10 Tips to Do More in a Day

I often get asked how I manage to get so many things done in a day. After being asked so many times, I have thought about it, and here's what I've come up with:

1. 100% INTEREST IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING: When you are interested in what you're doing, you work really hard at it. You don't take breaks. You are more productive. You also tend to be better at doing the things you like to do. When I do things I'm not interested in, they drag on because I delay, procrastinate, and half-ass it. This makes it take longer. Everyone has things they don't want to do - that's life. Minimize those things. Outsource them. Stop doing them when possible - what's the risk/reward? Make sure the things you do most of the time are things that you like. If not, change quickly because you're wasting your life.

2. BATCH SIMILAR TASKS: Do similar things together. Don't run to the bank every day - go once. When you walk down the stairs, bring something with you that needs to be put away downstairs - don't make two trips. Carefully plan meetings so you don't need to run across town constantly. Plan a single day with all your meetings or at least meetings in the same part of the city. I do batching on all scales. While I'm standing next to the printer waiting for a print, I'm responding to an email. While I'm planning my monthly agenda, I group work tasks distinct from personal tasks. Although it may seem obvious, I learned this tip from reading the "4 Hour Work Week." I suggest reading it. There's some great tips, and some may apply to your lifestyle.

3. DON'T WASTE A MOMENT: Fill all moments with something to do. There is no moment too small to get something done. While I'm walking across the room to throw something in the garbage, grab a glass and set it in the dishwasher on the way. While you're waiting at a stoplight, check your calendar or email (not while driving obviously). Plan your moments. Rest needs planned too. Rest feels good, but how much do you really need. Be honest with yourself. What feels better to you - resting or accomplishing something cool? Get enough rest, but don't be lazy. You are more productive when well rested, so plan your day to get enough rest. With a plan, you can get enough rest and ensure you're not getting too much. Use that extra time to be productive having fun or getting work done.

4. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS: I heard goals are more likely to be achieved when you write them down. It is true. I've tried it. When you write down your goals, you are essentially planning - it's the first step of formulating a plan. Once you write down the goal, you inherently start working on it and are therefor closer to achieving it. You're more powerful than you think you are. You can achieve anything. Big goals have many small steps which are typically easier to attain. 

5. FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS: Everything you do can be done better and faster. Think about ways to streamline your work. Develop new systems (or employ existing ones) to enhance your workflow. Drop the dead weight, and stop doing the things that are not producing results. Notice ways in which the 80-20 principle affects your daily life. (This is the concept that we spend 80% of our time doing 20% of our tasks, and we spend 20% of our time getting 80% of our results.) The 80-20 principle applies to so many processes all around us: science, billing, marketing, decision-making, traveling, etc. We spend way too much time doing things that yield too little benefit. Stop doing those things and study the more effective things you do to determine the qualities and characteristics about them that allow them to work well. Then apply those strategies elsewhere. Think about how you can increase your efficiency at everyday tasks at home and work. Consider your approach to washing dishes, for example. After eating pancakes, do you stack your sticky plates on top of each other? This leaves the bottoms AND tops of the plates sticky which doubles your workload. Staging them and washing them individually allows you scrub syrup off just one side of the plate while the bottom is pretty much already clean. After straining pasta, don't leave the colander in the sink. Once someone pours something greasy or sticky on it, now you have hundreds of mini holes to unclog and clean. Strain the pasta, rinse the colander, dry it in 2 seconds, and put it away. It will save time (and counter space). These types of little tips for efficiency all add up leaving you extra hours in the day to rest or accomplish other things. 

6. WALK FAST: I walk quite fast. I'm not sure if I look like a dork or not, but I get from place to place quickly. This enables me to get a little exercise while saving a few minutes here and there to be more productive. I also don't mind walking 20 minutes across town. It would likely take just as long or longer to battle the traffic and park anyway. I can get a phone call done during that time (which is why I may be breathing heavy when we talk).

