"You draw it I can build it!

I think about high school debate when I hear people bloating about howmany drawings it takes to create great projects. It is a bunch of crap, find yourself a worthwhile general contractor and work with him....
Just like HH Richardson did back in the 1800's. They will come to you
and tell you when something is screwed up.

It only takes ten good quotes to destroy a file cabinet full of index cards with worthless qoutes.

*that you must have a family room in addition to the living room
*that you have to have a bedroom for the live-in maid
*that the more moulding you pile around the doors and windows, the more 'tuscan' your home gets

Speaking of drawings, QUANTITY DOES NOT MAKE IT BETTER, just like back in school went someone took the whole wall to present their project, it did not meant that the project was any good. Drawings are a communicating tool, to describe the intended design, I read about and architect that design all of his projects in letter size sheets, freehand!
I had a client that wanted a padded silk toilet room (for sound absorption).

Well the toilet has to be closed off because the damn bathroom is 300 sq. ft. of course. Excuse me, I mean the "Master Suite". Oh, and don't worry about the lighting. The electrician will figure it out.

I was JUST thinking this same thought while model-building. Part of the reason that our drawing sets are about 90 pages per house is that we've learned by being burned that every LITTLE thing has to be spelled out with the contractors our clients are willing to pay for. We are heading up into the next level of contractor on our newest project and I can already tell that he won't require as much documentation.

I mean, you hear "I only budgeted for the electricians to come in and put their outlets wherever a stud fell, I didn't budget for them to actual put them where you spec'd them, in this one drawing here on this one page in the set the outlets aren't shown, I'm gonna hafta change order this one, man... I can't change those things now" one too many times and you start drawing EVEN STUD FRAMING into blown up bathroom plans so you don't have to deal with a contractor who tells you he "didn't know" he'd have to frame a whole for the spec'd wall-hung toilet and that to reframe it will cost $400 etc etc etc.... RIDICULOUS. Even when I put it in the drawings they don't do it anyway, so I don't really know why I bother, I guess. Argh.

* top quality imported european kitchen cabinets are well made.

that you can create a 'little bit of tuscany' on a flattened sand dune on the west australian coast an hrs drive from what could optimistically be called civilisation.

should i mention that the front lawn requires a damp proof membrane to protect the grass from salinity due to the rising water table as a result of cutting all the trees down to build houses?

nah, she'll be right mate.

shipping containers are a cheap way to build!

* it's okay to buy home plans from a catalogue

You mean a caddalogue? Har har... shoot me please.

I think they snached one of my projects...I know I must have drawn that elevation a hundred times.

Wide Oak Flooring doesn't cup!

Client: "We had an Architect, but we designed it ourselves."

after studying the 500 series in the caddalogue, i am pretty sure i am more like 200 series kind of a person. i use to like 400's can you believe that?

*that nobody gets ideas from the 'caddalogue' is indeed a myth because there are so much of them and everybody knows those things are gorgious .. blah blah. 12877609 built.

Hot topic!!!

Sears

how passe. they'd need about 12 stories for a missile silo.

model # 147
my friends own one in south central los angeles (probably the generation after the one pictured. really nice house with beautiful detailing. a real craftsman house. in that neighborhood whole blocks built by sears package.

it should be cheaper to move than remodel, but we've got prop13

and you can refill the steam reservoir conveniently. the steam might smell a little unfresh, but it's convenient

and when the client drops the iron, it burns some sensitive skin on it's way donw into the drink whereupon the client is electrocuted.

the customer is always right.

well, you don't have put such a big hole into the countertop

yet, some of hd's expo stores have closed.

and cut about half of the material out of the framing when installing the wiring.

i am impressed by how many of you hate and belittle your clients.

it's often said that designers hope most for good clients/customers.

the catch is that an well-informed client might not need much help from a designer.

About the toilet being closed off thing... What's so wrong with that? My bathroom's like that, and I like it. When I want to take a dump, I don't need my sister next to me brushing her teeth. Excuse me, but my shit smells. *closes door* Ooh a door, quite a handy piece of wood.

^__^ Sounds like an old Sears Catalog might come in handy for you.

I wish the catolog homes were still like Sears. What have we done?

It's easy for an architect to design their own house!

it shouldn't take more than 4 months to built.. right?
(wrong, small job usually becomes a big job)