Andy Nolting — RO Anderson

Hiring a Licensed Residential Designer

Hiring a qualified residential designer is your best first step to saving time, money and aggravation. Below are a couple of examples of how the design process could go:

Example #1: The Smith Family

Soon-to-be new home owners, the Smith’s hire an unlicensed draftsman who works out of his home to design their 3,000 sq. ft. new home on a steep up-sloping lot. The Smith’s hire the draftsman for $2.00 per sq. ft. He touts how much money they will save in comparison with a more expensive, licensed designer. The draftsman puts together his set of drawings after one meeting with the Smith’s. The plan set has 7 sheets, a site plan with no topographic information, and not one cross section perpendicular to the up-slope lot. The plans are completed in one week and are given to the Smith’s with directions to the building department. The Smith’s talk to a contractor they know who agrees to bid the project. The contractor looks at the lot, studies the plan, and realizes with no notes, details or specifications he is on his own on this job. He figures $450,000 will be adequate but adds 15% as he knows the risks and unforeseen circumstances involved with plans like these, his new bid is now $503,000. The Smith’s accept his bid as they “know” this contractor. The contractor submits the plans to the building department, and they come back two weeks later with a long list of corrections that the draftsman hesitantly corrects for an hourly rate. With the permit in hand, construction begins. Shortly into the project, the contractor realizes he needs a 6’ high retaining wall to handle the uphill condition that is not shown on the foundation plan. He hires an engineer to design this wall who in turn hires a geotechnical engineer to determine soil conditions. This process takes 4 weeks and halts construction. After framing is complete a neighbor complains about his blocked mountain view. Lots on the uphill side of this development are limited to 25’ in height per C.C.R’s, the new home as framed is 28’. The contractor schedules a meeting with the review board and has to lower the roof which is already framed by 3’ to comply. By projects end the schedule has been pushed out 2 months and an additional 10% has been added to the project cost in change orders. The Smith’s draftsman assures them these problems are normal to a complicated project such as this.

Example #2: The Johnson Family

The Johnson’s, who are also soon-to-be new home owners, hire a licensed designer who they have heard good things about. They set up a meeting with the designer in his office to discuss the design of their future 3,000 sq. ft. new home on an up-sloping lot. After showing the Johnson’s examples of previous work, they agree to a contract of $4.00 per sq. ft. (double the price of the unlicensed draftsman). With his local knowledge, the designer figures this home will cost roughly $450,000 to construct. He informs the Johnson’s of permit fees and sets up a meeting with the neighborhood design review committee to discuss C.C.R’s before starting the design. The designer, who is also aware of bad soils in this area, and with the consultation of his engineer, orders a soils report for the site. The designer later meets the entire Johnson family at the site to hear their wants and needs and to determine orientation and view corridors to integrate with the home design. The designer comes up with two design options, one of which seems to really meet the Johnson families needs. The designer develops this option and finalizes the plans. The designer produces a thorough set of plans with 18 sheets that includes topography information, 3 sections parallel to the slope with structural and architectural details. The designer recommends 3 builders and schedules meetings with the builders and the Johnson’s. Due to the complete plan details, all three bids are within 5% and the Johnson’s choose the contractor they feel most comfortable with. During construction, the designer visits the site several time and answers questions from the contractor and owners on a regular basis. The plan comes in on budget and on time. The Johnson family saves time, frustration and money.

Building a new home is one of the largest investments anyone will make in their lifetime. When comparing services offered by a competent licensed designer against un-licensed practitioner, consider the risks and choose carefully.

Home additions in Northern Nevada “6 things to consider”

Know your flood zone: Many home lots in the Northern Nevada area lie in flood zones this can affect your ability to do the addition you may be planning. In some cases the size of the addition you can do may be limited, the finish floor level may need to be higher than the existing construction, or certain types of construction may not be allowed, for example you may have to build a new slab foundation next to an existing wood foundation to meet flood zone requirements. A design professional can quickly research your situation and let you know your limitations.
Be aware of county codes and other restrictions: All counties have building codes that regulate things such as building location, height, roof pitches, overhangs and other architectural features. If your home is in a housing development with C.C.R’s (Codes, Covenants and Restrictions) these restrictions may go further, limiting square footage and if you can have a detached structure for example. If you are in an environmentally sensitive area you may be under the jurisdiction of an organization such as the T.R.P.A. (Tahoe Regional Planning Agency). In these areas you may not have the ability to do an addition to your home. A design professional with experience in these matters should be consulted to see what your options may be.
Hire a qualified designer and engineer: Hiring the right design professional is your best first step to a successful addition project. Check references, get advice from local builders, talk to other homeowners in the area who have built their own homes or have done additions. You can usually find out who has a good reputation in your area with minimal effort. A good designer will help you realize avenues and possibilities for your project that you most likely would never think of. Save money, heartache and time by hiring a qualified designer. A good experienced engineer will save you money through “value engineering” That is not “over engineering” a project to provide a factor of safety with extra building material that is not necessary. A good designer will have a working relationship with the best engineers in the area.
Do not over design for your area: It is important to know the homes around you. Your addition should not make your house twice as large as any other in your neighborhood. You want value for your addition dollar for future resale.
An addition should not look like an addition: The initial thought for many home owners is to design additions in existing roofed areas of your home, examples being garages and covered porches. Usually this leads to bad design as a family room in a garage is almost always in an inconvenient location away from other activities in the home. Adding space in covered porch areas encloses existing rooms leaving them with limited exterior views. Many of these solutions also lead to an home exterior that looks as if it was added on to. An existing driveway leading to a new bay window where the garage door used to be is a great example of what should be avoided. A good designer can bring fresh ideas to the process. Designing up with a partial second floor on a single story home is often a great way to make an addition appear as original construction.
A general contractor can save money: Many home owners look to save money with the elimination of a general contractor. This is not always the best idea and can actually cost money and time over the course of the project. A general contractor will have rapport with local building officials and inspectors. They also will have a working relationship with all the sub-contractors that will be involved, and know the best individuals to hire. They can monitor workmanship, timeliness and will get a better price from sub-contractors in most cases than if you hire them. General contractors also have knowledge in finding systems and products that work well in the Northern Nevada climate.