7. EXERCISE: I don't go to the gym. This works for some people but not me. I cannot stand expending hard work without accomplishing a tangible outcome. Going to the gym also takes time out of your day. I get exercise by playing sports. I enjoy (hockey and soccer), and I get most of my exercise from what I call "PE." Not Physical Education, but rather Productive Exercise or "Man Work." Sometime I call it Josh-Fit instead of Cross-Fit. I do a fair bit of home remodeling and yard work projects that require heavy lifting, back-breaking labor, digging, etc. Try mixing concrete or digging quickly. It becomes a cardiovascular and weightlifting exercise all wrapped into one. The best part about doing manual labor is you end up with something else also completed. Why hire someone to rake your leaves when you can go outside for an hour, get some fresh air, and get the work done yourself? If you rake quickly enough, it turns into exercise. Raking sucks. Why would you want it to take any longer than it needs to? Rake harder, get done quicker, and move on.

8. DON'T MULTI-TASK: Multi-tasking may be appropriate in certain situations, but generally the lack of focus on one task is more of a hindrance. This relates to batching. Batching is all about doing similar things together. You cannot read Facebook while also drawing. They are both "computer tasks," but not similar enough to do both simultaneously. Get the drawing done, then check Facebook. Switching between the two is not effective. If you stay focused in one stint, from start to finish, you will get it done better. Once you finish one task, move on to the next and focus entirely on it. Don't let email or phones or other coworkers distract you. Shut them out. Turn of the phone, and check the email at the end of the day. I'm not a water-cooler chit-chat kind of guy. I go to work to design cool shit and earn money. I don't give a rip about your gossip or weekend happy hour when I'm at work. I'm more interested in that stuff when I'm at happy hour with you, and I also have a beer in my hand ;)

9. WORK ASAP: Don't wait until the last minute to get things done. Start working on things the moment they are assigned. You don't know how long tasks are really going to take until you're done with them. If you work on stuff earlier, you may get done earlier. This allows more time to do other things like rest, fun stuff, or other work tasks - it's great to have those options. If you procrastinate, you leave yourself with no choice. You're at the mercy of the clock. When time's up, you're done - even if your work is low quality. Unnecessary pressure also leads to poor decision making. Working sooner leaves you without deadlines, so you can remain calm and less stressed. You also have the ability to fix mistakes. I often work through the night to finish work that a client may not expect to be done for another week. This enables me to check my work a week later with fresh eyes. Inevitably, this allows me to clearly see errors and also find opportunities to enhance my work. I had a professor that would say "kill your dragons while they are young - when they grow up, they will be fierce fire breathing dragons." I find this works with most things. Solve problems early, so they do not turn into bigger, more time consuming problems. Pay your bills sooner - avoid late fees. Get work done ahead of time - leaves extra time to catch costly mistakes. 

10. DON'T OVER-PLAN: You can plan all you want, but no plan ever goes precisely according to every step of the plan. This means that much of the effort you put into planning goes wasted. By planning minuscule, specific details, you are actually scrutinizing unreliable, speculative assumptions. You are better-off coming up with a rough framework for how you will achieve a goal and later revisiting that rough framework once you have already started working on the task. This enables you to modify the plan based on actual data accumulated through the tasks instead of speculating too many steps ahead. Adapting is much more effective than reworking over-complicated master plans. Don't get caught up in planning too much. Simply start the task, then take a pause to evaluate. Just jump right in and get started. You can always continue to plan ahead as you go. Making unnecessary preparations is a major hindrance in making progress. 

There you have it. These are the things I do subconsciously as I'm brushing my teeth, drawing, and raking pine needles off my driveway.

If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help

Architecture Boom in Seattle

Even the least desirable properties are now being rebuilt.

