Why Isn’t My Builder Calling Back?

When getting bids for construction, it can be quite a daunting process. When you reach out to a builder and ask for a bid, you may not hear back for several weeks. What is the builder doing during this time?

I compare construction estimating to going grocery shopping. When you go to the grocery store with a shopping list, you don’t always find exactly what you want. Sometimes you change your mind based on the things that you see at the store, and sometimes you simply forget things on your list. With grocery shopping, you might have 10 or 20 things on your list, and all of them cost under $20. With construction, you literally have hundreds or thousands of things on your list, you have to find most of them at different places, and most of them cost over $1000 each. Additionally many of the items a builder seeks pricing for are not retail items sitting on shelves with prices next to them. Many of the products are specialty items that are priced depending on the situation requiring a bit of negotiating, and others are services from subcontractors like plumbers and electricians which require those companies to spend significant time assigning prices to each step of their work. That might take a couple weeks for the builder to hear back from those subcontractors and specialty material suppliers.

Once you do get the bid from your builder, you may find that the builder is not as responsive as you would hope. There are several reasons for this. The most likely reason would be: the builder is devoting more time to another project that they are already currently building rather than speculating on the cost of your potential project that hasn’t started yet. In other words, your project is less important than the one in the middle of construction (that the builder is being paid to do)! Another reason for unresponsiveness could be that the builder just recently sent out five bids to other clients and is waiting to hear back on whether those got accepted or not. Out of those five bids, two of those projects probably won’t ever happen. One of those projects might get awarded to another builder. And the two remaining projects might actually get awarded to that builder that you’re hoping to work with. The builder might prefer working with THEM instead of YOU.

It is then up to that builder to decide which opportunity is best. The builder will evaluate things like which one yields the best profit. They will decide which one has the most conveniences like ease of parking, suitable space on site for storing materials, or proximity to their home, office, or hardware store. They will also evaluate the relationship with the potential client and whether or not that person will be a pain in the ass to work with. All of these factors play into whether a builder will choose to work on any particular project. YOU might not be as important to THEM as you think.

Finding the right builder is like a marriage. It takes hard work, patience, and a good bit of luck. The best advice I can offer is to work WITH you builder and commiserate with them. They carry the immense burden of building your project properly and on budget. It is no easy task, so being a good partner will certainly help in the overall success.

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

Josh Architects Is A Design PRACTICE

Like, medicine and law, an architect’s work is known as a “practice.” This is because we never know with 100% certainty if we are right when we suggest something. We have a good sense that we should be correct based on previous experience in similar situations, but every situation is different, and it is our job as the experts to apply our experience to each unique situation to protect lives and the most valuable asset that people typically own: their home and the people in it.

This is a major responsibility. The term “EXPERience” looks a lot like “EXPERt.” By gaining experience through practice, we become an expert in our craft. By getting more practice than another architect, an architect has an opportunity to become more of an expert than the others. To date, I have worked in the construction field for 23 years and have practiced my craft on over 500 projects and counting. This is very prolific by comparison. For context, an average American lives in 11 homes in a lifetime, and most residential builders work on less than 4 homes per year. Architects commonly work on 3 or 4 projects at a time. Our practice has around 100 current projects, and I gain experience by managing all of them. Being intimately involved on the design of hundreds of homes has given me the practice to know what to expect in a myriad of situations where others just don’t have the life experience to know and anticipate what I can.

Many people have jobs where they repeat the same process over and over, and they perfect their job to a point where it operates mostly on autopilot. This is not possible for architects. Sure, we do have protocols we put in place to streamline our efforts to save time, but the same process simply cannot apply to every unique situation. We must pull from our repertoire of experience to customize a process for each situation. There are so many factors that can affect the process of designing a house: a different building department, a different building department staffer, a different builder, a different client personality, a different climate, a different location, a different set of materials, a different wind or earthquake exposure, a different structural engineer, a different building code, a different budget, a different timeline, a different aesthetic, a different political climate, a different culture, etc. There are SO MANY things that alter the way we approach our work to complete it successfully.

Completing our job successfully does NOT mean that each step of the process is successful. Reminder: this is a “practice.” When you practice, you do it imperfect before you finally get it perfect. When you practice something a lot, you get pretty good at it with flaws here and there, but you eventually overcome them and get better. As we practice architecture, we do small “experiments,” then we test them, and we improve upon whatever results we find.

