DIYbanter - View Single Post - Problem finding architect for extension project

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On 31/05/2019 11:22, wrote:
On Thursday, 30 May 2019 16:54:57 UTC+1, wrote:
On 30/05/2019 16:38, wrote:
Hello

We are planning to build a two storey extension to our newly purchased small detached 1956 built house near the centre of Basingstoke.
The house will require some re-modelling inside. Several of the interior walls are solid, but not necessarily load bearing. How the conventionally appearing hipped roof is supported may be an issue in regard to moving interior walls to enlarge a bedroom.

In spite of my years I have never done anything like this before, only isolated d-i-y- projects.

However this question isnt about specifics.

It is easy enough to find architects advertising, and two have been personally recommended, but the problem is the massive step in paying between Â£600 to Â£1700 for the first set of drawings to planning permission before we have the vaguest idea what an architect may come up with, apart from them saying simply that the project is €œdo-able€.

Some architects offer a free site visit, the majority we have spoke to do not. But a site visit doesnt tell us any more about what an architect has in mind.

What happens if an architect says a project is do-able but after being paid a stage 1 fee goes on to produce totally unsuitable plans, for example saying that an extra bedroom can only be provided by extending to the side boundary when the householder wants to keep the side boundary open?

One way round it would be to insist on minimum specific points as part of the contract, eg upstairs bedroom must be enlarged by moving wall, full size bathroom provided.

Another way would be to ask for more detailed sketches at an intermediate price.

Should I use the above options in my approach, or is that not feasible?

With thanks

Not an answer, but a cautionary tale. MANY years ago a friend
recommended an architect (from a fairly large practice) for an
extension. When the chap came round he seemed competent and
approachable. We discussed the overall ideas and agreed that he would
draft some ideas - which turned-out to be out of keeping with the area
and had a rather odd and impractical internal layout. I explained that
what he'd produced wasn't what we wanted and wouldn't work; he
disagreed. A few weeks later a bill for about Â£1500 arrived. I explained
(again) how his scheme was impractical and inappropriate and sent him a
cheque for his out-of-pocket expenses (Â£100, I think). He was not
pleased but it eventually faded away.

I drew my own sketches, found an architectural draughtsman to draw them
properly and a structural engineer to do the sums for the steels.
Planning and building regs approval were straightforward. Unfortunately
I chose a builder based on another recommendation and it then became a
project from hell, but that's another story. The end result was good.

The moral: work-out and sketch exactly what you want before you start,
speak to builders (if they bother to turn-up), speak to a structural
engineer if you think you'll need some steels, revise your plan and then
get an architectural draughtsman to do the formal drawings.

In the end, if the householder doesn't know what they want, what design they get from an architect is a crapshoot. You've got far more time to think about it than they have, and more idea what you do & don't want. You figure it out, diy has all the advantages.

NT

Agreed. As I said, my experience was a LONG time ago.