Are you new to Seattle? Yes, you are. Whether you relocated from somewhere else (like most of us) or have lived in Seattle your whole life, you are, in fact, new to Seattle. Seattle is one of America's fastest growing big cities, so even Seattle natives don't recognize the city anymore. The city has changed so rapidly due to the successes of big businesses like Microsoft, Boeing, and Amazon, as well as so many other tech companies. This brings tons of money to Seattle, and its residents are spending it on construction projects both for work and home. We see cranes all across the city erecting high rise buildings, and residential architects, like myself, see a boom in our project list. The entrepreneurial spirit in Seattle brings an innovative, forward-thinking mindset to the economy, as well as, to the architecture that shapes the city.

When the economy tanks, the construction stops, and architects look for work. Businesses stop growing, they stop developing, the construction stops, and people stop hiring architects to design glamorous projects. Instead of large new construction projects, homeowners try to save money by remodeling and adding onto their homes. Around 2010, many of the builders and architects out there were not setup for this smaller-scale type of work since they had too much overhead in simply running their businesses, and they also were living in a "rock star" sort of paradigm of project typologies.  

After living in a booming Seattle economy for just a few years, its economic downturn created an environment that was familiar to me. I was an implant from the Ohio "rust belt," an area of the country between Cleveland and Pittsburgh devastated from the negative effects of the failing steel and automotive industries. My hometown of Youngstown, Ohio was trying to figure out how to shrink. I would participate in community service design events to figure out what to do with the land leftover from the demolition of entire neighborhoods. You can only build (and maintain) so many parks, especially with a dwindling population without jobs. Seeking better opportunities, I relocated to Seattle with my blue collar mindset that was completely opposite of the booming Seattle economy I was initially immersed in. Even when designing for very high profile clientele, my inherent frugality enabled my design and construction methodologies to set me apart from my colleagues. Clients and builders took notice. Then the Seattle economy tanked. This was my opportunity to entertain projects that larger companies with less passion and more overhead could not take on. Builders and clients knew me as a guy who could get the job done well in an adverse environment.

Now that the economy is booming again, things are just that much easier for me. I never slowed down when the economy did, and I also never sped up when the economy did (by choice). A steady stream of work has been constant. That is part luck, part skill, and part choice: don't bite off more than you can chew. A lot of companies get greedy and grow too fast. I am quite happy running a small business that I can intimately manage and play a key role in every single detail. That's why I started: I like designing buildings. Once a business grows too big, overhead expenses grow, office tasks become a burden, and the fun parts of the job get outsourced to staff. I have no interest in that. I like designing cool buildings. I like working with clients. I like outsmarting the building department for my clients' benefit. There's no end in sight for me. James, my financial guy, asked me what I want to do when I retire. I said, I want to be an architect, and that's just what I'll do. The opportunities to design awesome architecture in Seattle are just too prevalent for me to ever stop. I suppose it's an addiction for me.

 If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help

sit back. relax. i'll take care of it. your problems are now mine :)

building permit

I woke up at 7:11am. I went downtown and had breakfast at the top of the Columbia Tower. I did some land use code research, so I could fill out some forms and do a couple simple drawings to help a client get a permit. I completed them and emailed the drawing files to the printing company at the ground floor of the Columbia Tower. On my way out of the building, I picked up the drawings. I walked across the street to the building department while answering an email from my client on my phone. He was nervous about the documentation needed to get a permit for his project. He and 4 of his coworkers had tried to do the permitting process themselves, but they got slightly overwhelmed since they were confused and had filled out a bunch of forms and began gathering information for drawings they did not need. My email to my client said, "Sit back. Relax. I'll take care of it. Your problems are now mine." I walked into the building department, submitted the drawings and forms, paid for the permit, and walked out with the two permits my client needed. It's now 10:33am, and I'm writing this post. 

“Sit back. Relax. I’ll take care of it. Your problems are now mine.”

— Josh

Although the permitting process can seem stressful, it doesn't need to be. I take it on, and my expertise makes it easy - even when the building department attempts to create unnecessary roadblocks. I have the knowledge to circumvent most of these issues. It is not worthwhile for a client to struggle with this process. Often times, a client begins the permitting process and unknowingly submits incorrect information to the building department, which is subject to public disclosure, and convolutes the process making it more difficult for me to overturn. It is certainly advisable to allow the professional to take care of this process.

