking in your following posts doesn't change anything. We know who you are. Wealthy enough to have a stable of horses but too cheap to hire an architect. Hey, maybe I can get some free advice online! LOL Good luck with your project. You're going to need it, because real architects can smell you coming miles away.
curtkram
Jan 27, 15 4:27 pm
newbie, you're the software guy who created windows alt codes? or did you create all unicode?
i was unimpressed at first, but now, wow. that's some geek cred. unless you're just pretending like giving away someone else's work is equivalent to giving away your own.
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 4:34 pm
Where exactly did you mention hiring an architect? It says self-build, with the very direct implication that you're doing it all yourself. If you had asked about how to select an architect - like some who've come here have - you would have gotten a number of helpful responses. Backtracking in your following posts doesn't change anything. We know who you are. Wealthy enough to have a stable of horses but too cheap to hire an architect. Hey, maybe I can get some free advice online! LOL Good luck with your project. You're going to need it, because real architects can smell you coming miles away.
You've made a large and wrongful assumption there. The assumption being that an individual from UK who is entirely new to the world of architecture would understand "self-build" to mean the same as you understand it.
You see, in UK self-build would refer to an individual who is choosing to build rather than buy a property. Whether or not the person intends on enlisting the services of particular professionals has no bearing on whether the project would be labeled a self-build.
I clarified the sort of information I was looking for in my second post so no, I'm not back tracking. I am also be no means cheap. I'm more that happy to pay whatever it may cost to hire the right people provided that I'm certain that they are indeed the right people.
With that said, timothy, I agree 100% that an architects ability to delivery a solution hinges on the clients ability to articulate their needs/wants. Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is a great idea and I'll look into it.
NewbieSelfBuilder
Jan 27, 15 4:49 pm
newbie, you're the software guy who created windows alt codes? or did you create all Unicode?
Absolutely not, in the software architecture business teaching a person to use someone else's product is welcomed. It then leads the other person to use the product, therefore purchasing licenses and making money for the original company/developer. You know, sort of the backbone of the IT industry.
And to those of you who have an issue with people using your work without you getting paid/credit, that's not what I do, hence I want to make sure I hire the correct people from the outset.
x-jla
Jan 27, 15 5:09 pm
Hahaha, don't know very much about horses, do you! It's not painful, it just startles them so they move away from the fence.
Someone like Temple Grandin could design a better solution. Seems a little inhumane to me. Afterall, they don't use electric in zoos do they...
curtkram
Jan 27, 15 5:21 pm
people have to pay a license for unicode? you are totally losing me. can you come up with a closer analogy? like, in software architecture, you'll show a person how to use IIS instead of apache because you want to encourage them to pay for the license, which as you stated is the backbone of the IT industry? would there be an equivalent in architecture? maybe Miles directing you towards a mobile home designer, or whoever said to look at the aia, or just googling architects local to your project site (that's how we do yellow pages in this day and age)? i could send you a link to floor plans if it helps. i'm a fan of the old sears kit homes. i've linked to their site a few times on here.
i've never designed a house with a well in southern california, so i probably can't help much. just trying to see where you're coming from. i hear they have a lack of water in california though, and there isn't much light during the night, which is a drawback to solar power. typically they still connect to the grid.
curtkram
Jan 27, 15 5:28 pm
also, this is a horse that got spooked and ran through a barbed wire fence
i really don't think an electric fence is considered inhumane by reasonable conservationists or animal rights advocates. unless maybe they're crazy.
no_form
Jan 27, 15 5:52 pm
Hi does anyone know any bridge builders? There's a troll who needs a new home.
cajunarch
Jan 27, 15 7:51 pm
thanks Timothy for adding a dose of common sense and courtesy at this wesite - didnt have enough time to write such an extensive post
SneakyPete
Jan 27, 15 7:54 pm
Thanks cajunarch for coming along to thank Timothy and passive aggressively chide the rest of us at this website - didnt have enough holier-than-thou shitheads up in this mother.
cajunarch
Jan 27, 15 8:15 pm
I got nothing for you Pete - I was thanking him and nothing else - YOU can read whatever you want into that post ! peace brother
awaiting_deletion
Jan 28, 15 7:54 am
Giving out free information is much different than free work. I don't see how NSB's post was so offensive vs free ADA advice guy.... I realize most of you would probably not be so harsh at a cocktail party with your real name tag, but as a first impression goes, I wouldn't hire a professional who flat out with held information - this might even suggest they have no idea and have chosen to mask their ignorance with a strange anti-business like behavior.