For example, if we want to maximize the percentage of a property we are allowed to cover according to land use code limits, we design something that seems to work. Then we calculate the result and adjust as needed. An experienced architect won’t be egregiously incorrect, and only minor adjustments will be needed. In this example, we are either a little over or a little under. Our previous practice enables us to use our intuition to get somewhere close to ensure the size of the building properly fits within the limitations of the property.

Similarly with budgets, we need to design something we THINK will be on budget, and test our hypothesis by asking builders for bids. With enough practice, we get close, and we make adjustments according to the results of the bid to keep things on budget.

With a complicated design feature, we base the design solution from something similar we have done in the past. Then, we test our result by running it by engineers, pricing the materials, and talking with experts on the materials that we THINK will work. We learn from our practice, and we adjust accordingly. The cost of hiring an architect has these failures and successes (and past experiences) built into the price. Clients are paying for the architect’s time AND their ENTIRE history of experience, education, successes, and failures.

As you see, the architecture profession is very much a “practice” to test the architect’s ideas to adapt them as best as possible for their clients. It all comes down to the trust of a client to accept the experience of the architect, so the architect may make educated decisions and let them play out through the design process. Remember, nothing is final until it is built, so any decisions made are just a part of the vetting process to tailor a concept into reality.

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

Advice For Other Architects

These are common pitfalls I see in other architects’ work and common questions I get from other architects who reach out to me for advice:

1. Check your zoning requirements first (setbacks, lot coverage, environmental). Then do it again!

2. Figure out the steps in the permit process before you start designing.

3. Trust NOTHING the building department says - ever. They know very little about your project (and likely very little about their own job), so the generalized stuff they say is commonly wrong.

4. If a developer asks you to design a project for them, ask yourself, “hmmm… what happened to the previous architects they worked with.” Do some vetting. Developers care about 1 thing - and no, they don’t want to give you that 1 thing - they want to keep it for themselves.

5. Don’t turn down work because you think it’s not good enough for you. You can learn so many things from all types of projects, and you can truly help someone who really needs your expertise. That person you help will later connect you with future clients.

6. Turn down projects for people you don’t like. Trust your gut. If they seem shady, they won’t be good to work with.

7. Get 100% of decisions documented in writing. Arguments are time-suckers and not productive. There’s never any doubt or miscommunication if you take the extra step to re-phrase what someone requested by simply typing it in an email.

8. Reduce your overhead expenses as much as possible. You really only need a laptop and insurance to run your business. Your brain is your main asset, so don’t get bogged down on thinking you need a fancy office, car, and unnecessary subscriptions to services that really don’t help that much. No, you don’t need a drone either.

9. Do construction work. If you can’t build what you design, then you are a poser. You don’t need to be good at construction work, but you should know HOW to do it.

10. Don’t lose sight of what you are actually selling. Clients don’t actually want drawings. They want a building. Your job is to figure out how to get them that building. This is a combination of verbal/written communication, drawings, site meetings, visiting the jobsite on a weekend when nobody is around just so you can study what is happening to anticipate next steps, arguing with building departments to defend your work, arguing with builders to defend your work, arguing with engineers to defend your work, and yes, arguing with your clients to defend your work - your job is to protect clients from themselves. You need to do whatever it takes to make the building turn out perfectly. Nobody else on the project team has the skill or vision that you do. You will lose sleep thinking about your projects. Your idea needs to become a building, and it is up to you to make that happen.

Now get out there and be an awesome architect!

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

Iceland

Every few years, I take a mini “sabbatical” to inspire myself, get some new ideas, and to figure out better ways of designing and building structures. Commonly, if you look outside your ordinary area of work, you learn different ways of doing the same thing, so you can distill the techniques down into a new and better way of doing your craft. With architecture as my area of work, travel is best way to see new things. My recent trip to Iceland enabled me to see construction practices that are geared toward insulating homes really well, innovating waterproofing techniques, and design intended to capture the limited amount of sunlight when living near the Artic Circle.

Steel grating

Being able to see through a floor (interior or exterior) can make a dramatic experience)

Cantilever over slope

Projecting a structure over a slope without touching it helps to protect the most vulnerable part of the slope.

Natural weathering

Use of natural materials indigenous to the environment create a natural patina and weather naturally to create a variety of colors on a facade (birch in this case). Also, a flat roof membrane is used as a roofing material in a situation that is not actually a flat roof. Lastly, a metal panel is used to fill the difference between the size of the window opening and the size of the actual window product to create more flexibility and tolerance during construction.

Natural materials

The indigenous wood siding planks overlay one another to create a more watertight facade. Also, the green roof is mounted over a wood roof to absorb much of the rain before it has a chance to run down the side of the building.