Permitting is only a very small portion of the construction and design process. As an architect, I have the expertise to make all steps of the process easy for my clients. This saves money. This saves time. Other parts of the process include feasibility studies, designing several creative options, creating detailed drawings for a contractor to build from, create very basic plans for a building department to review, coordinate bids from multiple contractors for competitive pricing, interpret complicated building code and land use code provisions, visit the jobsite to review the work and offer guidance to keep the project on time and on budget, and even fight the building department to help clients get what they need. All of these things are tricky or even impossible to take on without a lot of experience, education, licensing, insurance, and the guts to stand up on your clients' behalf to make their problems your own.

If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help

He's Not leaving Without a Permit.

I walked into the building department with the intention of getting one of the most simple building permits I have ever had to get: an STFI permit, or a "stiffy" as we call it in the trade. This stands for "Subject To Field Inspection." It's a permit where the building department just hands you a permit "over the counter" for a project that's so small in scope that there's barely anything for them to check into. This is much better than waiting months for them to review your plans. I was helping a builder/friend get the permit to finish out a portion of his brother-in-law's basement to someday use it as a rental. This is called an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit).

I knew going in that ADU's don't qualify for stiffys. I also knew that you could rent out a non-approved ADU and not be fined as long as you submit the ADU paperwork within one year of using it as an ADU. So my approach was to design the space as ADU, not call it an ADU (yet), take advantage of the quick/simple stiffy permit process, and later fill out the ADU application once the client was ready to actually begin using it as an ADU once construction was complete (pursuant to all the regulations and policies the building department has in place). 

Upon turning in the drawings, the building plans reviewer quickly said, "this won't qualify as a stiffy since you're doing an ADU." I said, "it's not an ADU. It's just additional living spaces in the basement accessible to the main floor - just as it always has been in this existing house." The reviewer said, "well, it LOOKS like an ADU, so it won't qualify for a stiffy." I replied, "I don’t care what you think it looks like…it's not an ADU yet, the goal is to turn it into one someday, it does not match the definition of an ADU yet as it is defined in the land use code, and it does not matter what it LOOKS like - it matters what it IS." The reviewer responded, "I'm getting my manager."

After awhile, the manager arrived and engaged in some small talk with me. We discovered we are both from Ohio, we played hockey in some of the same ice rinks, and he asked which city I'm from. I said, "Youngstown." He said to his coworker, "Youngstown. Ok. This guy is tough. He's not leaving here without a permit." Next he asked me, "what's the problem here?" I told him, "this guy cares more about his opinion than he cares about enforcing the codified ordinances of the municipal code which is the sole purpose of his job. I'm here to follow the rules. The rules say my client is allowed to get a stiffy. The rules say my client is allowed to convert this project to an ADU whenever he wants. The rules say you can't fine my client even for illegally using his project as an ADU as long as he fills out the paperwork within one year of doing so." The reviewers glanced at each other and then at me. The manager said, "cross off the kitchen appliances from the drawing and process his stiffy. Expect him to fill out the ADU form within a year."

Growing up in the rust belt of Ohio set the tone for this interaction. The manager knew I beat the odds to come from one of the fastest shrinking, crime-ridden cities in the country. Youngstown has been a depressed area since its prominent steel industry moved overseas decades ago leaving many of its residents without jobs. My dad and his dad worked in those steel mills. Lucky for me, my dad put himself through school at nights to make a better life for himself and for me. This work ethic became part of my DNA. The building plans reviewer knew I had overcome much bigger problems than getting a simple permit, and he knew I wouldn't accept “no” for an answer just to leave with my tail between my legs. I must admit that coming from a tough town does make you stronger. I don't expect anything to be given to me, and I expect to work hard for everything that I have. I'm thankful to have earned this work ethic. 

 If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help

What Makes a Good Builder?