( o Y o )
Jan 28, 15 9:43 am
Sadler vying for an anonymous commission on an Internet forum. Good luck with that. Maybe you should place ads on craigslist.
JLC-1
Jan 28, 15 11:22 am
^ agreed, perhaps s/he shouldn't have come to this website and look in houzz or pinterest? I think those are better for showcasing the work and not engaging in bitter business, but hey, you don't know until you open the door.
Saint in the City
Jan 28, 15 12:21 pm
Several comments suggest that hiring an architect to design a house can be done for a nominal additional cost that is really very small relative to the overall house budget, and that an architect can help save the client money on the project. Incidentally, substitute the name "construction manager" for a similar pitch.
I've designed several houses and am working on one now. A draftsman may bang out a set of plans for a house for a dollar or two per SF, but that price includes little design. Offices often do larger projects at a 6 - 8 percent fee -- but if you apply that percentage applied to house design, it gets eaten up very quickly. Some simple math, 100 bucks an hour times one week is 4 G's -- if you are working through a design process with a house client, think about how far you actually get in a week. ...$4000 would be ten percent of a 400K house, or 5 percent of an 800K house. Consider what an architect actually needs for a fee to reasonably cover all of the phases of the design / documentation of a house project -- I would disagree that it's tiny or insignificant.
Hi All,
Thanks for reading my post.
So, I'm about to embark upon my first ever self-build project and would appreciate any and all pearls of wisdom that may help along the way.
The structure will be a single story, single family home. IRO 2500sq ft with a 3 car garage. Location is Southern California The lot is undeveloped, fairly remote and roughly 4 acres total.
So we're looking at installing a well (out of City water area), power and gas. Thinking solar and propane for power and gas.
We're not aiming for a custom designed mansion but neither do we want to do things on the cheap. Would be nice is the frontage had a little character and interior fixtures and fitting by no means have to be top of the range but should give an overall feeling of quality.
Any suggestions, ideas or a heads up on potential issues would be greatly appreciated!!
hire an architect, much easier
I got this one, folks.
My advice would be to search for "architect southern california" on the googles. Spend a couple of hours looking at the work of a few of those architects. Call a couple up for a meeting, explain what you want to do, and hire one of them.
Further advice here is charged at $250/hr.
As I am feeling exceptionally magnanimous today I will forgo my usual lambasting response to freeloading morons and solve ALL of your problems with a single link:
http://www.mhbay.com/
You're welcome.
dear medical profession, I would like to perform self surgery to save a few bucks...any tips?
I'm thinking vasectomy to start, easy one, low risk. All I need is to know where to make the first incision. Thanks!
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
Picking a few names from Google and looking at examples of their work doesn't cut it in terms of convincing me that they're the best person for the job.
I was actually expecting responses more along the lines of:
Please make sure your architect has x type of insurance or is certified by y.
Or, for example, you could use a more senior architect for x part of the project but could look to a firm who can supply a more junior architect for y part of the project.
I'm surprised no one responded to this:
We're not aiming for a custom designed mansion but neither do we want to do things on the cheap.
There are so many things wrong with this statement that I don't even know where to begin.
Firstly, why do you think doing something that is custom necessarily has to be expensive?
It sounds like you want something that is of pretentious quality- in other words fake... just like the rest of everything that is produced and regurgitated in traditional suburban homes. You probably are the type who's from New Jai Zey who calls tomato sauce gravy.
Hire an architect.. quit being a frickin guido
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
You get what you pay for.
Try Craigslist. Lots of good architects there.
Newbie
Its too bad that this forum often gets overrun by bitter folks sometimes - the critical pieces of info you need to take away IMHO is 1) get referrals from people you trust for a FEW architects 2) interview them and do NOT decide on fee costs alone (you wouldn't with your doctor, right) and 3) be honest with them and have a great time.
good luck
Was being a professional one of the requirements of joining Archinect?
