When you are making changes to your home, an architect might not be top-of-mind. You probably ask your friends for contractor recommendations and don’t think about the structural impact on your home until the contractor tells you that the wall you want to move is load-bearing, and he can’t help you. This is why you need an architect for your next home remodeling. No matter how big or small your project, an architect can help you save time, money, and stress in five key ways.
Provide Low-Cost Solutions
Remodeling a home can get expensive fast. When you don’t know much about materials and solutions, it is easy to spend money where you don’t need to. An architect can help come up with comparable materials or unique solutions that cut your bill down to size. They can take that feature you saw on HGTV and create something that fits your budget while delivering the same function and aesthetic.
Project Management
With a home renovation project, there are a lot of balls to keep in the air. There are contractors, electricians, plumbers, painters and other professionals – not to mention materials and equipment. An architect can help coordinate what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and who needs to do it using what. While they may charge differently for this type of oversight on a project, it can be well worth it. Their experience and expertise means they can see problems arising before you do and often solve them before they become your problem.
Creative Space Planning
Another reason you need an architect on a remodeling project is to find creative ways to work around structural or spatial problems. What may look like a dead-end to you and your contractor may look like untapped potential to an architect. They are used to taking underutilized areas and turning them into something that will benefit you on a daily basis. They are trained to see the potential in a space and bring it out in ways a contractor or homeowner can’t even imagine.
Preventing Costly Mistakes
There are plenty of stories out there about people who opened up a space in their home without consulting an architect only to come to regret their decision. What often happens in these cases is when they try and sell the house, they find that the changes they made do not pass inspection. Those are the lucky cases. DIY projects or a contractor working without an architectural background can lead to dangerous mistakes. Nothing like enjoying your new living room just to have the bathtub crash through the ceiling. Architects know what they are doing and can plan for large structural changes in a way that preserves the structural integrity of the house and keeps you and your family safe.
Adding Value
We all want to sell our home for above market value. In fact, a lot of remodeling projects are undertaken with the express intention of adding value to the house. However, what often ends up happening is the homeowner spends more on the remodel than they will make in selling the house. An architect knows how to make the changes in a way that will pay for themselves and more by streamlining the process, using the right materials, making sure the remodel is seamless and visually appealing and even advising on how far you should take the remodel.
These are just some of the reasons you need an architect on your home remodeling project. They can also preserve the look and feel of historic homes, spot existing safety issues, and have a better handle on the process and needs of a project. So for your next remodeling project, find an architect near you and ask for a consultation.