Matt Karlstrom, master craftsman and owner of KarlstromBuilt. This guy has an eye for detail, the skill to build it, and a "no-compromise" work ethic. People say, "don't sweat the details." Matt sweats the details. He has the rare patience to truly exceed expectations.

This depends on what you are trying to achieve. Are you a developer who wants to build something fast and cheap, so you can sell it quickly and maximize your profit? Are you a first-time homeowner with a stretched budget who just wants to make the new house a bit more livable? Are you looking for a truly innovative home with all of the details fine tuned to your liking? Each of these examples are drastically different, and their are builders out there who specialize in achieving those results. Regardless of the type of project, there are some qualities that any good builder will have that you could look for:

1. Personality: This is key. Once you follow the tips you will read below, fundamentally, this is the only discernible difference between qualified builders. They are all calling the same plumbers for bids, buying the same materials from the same suppliers, and referencing the same set of plans, so their prices should all end up nearly identical as one another. If not, you should certainly ask why they are so high or so low compared to other bids. You will be working with this person every single day in person, over the phone, and through emails. You will definitely want to ensure you will ENJOY working with this person. If you wouldn't enjoy going out to dinner with the builder, then don't hire them. It's probably worth taking the prospective builder out to dinner to see if the relationship works. A personality that resonates with you will nearly guarantee a good working relationship. This personality is responsible for tearing your house apart, making it dusty, spending your life-savings, explaining mistakes and solutions to fixing them, and ensuring the design intent is met or exceeded. It's a tough journey, and you need a friendly guide to get you through it.

2. Flexibility: Construction is full of surprises. It is not possible to foresee everything that can come up: rot in walls, damaged material deliveries, postponing a plumber due to illness, changing your mind on design features, realizing better options, longer than anticipated lead times on product orders, a freak wind storm during roofing, etc. You want a builder who can be flexible as surprises happen. This is all part of the process. Some builders make such a big deal out of these things and start whining about them like a little kid. Other builders just see these as part of the process and quickly fix them rather than painting pictures of doom and gloom which causes you unnecessary stress. In interviewing builders, they will all carefully tell you about cost overrides resulting from unforeseen circumstances, so why should they get all beat out of shape when these unforeseen circumstances actually arise? They should be expected, and the good builders see this as part of their job, put their heads down, and get the job done without unnecessary complaining. A good builder is really like a concierge at a hotel...they explain everything as thoroughly as needed, and they point you in the right direction. These builders wear many hats. When they are adjusting some studs, they aren't afraid to move a little plumbing or electrical. They just make things happen. There's a lot of builders out there who will stop work, schedule an electrician to move an outlet of their way, and waste a week of time. The good ones know when it is appropriate to wear more than one hat, and they get the job done. 

3. Ownership: The best builders treat your project like it is their own. When the job is finished, they look at a bump in the wall, and they take it upon themselves to fix it. They know it could have been done better, and they own that mistake by undoing it and resolving it. These builders live, eat, and dream your project. They text you on the weekends when they come up with an idea. They offer cost-saving alternatives when appropriate. They don't charge you extra for supplies that they have leftover from some previous job. They build the project the same way they would build their own homes. They take your problems and treat them as their own problems. 

4. Inquisitive: The best builders are VERY inquisitive. They ask a lot of questions, they anticipate many answers to those questions, and they already have solutions prepared ahead of time. They read the architect's drawings very carefully, they ensure they understand the intent, and they partner with the architect to make it a strong project for both of their portfolios of finished work. These builders don't just make assumptions and start building. They pick up the phone, talk through complicated issues with the architect, text photos of the construction conditions, they ask for more details in the planning, and they carefully make it happen. This careful attitude makes the architect look successful, it makes the builder look successful, and this simply makes the project successful. Beware of a builder who does not want to involve the architect during construction. They know architects can hold them accountable for their work, so watch out for a builder who says the project is straightforward and they can take it from here without the architect. That's a red flag. Maybe the builder doesn't always need an architect to help them build something, but the architect is needed to keep them accountable. The client does not always know what standard practices are, how long they should take, level of quality to expect, etc. A good builder relies on the architect to help mitigate these things to deliver the appropriate product to the client. 