If so how did NewbieSelfBuilder get in here?
North is up.
That's my free tip of the day.
What cajunarch said. Ultimately, the architects fees are tiny compared to construction cost - get a good architect and there might be savings many times greater than their fees.
man, way to run into a buzz saw.......
It sounds like you want some relatively complicated stuff when you say only solar power. This means you will need some giant and expensive batteries for when its dark or cloudy. You'll need to really know what you are doing or to hire good installer.
Designing a habitable home isn't particularly difficult, after all architects design only a very small portion of homes. The hard part is creating something that at best "just doesn't look right."
30 years ago now my dad (financial planner no architectural training) built the passive solar house I grew up in, i spent tons of time drawing ways it could have been better. I encourage you to talk to an architect because this is in all likelihood the most expensive and personal project your'll ever do, it doesn't make sense to me not to work with experts for a comparatively nominal fee.
Read this, please.
Donna, what the hell is that?
gather demographics ... design photo montages ...
Egad. No wonder people don't want to hire architects.
What Janosh said.
The architect's fee will be comparable to or smaller than your budget contingency. Hiring an architect will not only make it more likely that it will be YOUR house, but also that less of the contingency will have to be used.
It seems that you want green features for your house. Take that into account when you select your architect. Look for someone who has experience with the features that you want.
Solar alone will not be enough to power your house. You will need backup from the utility network if you are on the grid, or generators if you are way out of the grid.
you don't know what you don't know.
a house is too complicated and too important to do on the cheap. everyone thinks they can design but not many actually can
Oh my, disappointing responses form a bunch of 'professionals'.
What do you do? You give away your experience for free?
Just one hint, so you stop whining; find a house you like, find out who the architect is, ask him to show you more of his work, ask for a proposal.
your "scheme" will not work because you don't know how to do it, to hire a "younger" firm to do the work the "older" architect envisions has never worked.
JLC-1 - Glad you asked. The answer is yes, I do give away free advice. And guess what, my pool of paying customers has yet to dry up as a result of offering some guidance to those who ask. In fact, I think it's a great way to promote a good image of my profession and assist in setting people up for success.
Thanks to those who provided constructive comments. I will definitely go do some research around solar. In addition to the house, I need to power electric fencing. Unfortunately there are quite a lot of power outages in the area and I want to avoid losing power at all costs. Not so much the power to the house but the electric fencing. A generator for backup/supplemental power may be the best option.
I've already purchased two sets of plans that show many of the features I'd like to include in this build. It has been the intention all along to hire an architect, would be foolish not to, however that doesn't mean I shouldn't do plenty of research prior to hiring someone.
"You probably are the type who's from New Jai Zey who calls tomato sauce gravy."
"It sounds like you want something that is of pretentious quality."
These comments couldn't be further from the truth. Just an FYI, I'm Scottish.
JLC-1:
:your "scheme" will not work because you don't know how to do it, to hire a "younger" firm to do the work the "older" architect envisions has never worked."
This is not a "scheme". It's a technique that is successfully used in software architecture (my profession) and I wondered whether it may also apply in this scenario. Your also assuming that I was thinking of hiring sr and jr architects from separate firms. Not the case, I was suggesting a couple of individuals at different levels in the same organization.
^
this is the reason I stay away from residential.
Non Sequitur - care to expand on that
^^ that is what will happen no matter what. you hire the firm and they allocate the work appropriately among their staff according to their skills, workload, and wage. Its not something you will really have any control over.
did he just say electric fence? are you building in an area with a tiger problem?
jla-x SHE did say electric fence. I have several Clydesdale horses. Very muscular and weigh upward to 2000 lbs. Regular fencing isn't sufficient to keep them contained. The only thing that's effective is electric.
thats horrible dude. If I were a Horse I would kick you in the face.
... because of clients who think they can have a say in how the project/office is run. Everyone here get's that individual residential projects are personal, it's just that some/most clients cannot accept criticism because their future house is their precious baby.