Primitive solutions

To protect the end grains of wood planks on the roof overhang, the vikings used bark to shield it from the elements to avoid excessive rot (since bark is in fact intended to protect wood from decay)

Earth sheltering

With intense weather, piling soil next to the building helps to shield the wind. Rocks are used for the side walls to block the wind and also to provide for drainage for the rainwater runoff.

Cement board

Hardie panels get overused in Seattle, but in this application, the exposed refined edges WITHOUT reglets give a clean look when used sparingly.

Green roof

The green roof (and earth sheltering walls) provide a higher level of insulation from the harsh elements.

Composting toilets

The 16 composting toilets at this rest stop abut a central light and ventilation corridor with a lower floor which enables the maintenance crew to easily remove the compost while the venting is consolidated within a space outside of the bathroom spaces.

Green roof

Another example of rock walls with green roofs. Each gabled roof drains into the rock walls between to prevent the water from infiltrating into the wood framing.

Cool bench

When someone tells you to put in a bench, you could either buy one online, or you can take pride in the task and create something special like this. It has a welded base and uses scraps of birch.

Wood roof

We usually don’t think of roofs being made out of wood, but here’s one (of many) in one of the harshest environments in the world. It is simply overlapping wood planks with a coat of paint.

Cool fenestration

Fenestration refers to the patterning of windows. This pattern reflects the shapes of the trees in the landscape and uses wood to contrast the other materials.

Corrugated metal

With harsh, unforgiving conditions, corrugated metal is a simple and durable material that weathers any storm. It is also cost effective and can be used as siding or roofing.

Earth sheltering

Creating berms of earth up the sides of walls helps to insulate buildings and to protect from the elements.

Not just a deck

This deck has some interesting details including a fiberglass grating that helps to keep the deck clean from debris from boots. The railing pattern also creates a nice contrast between the flat bar stanchions and round tubing. The mitered 90 degree corner is also a nice detail.

Pop-up shop

This shelter for selling goods on the streets uses the shape from the local vernacular to create a familiar look for shoppers. It has a welded steel frame with stretched canvas roof and walls.

Streetscape

Why do I like this streetscape? Is it the mural? Is it the red bay window? Is it the white buildings flanking each side of the alley? Or, is it the natural untreated wood siding on the building in the backdrop? I don’t particularly like any single item, but the combination of them all is quite interesting. This combination of many parts to create a whole is known as “gestalt.”

Standing seam metal customized

Notice how the edges of the standing seam metal is crimped and curled over the edge. The craftsman must have used great care to cut and roll these edges to ensure water tightness in one of the harshest environments in the world. This details hides the gutter that is at the roof’s edge.

Standing seam metal

This is a beautiful combination of standing seam metal, glass, black framed windows, and concrete. Standing seam metal is usually used as roofing, but here it is siding. Also notice the facets cut for custom lighting.

Detached facade

This facade runs beyond the boundary of the house to frame the rear yard and also to encompass the entry.

Natural siding

I am a sucker for natural siding. It looks great 100% of the time. Here it is used with extreme care to have joints that align with the window trim. I also like the detail at the window corner with the use of the black panel.

Wood roof

Here is one of many examples where natural wood siding is used on the walls and the roof. It is left exposed and weathers naturally.

Wood roof

Here is a detailed view at how wood planks are used on a roof.

Wood corner detail

This wood siding transitions to an angled miter cut at the corners with a galvanized metal strip to make the turn. Simply beautiful.

Green roof

This traditional architecture uses a green roof to absorb the prolific rains and to shelter Iceland’s cold air from the interior.

Church

Everyone takes this photo, so I did too:) This is a unique and impressive use of concrete to give the building a sense of movement, playfulness, and yet remains stoic.

Trash enclosure

This combination of a concrete wall and roof with a galvanized frame and wood slat doors is beautiful. This shows how something as simple as a trash enclosure can be executed with care, pride, and excellence.

Bench

This is not just a bench. It is a beautiful bench with a galvanized frame and natural wood planks. And obviously it is quite fun in the way one or more people can interact with it.

Cement board and window frames

Cement board can get quite boring The patterning of the panels gives some interest while the frames around each window give that extra bit of depth that is so crucial.

Standing seam metal corners

The way the standing seam metal is carefully snipped, crimped, and bent around the wall to become the roof is simply beautiful. This is seamless execution of standing seam roofing.

Facade modulation

Land use codes often require facades to modulate in and out to create depth. This one does it with much contrast between the different 3D forms which are carefully clad with contrasting materials.