5. Open: The construction process is a huge investment, and it is very challenging. A good builder will be very open about all billing, all scheduling, and even all errors they make during construction. Good builders know that total transparency in all of these aspects leads to more successful projects and happier clients. They take the time to carefully save receipts, document them, categorize them, tally the labor to install those products, and pass them along to the architect for review. The architect verifies whether or not the items are successfully installed according to the plans before advising the client to pay the builder for those specific aspects of the work. Good builders don't simply send you an invoice with a number on it (like hospitals), and expect you to pay. They are very transparent in their workflow and budgeting. They understand they are spending your money and your time.

So how do you ensure you get a builder with these qualities? It will take some time on your behalf to ask all the right questions, spend adequate time with them, interview their previous clients, and to take the advice of your architect, friend, or relative who recommended them. I have worked with many different builders, and I have pre-qualified certain builders for certain project types. Once I get to know your personality, I offer suggestions for builders who will be a good match for you, and I work with them very closely to ensure a successful outcome. 

If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help

Permit Drawings Compared to Construction Drawings

Example of a simple elevation drawing for permitting purposes (does not explain much to the builder)

The honest truth is that permit drawings are basically useless. They tell you the approximate size and shape of a building, but they do not actually communicate any specific information to enable a builder to build it. A set of permit drawings are just the basic drawings that comply with a building department's checklist to verify the building is allowed to be built on the property, and it also shows it will meet the most minimum standards of safety and energy efficiency. Other than that, additional construction drawings are necessary to describe the construction details and materials to the builder. The building department is not concerned with higher levels of detail. 

Example of a construction drawing (explains heights, materials, and cross-references for other construction details shown on other drawing sheets)

Construction drawings focus on the minute details like the attachment of a stair tread to a stair stringer as well as larger items like the exact specification of a window, door, or countertop. The building department typically does not care what kind of stain you are using on your cool staircase or whether your stone countertop is honed or polished. They don't even need to know the exact size of various items, so we tend to round up to allow ourselves more flexibility during construction. Since they don't care, we don't show this information on permit drawings. This is not because we are lazy. It is more about the efficiency of the process. First, everything in a set of permit drawings is public record, and the city charges you money to review the drawings. If we include information beyond their basic checklist, it will take longer for them to review and cost more money for their review time. They may also start to unnecessarily scrutinize the type of marble you specify which wastes everyone's time. Additionally, drawings constantly change throughout the process of design AND construction for any number of factors: changing codes, budget constraints, technological product advancements, realizations of new opportunities during construction, discontinued materials, materials with long lead times, changing schedules, etc. There are so many factors that affect the final design solution that we simply do not even attempt to solve it in the permit drawings since they are so early in the design and construction process.

Example of a construction detail typically not included in a set of permit drawings (explains the materials, physical relationships, how they are layered, and concerns like waterproofing, insulation, and level of finish)

The reality is that most design solutions happen DURING construction. Sure, we do come up with the big idea in the start of the design process, but that big idea has literally thousands of decisions that need to get made before it manifests itself as a real building. For example, on a set of permit drawings, we simply draw a wall on a floor plan. The building department eventually approves that wall placement and its structural components. We still need to figure out what the ingredients of that wall may be. It may be the simplest 8' high 2x6 stud wall consisting of level 4 primed and painted 1/2" drywall on the interior, R21 batt insulation, and 7/16" plywood with felt paper and vinyl siding on the outside. OR, that same wall on the floor plan could have a 10' height leading up to a sloping ceiling with reveal reglets creating shadow lines, a 2x8 bottom and top plate with staggered 2x4 studs, R30 batt insulation, 1/2" polyiso board insulation with taped and sealed seams on the inside, 5/8" level 5 finish mold-resistant drywall with PVA primer and paint, and densrock exterior sheathing with wetflash waterproofing, 2" polyiso insulation panels, nailer strips, and standing seam aluminum Kynar finished siding. Each of these walls is code compliant and will pass the checklist with the building department, but this information is not exactly conveyed to the building department. It all looks the same on a floor plan. This information is later conveyed on construction drawings.