Everyone and their neighbour thinks they know how to design a house. A very small percentage actually can. Make a few interview calls with local firms and give the best one the reigns on the project instead of seeking real advice on the cheap.
"thats horrible dude. If I were a Horse I would kick you in the face"
Hahaha, don't know very much about horses, do you! It's not painful, it just startles them so they move away from the fence. What would be horrible is one of my horses escaping, causing and RTA and killing someone or coming into contact with some idiot who doesn't know the first thing about horses and kicking the idiot in the face ;)
Non Sequitur, as I stated previously, it has been my intention all along to hire an architect. And no, I don't want to tell them how to run the project however, I don't want to understand the available options so I can ask the correct questions. Unfortunately not everyone out there will act in the best interests of the client so it's always good to go in with some idea of the options.
If you're paying them, the architect will act in the interest of his client... within reason of local laws, available materials, budgets, pesky physics, etc.
Well then, you are what we call a "client" and you can have your saying, but let's review that contract first. Too many times, (and I think I can speak for many architects around the world) we get dismissed by owners only to find out 4 months later that they passed your ideas to somebody else, usually cheaper and less experienced. Don't know much about software architecture (the name just baffles me) and how you could rip off a colleague by taking some "idea" and make it work for a cheap client, but believe me, in Architecture it's very common. You can say they were acting in the best interest of the client. Can you?
depending on your location, a wind turbine can be useful in lieu of solar (i'm imagining a rocky seaside bluff in scotland with an overcast sky and the cries of gulls in the dying light of a late northern summer evening)
NSB, i think you'll find some resistance from architects when you try to parse out when/how they do their jobs (ie, handing them purchased plans; picking who does what & when; etc), especially if you don't have the expertise and experience to make informed decisions about the process of design. If you tie their hands just because you want to save a few bucks; you'll end up with partial solutions.
if someone asked for your professional advice that circumvents the need to pay you, I suspect you might be a little reticent to provide that advice. But maybe your field is not tied to professional service & advice and more to product delivery...I don't know.
The initial post you made would be a great opening for a consultation with an architect. One that could then leverage it for a paying gig.
None of that is going to happen here, so there's no incentive for anyone to help you except through a wealth of charity.
You should know that if all you do is whip an animal you're unlikely to get anywhere positive and I am of the opinion that you're all out of carrots.
Just hire me, Newbie.
I need to learn how to put that copyright symbol in my name, so cool....
@JLC-1®
It's easy.
Alt + 0174
JLC-1, as a software architect I'd normally be more than happy to tell you how to put the symbol next to your name. However, since it's apparently not to norm to offer free advice, I can forward details of my PayPal account. That way you can make payment in advance!
timothy - thank you, that's exactly the sort of advice I was looking for. Very much appreciated.
So, I'm about to embark upon my first ever self-build project and would appreciate any and all pearls of wisdom that may help along the way ... Any suggestions, ideas or a heads up on potential issues would be greatly appreciated!!
Where exactly did you mention hiring an architect? It says self-build, with the very direct implication that you're doing it all yourself. If you had asked about how to select an architect - like some who've come here have - you would have gotten a number of helpful responses. Backtracking in your following posts doesn't change anything. We know who you are. Wealthy enough to have a stable of horses but too cheap to hire an architect. Hey, maybe I can get some free advice online! LOL Good luck with your project. You're going to need it, because real architects can smell you coming miles away.
newbie, you're the software guy who created windows alt codes? or did you create all unicode?
i was unimpressed at first, but now, wow. that's some geek cred. unless you're just pretending like giving away someone else's work is equivalent to giving away your own.
Where exactly did you mention hiring an architect? It says self-build, with the very direct implication that you're doing it all yourself. If you had asked about how to select an architect - like some who've come here have - you would have gotten a number of helpful responses. Backtracking in your following posts doesn't change anything. We know who you are. Wealthy enough to have a stable of horses but too cheap to hire an architect. Hey, maybe I can get some free advice online! LOL Good luck with your project. You're going to need it, because real architects can smell you coming miles away.