Symphony hall

There is so much here. This building is downright impressive with its shimmering facade that changes color depending on the viewing angle. Also notice how the honeycomb shape is actually an open space bound by layers of glass on each side. This creates the greenhouse effect by creating/trapping heat within the facade. Vents in the facade can be opened to allow this heat to enter the building. Free heat!

Furring strips

Vertical siding requires a few strips of wood behind it laid horizontally and vertically, so the siding is not touching the actual building. This creates an air space for condensation to escape while creating further shelter and separation between indoor and outdoor spaces. The siding stops at the edge of the heated space, but the furring strips continue out to define the entry and to showcase the tectonics of how this structure is assembled. Also not the wood roof and hidden gutter.

Wood roof

Here’s another example of a wood roof. Also notice the light strip embedded seamlessly into the siding.

Standing seam customized

Notice how the standing seam roofing is carefully snipped and crimped at the bottom of this wall.

Bay window

This window protrudes out from the facade with a bulky border to create a striking feature.

Floating forms

These facades protrude out from their bases to give the effect of floating.

Standing seam articulation

Notice how the standing seam metal siding varies in width and also perfectly aligns with the windows.

Glass with wall behind

Usually glass is used to allow light in and for views out. In this situation, it is there to allow you to see the materials used inside.

Window trim

This modern spin on a traditional facade juxtaposes the stone lintel above the window and the stone “trim” besides it as it seems to pull away from the rough facade. The smooth stone has a beautiful contrast with the rough facade.

Glass intersection

Rather than using a bulky window frame, this glass is cut into the stone facade to create a beautiful transition between two of the most pure materials: stone and glass.

Window openings

The placement of the window opening at the top of the facade creates a welcome relief to the heavy facade. The glass seems to turn the corner onto the roof.

Karl

This is my friend Karl. He was also a mentor for me. I thought of him like a dad since my own dad lives so far away. I admired him. He was amazing - on another level sort of amazing. He passed away today. I miss him.

I got to know him through work. He was a “metal guy.” I never knew metal could do what it does until I met him. He helped me to do things in my design work that I never dreamed of. Did you know steel could feel warm and cozy? We think of it as a cold, hard material, but with all the finishing work that can be done to steel, it could feel refined, rustic, warm, cold, artsy, or even comforting. And that’s just the surface texture without even including what you can form it into. Karl could do ANYTHING with steel. In fact, he could do more than anything because he could do things that you couldn’t even conceive of. Karl could. He was as imaginative as he was scientific, calculated, and inventive. He inspired me and got me addicted to working with steel. Karl was truly exceptional at his craft.

The metal world lost an icon.

My friend Zach and Nich and Cecilia lost their dad. Gus and Everett lost their grandpa. Katy and Jess lost their father-in-law.

Katy was my wife’s maid of honor in our wedding. When I got to know Katy, I was already part of the family because I already knew Karl from work. I was lucky to get embedded in his family, and Karl took the time with me to teach me about business, how to handle discerning clients, and how to work with my hands manipulating steel. He gave me free reign of the metal fabrication shop that he retired from and sold: US Starcraft. He taught me how to weld, how to cut steel, how to drill it, and how to finish it. Most importantly, he taught me how to plan.

Karl was always thinking 12 steps ahead. When steel was being cut, he had a bucket for the scraps to fall into. When steel was being shipped, he packed it up in a way that would unpack in the right order for the guys receiving it. He was also able to measure things to the 1/64th of an inch to account for levels of accuracy that most people cannot conceive.

One time, I was helping his son, Zach, build a cabin. We needed a steel bracket, so a beam could hang from a column. This bracket weighed like 40 or 50 pounds, and it needed to be mounted perfectly, so the beam that it held would be level. I gave Karl the exact measurements for the bracket to meet our engineer’s specifications. The heavy steel bracket arrived on our jobsite exactly how I had designed it - only BETTER. Karl drilled in extra hole in it without being asked to do so. He knew that I would need to hold the heavy bracket up in the air against a post, and he understood it would be really cumbersome to hold it there while someone else bolted it into place. The extra hole he drilled was exactly in the center-of-gravity of the bracket, so that a nail could be quickly pounded through it to temporarily hold it in place while the actual bolts were being placed through it. Karl magically knew this would be a problem, and he solved it before it ever was a problem. As I lifted the heavy bracket with my hammer in my belt and a nail ready in my teeth, I fully appreciated the planning Karl took upon himself to make other people’s jobs easier. That was Karl to a fault.