This level of detail is also completely communicated through other means with builders and suppliers during construction administration by the architect to help protect the client’s investment. This is the design phase that happens during construction. This is when the builder actually starts to order materials and install them. When materials are sourced, the supplier who sells them, the fabricator who crafts them, and the sub-contractor who installs them are all consulted to verify the integration of all of these different products and methods of construction are going to work successfully for each individual scenario in the building. What happens when this wall material touches a wood floor and a tile floor? What happens, when the countertop dies into this wall? How is a window jamb framed into the interior and exterior portions of this wall? How do you integrate the waterproofing into the foundation and different roof lines above this wall? The endless scenarios seem to never end. There are so many unique conditions that occur in a building that it is not possible to evaluate them all during permitting or other design phases when we don't know the exact budget, the exact builder, the exact sub-contractors, the exact fabricators, and the exact suppliers. All of these items come together as the project develops into a real building during construction.

Many clients like to plan for as much of this as possible ahead of time. This diligence can payoff, but decisions still change 100% of the time as the building progresses. Any factors that cannot be controlled will almost definitely have an impact on the decisions that are "set in stone." When these changes occur, more time is spent modifying the drawings to adapt to the newly encountered information. In some situations it makes sense not to plan certain things at all and just wait until construction commences to make the most educated decisions. Do you know the condition of your sewer line below the foundation where you may add the addition? Nobody does, and this could affect the entire approach.

In other situations, there is enough data available to make a solid decision, and we do create quite detailed drawings ahead of time. These enable the builder to provide a more accurate estimate for that particular scope of work. This extra information also empowers the builder to ask even more detailed questions to the architect which, in turn, causes even more detailed analysis and more detailed drawings to ensure it gets built properly. When deciding how thick to frame a plumbing wall in a laundry room, you may need to actually have the washer or dryer purchased and on-site to ensure the vent duct and plumbing lines frame in perfectly without protruding too far away from the wall and without interfering with the other plumbing, mechanical, and electrical items that may be located within that same wall. Only so much can be planned from reading the manual of an appliance before buying it. Of course you wouldn't want to buy and store a washer and dryer for a year before you actually need to install it, so for this reason, things like this really should wait until construction begins to really hash out the details.

You may wonder why the wall thickness really matters for encapsulating these utilities? Whats an extra inch here or there? Who cares if the dryer sticks out from the wall a bit? Well.....You might care if it affects the placement of a nearby door. You don't want to open that door and have it bump into your dryer. You also don't want to swing the laundry room door open and have it hit your opened dryer door. Even worse, you don't want to end up with a door not large enough to fit the dryer into the laundry room. All of these items are related, and they can only be planned so far in advance. The exact details typically get drawn on a piece of plywood by the architect at a jobsite meeting the day they are being installed long after permit drawings were ever created.

As an architect, we help you weigh out the pros and cons of planning too much or not enough. This relates to the level of detail you want to get into, the quality of construction desired, and the budget you are willing to spend. A little investment on design fees for planning always saves a lot more in construction costs when things do not get built ideally. We have the experience to know how to balance this risk and reward, we know when to hold the builder accountable for adhering to estimates for specific scopes of work specified in the drawings, and we know when it is appropriate to draw specific details or to save your time and money by not drawing certain details at all.

If you would like our help, please fill out our new project form at www.josharch.com/help to get us the information we need to perform a feasibility report for your property.

Also, please read through our design process page to learn how we help you go through the design and construction process at www.josharch.com/process.

Lastly, if you’d like to learn more about design and construction costs, here’s the calculator we use to help estimate these fees: www.josharch.com/cost. (This calculator doesn’t work on mobile phones or tablets, so you will need to get serious and hop on your computer)