Plan-what plan?
Koontz - I love it when Jodi and I diverge! My instinctive response is, "Lordy, designers of course are 'wed to the plan', cause it's their plan!". I stick by my statement. Don't get too wed to the plan.
Yes, you can see your project in living color and three dimensional drawings. We have auto-cad and plenty of fancy programs that allegedly give you a real-life view of the plan. The programs are cool and fun to play with, but the reality is that design comes down to how the space "feels", not just how it looks, not just how the dimensions work. I think all of these wonderful programs are better at showing you what won't work, than necessarily showing you what will. I insert that kitchen island you're dying to have and when you see it in 3-D, you realize that the room is really to small to accomodate it. You're going to spend all your time walking around this bloody thing, and it just doesn't suit the space. And I can show you how the room will look with that wall gone, but until you're in the new space, you don't know how it makes you feel. It might turn out that it's too open for you, it makes you feel exposed and vulnerable. Or you might find that it's so liberating, now you want that other damn wall gone too! You only really know that by inserting yourself into the room. At this point I can give you a "virtual reality tour", but I lack the capability of inserting you and your emotions into my program. I expect that makes me a bit more of an old-fashioned carpenter, oh wait, I believe Jodi called it "Neanderthal", yikes! (If you didn't know it before, you may recognize that Jodi and I have a few years in between us...), I'm okay with that, though I do prefer the term old-fashioned. I'd rather get ten samples of paint to put on the wall than plug it into my program, because I think the program lacks the essential ingredient of the client.
Jodi's right about a couple of things; yes, we pulled permits for specific things and specific locations, but as the contractor on-site, I know I have the latitude with nearly all of my inspectors to make on site changes/adjustments. In the remodeling world, my inspectors are more concerned with the methods of achieving something than they are with the literal blueprint. In fact, I've only once had an inspector ask to see the drawings on a jobsite-though I'm required to have them on site and technically they are suppose to go over them. New inspectors who haven't had a career in building themselves and therefore are more book-trained than experience-trained are the inspectors who will balk at changes. If I'm lucky, I'll be retired around the same time my inspectors are though, so I'm not too worried about that issue.
Change orders, another of Jodi's points, are definitely part of all projects. With my business, we typically have anywhere from 2 to 6 change orders or additional work orders on a job. Not a big deal, as I tell clients. We can do anything, it just takes money.
I visited with a woman this last week who had an extensive remodel/addition on her property at the coast. Nine months working with the architect, and nine months to complete construction. From our casual conversation, she listed at least ten significant changes that occured on the project mid stream. Her contractor had the same attitude as my partner and I; "sure we can make that change". My next line is that it just takes money, her contractors next line was, "cha-ching", as in hear the cash register ring.
Impressively, this client's architect came to view the finished project and was impressed with the changes made, rather than miffed. When I remarked on being surprised at the architects' attitude, she said her contractor was pleasantly surprised too. Architects, to the contractors' view, are often more "wed" to the plan than the clients are, but the architect is not going to be living in the space. So I say-change things if you want to! It's up to your contractor to clear the road for you and it's easy enough to adjust a plan with the city building department-at least on a single-residence remodel. That's the least of the problems..."cha-ching".
Yes, you can see your project in living color and three dimensional drawings. We have auto-cad and plenty of fancy programs that allegedly give you a real-life view of the plan. The programs are cool and fun to play with, but the reality is that design comes down to how the space "feels", not just how it looks, not just how the dimensions work. I think all of these wonderful programs are better at showing you what won't work, than necessarily showing you what will. I insert that kitchen island you're dying to have and when you see it in 3-D, you realize that the room is really to small to accomodate it. You're going to spend all your time walking around this bloody thing, and it just doesn't suit the space. And I can show you how the room will look with that wall gone, but until you're in the new space, you don't know how it makes you feel. It might turn out that it's too open for you, it makes you feel exposed and vulnerable. Or you might find that it's so liberating, now you want that other damn wall gone too! You only really know that by inserting yourself into the room. At this point I can give you a "virtual reality tour", but I lack the capability of inserting you and your emotions into my program. I expect that makes me a bit more of an old-fashioned carpenter, oh wait, I believe Jodi called it "Neanderthal", yikes! (If you didn't know it before, you may recognize that Jodi and I have a few years in between us...), I'm okay with that, though I do prefer the term old-fashioned. I'd rather get ten samples of paint to put on the wall than plug it into my program, because I think the program lacks the essential ingredient of the client.
Jodi's right about a couple of things; yes, we pulled permits for specific things and specific locations, but as the contractor on-site, I know I have the latitude with nearly all of my inspectors to make on site changes/adjustments. In the remodeling world, my inspectors are more concerned with the methods of achieving something than they are with the literal blueprint. In fact, I've only once had an inspector ask to see the drawings on a jobsite-though I'm required to have them on site and technically they are suppose to go over them. New inspectors who haven't had a career in building themselves and therefore are more book-trained than experience-trained are the inspectors who will balk at changes. If I'm lucky, I'll be retired around the same time my inspectors are though, so I'm not too worried about that issue.
Change orders, another of Jodi's points, are definitely part of all projects. With my business, we typically have anywhere from 2 to 6 change orders or additional work orders on a job. Not a big deal, as I tell clients. We can do anything, it just takes money.
I visited with a woman this last week who had an extensive remodel/addition on her property at the coast. Nine months working with the architect, and nine months to complete construction. From our casual conversation, she listed at least ten significant changes that occured on the project mid stream. Her contractor had the same attitude as my partner and I; "sure we can make that change". My next line is that it just takes money, her contractors next line was, "cha-ching", as in hear the cash register ring.
Impressively, this client's architect came to view the finished project and was impressed with the changes made, rather than miffed. When I remarked on being surprised at the architects' attitude, she said her contractor was pleasantly surprised too. Architects, to the contractors' view, are often more "wed" to the plan than the clients are, but the architect is not going to be living in the space. So I say-change things if you want to! It's up to your contractor to clear the road for you and it's easy enough to adjust a plan with the city building department-at least on a single-residence remodel. That's the least of the problems..."cha-ching".
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