He was not the best businessman, but this was because Karl put the success of the job before his own success. This is something I can certainly relate to. They say you can’t take your money with you when you die. I don’t think Karl had to worry about that. There’s much more value in this world that he left behind than any money would offer. His metal work is all over the world for others to enjoy. He selflessly left his mark everywhere. I loved hearing his stories about going to Hawaii, or California, or overseas to do an install of a custom metal table, staircase, door, door handle, fireplace surround, or even a metal flap to conceal the cords on a conference table. Karl made all of these things and more, and he did them all with 100% exact perfection.

As Karl was getting ill, I knew this time was coming, and I considered writing this post so he could read it. I think it would have made him uncomfortable, so I’ve elected to share it now. I hope it honors someone I loved and got to know personally and professionally. I wish I could share another beer with Karl, but for now, I’m having one in his honor while I share with you some of the things in my home that he helped me to create.

This image is the dichotomy of what Karl created and what he taught me to create. This blackened hot rolled steel shelf slides into an inset in my wall to expose and frame the raw concrete. It was too big to maintain its structural integrity during shipping, so he invented a method to stabilize it at a few intervals with temporary rods that kept it rigid. Once it was in place, those rods were removed to reveal the holes needed to drill the shelf into its final resting spot. This shelf is used to display an axe used my by Uncle Nick during his lumberjack days in Canada (eh). Karl taught me how to restore the steel blade and how to put a beautiful flamed blackened finish on it.

The shelf also showcases some plumbing handiwork done by master craftsman, Matt Karlstrom.

The shelf is illuminated by a concealed lighting strip.

At night, the concealed lighting creates a cool effect that no photo can do justice.

Karl helped me to weld these steel planters on my deck (and they also serve as the railings). We grow herbs and veggies here for our kitchen which is 10’ away from here. My friend Marc nearly sliced his toe off helping us with these.

The railing stanchions were made by Karl, and they integrate with the ipe top rail and steel planters that he also helped to make.

Karl helped me to conceive of these steel panel retaining walls.

Karl helped me understand the process of waterjet cutting. The address is cut into 3/8” thick steel.

At night, the address plate gives a nice effect with its concealed backlighting.

At Christmas time, it creates a nice backdrop for festive decorations.

Karl played so many roles in this photo. Steel is used for the fence, the plate next to the landing, the backrest to the bench/railing, the stanchions for the rails, and the steel water feature in the backdrop. There’s also a steel sump pump cover in there too.

Karl helped me to weld these legs for this table I built. He even figured out how to weld tension cable to the steel frame.

This bench features blackened hot rolled steel bins that open up for storage.

The legs on the table coordinate with the spacing of the bench drawers, so they can be opened without interfering with each other.

This steel shelf was the first thing I ever made without Karl’s help. He gave me the skills to do this on my own.

This shelf is so thin you can barely see it, yet it can carry the weight of Karl himself:)

The steel railing support creates a cool interplay between the walnut and blackened steel.

The closeup features the human touch, strength, and complimentary interplay between the wood and steel.

This image features the steel railing stanchions, contrasting aluminum edge trim, and the beam lighting caps above.

Door trim doesn’t need to be just door trim. A subtle drywall reveal sets off the thin steel frame around this door.

Mounting stair treads to a steel stringer can be done very beautifully with the use of steel.

This night stand couldn’t be more simple or beautiful. It is just a cube - a blackened steel cube. It gives a place for your night light, alarm clock, a glass of water, or to store your books or jammies.

Karl and I have had a few of these over the years. It is nothing more than a drink holder made of a few scraps of steel, a scrap of walnut, and some concrete.

The concrete base is also a nice place to stack some books.

I don’t watch TV much, but when I do, it’s fall, it’s mid-day, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are on. That just so happens to be when the sun is blaring in through the window above the TV. Karl fixed that problem with the help of a steel plate, hinge, and pulley.

Karl helped me to blacken the steel that caps the hidden light detail below my wood beams. It’s a perfect match.

Karl gave me the skills I needed to weld the frame for this steel gate (the wood cover is not yet installed)

Karl helped me to weld this cantilevered sliding driveway gate. It is 14’ long, heavy as hell, and doesn’t even touch the ground.

Karl gave me the skills I needed to weld this contraption that’s still in the works. The doors hinge from the side as usual, but they also hinge from the top.

Karl’s son, Nich and wife Jess, carry on his tradition of metal fabrication at Mayer Designs if you would like to see work that lives up to Karl’s standard: https://www.mayerdesigns.com/

Karl, you will be severely missed.

Mick McFadden is the one who introduced me to Karl, and here’s a bit about his impact on him: click here