You've made a large and wrongful assumption there. The assumption being that an individual from UK who is entirely new to the world of architecture would understand "self-build" to mean the same as you understand it.
You see, in UK self-build would refer to an individual who is choosing to build rather than buy a property. Whether or not the person intends on enlisting the services of particular professionals has no bearing on whether the project would be labeled a self-build.
I clarified the sort of information I was looking for in my second post so no, I'm not back tracking. I am also be no means cheap. I'm more that happy to pay whatever it may cost to hire the right people provided that I'm certain that they are indeed the right people.
With that said, timothy, I agree 100% that an architects ability to delivery a solution hinges on the clients ability to articulate their needs/wants. Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is a great idea and I'll look into it.
newbie, you're the software guy who created windows alt codes? or did you create all Unicode?
Absolutely not, in the software architecture business teaching a person to use someone else's product is welcomed. It then leads the other person to use the product, therefore purchasing licenses and making money for the original company/developer. You know, sort of the backbone of the IT industry.
And to those of you who have an issue with people using your work without you getting paid/credit, that's not what I do, hence I want to make sure I hire the correct people from the outset.
Hahaha, don't know very much about horses, do you! It's not painful, it just startles them so they move away from the fence.
Someone like Temple Grandin could design a better solution. Seems a little inhumane to me. Afterall, they don't use electric in zoos do they...
people have to pay a license for unicode? you are totally losing me. can you come up with a closer analogy? like, in software architecture, you'll show a person how to use IIS instead of apache because you want to encourage them to pay for the license, which as you stated is the backbone of the IT industry? would there be an equivalent in architecture? maybe Miles directing you towards a mobile home designer, or whoever said to look at the aia, or just googling architects local to your project site (that's how we do yellow pages in this day and age)? i could send you a link to floor plans if it helps. i'm a fan of the old sears kit homes. i've linked to their site a few times on here.
i've never designed a house with a well in southern california, so i probably can't help much. just trying to see where you're coming from. i hear they have a lack of water in california though, and there isn't much light during the night, which is a drawback to solar power. typically they still connect to the grid.
also, this is a horse that got spooked and ran through a barbed wire fence
i really don't think an electric fence is considered inhumane by reasonable conservationists or animal rights advocates. unless maybe they're crazy.
Hi does anyone know any bridge builders? There's a troll who needs a new home.
thanks Timothy for adding a dose of common sense and courtesy at this wesite - didnt have enough time to write such an extensive post
Thanks cajunarch for coming along to thank Timothy and passive aggressively chide the rest of us at this website - didnt have enough holier-than-thou shitheads up in this mother.
I got nothing for you Pete - I was thanking him and nothing else - YOU can read whatever you want into that post ! peace brother
Giving out free information is much different than free work. I don't see how NSB's post was so offensive vs free ADA advice guy.... I realize most of you would probably not be so harsh at a cocktail party with your real name tag, but as a first impression goes, I wouldn't hire a professional who flat out with held information - this might even suggest they have no idea and have chosen to mask their ignorance with a strange anti-business like behavior.
Sadler vying for an anonymous commission on an Internet forum. Good luck with that. Maybe you should place ads on craigslist.
^ agreed, perhaps s/he shouldn't have come to this website and look in houzz or pinterest? I think those are better for showcasing the work and not engaging in bitter business, but hey, you don't know until you open the door.
Several comments suggest that hiring an architect to design a house can be done for a nominal additional cost that is really very small relative to the overall house budget, and that an architect can help save the client money on the project. Incidentally, substitute the name "construction manager" for a similar pitch.
I've designed several houses and am working on one now. A draftsman may bang out a set of plans for a house for a dollar or two per SF, but that price includes little design. Offices often do larger projects at a 6 - 8 percent fee -- but if you apply that percentage applied to house design, it gets eaten up very quickly. Some simple math, 100 bucks an hour times one week is 4 G's -- if you are working through a design process with a house client, think about how far you actually get in a week. ...$4000 would be ten percent of a 400K house, or 5 percent of an 800K house. Consider what an architect actually needs for a fee to reasonably cover all of the phases of the design / documentation of a house project -- I would disagree that it's tiny or insignificant.