We had our plans done by our architect, the structural engineering performed by an engineer, the soils report finished by the geotech.  By now we had amassed $10K in just soft costs and we hadn’t broken any ground (other than the soil sample core drilling on our lot).  Now came the hardest part - the waiting game.  It’s a myth that if you are a homeowner of a single family home that you pretty much have the flexibility to do anything you want with your home.  If you value having a permit and rather not run the risk of getting a stop order (affectionately known as a “red tag” and not one of the ones found at appliance store sales) slapped onto your front door to cease and desist activity or face heft fines - you must go through your city or county hall to receive permits.

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After spending oodles of time with our architect working on a design, we had to start thinking about the structural requirements to support the floor plans were envisioning.  The largest piece of the puzzle when it came to structural engineering was the foundation, most especially since we lived on a cut and fill lot in the hills.  In our city, there are two zones of classification - A and B.  If you were in the A zone you were pretty much in the flat lands of our city.  If you were in the B zone you were on a hillside subject to all the great caveats for hillside living including: landslide, seismic concerns, drainage and or flooding.

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One very key trait that your architect should have is a current handle on constructions costs.  Your architect should be experienced working with a wide gambit of general contractors ranging from all points of the cost spectrum.  Every home remodel requiring the help of an architect to design inevitably goes through a cost reduciton phase.  It’s very easy to throw in everything including the kitchen sink (literally) and come up with a great design for a home remodel that you can’t afford.

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My wife and I were quite pleased working with our architect.  He was a local architect which is very desirable because he was known by the planning and building officials at city hall.  This is extremely important.  If you do end up working with an architect you want to find someone who’s familiar with your city’s specific building codes and understands what it will take to get your plans through the building department.  The more plans they have submitted on behalf of their clients to get approved - the better.  Building officials will still scrutinize every last detail of the plans, but they’ll be used to working with your architect’s style, thinking and other nuances.

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