Finding a Professional Designer for DIY build
My husband and I are in the beginning planning stages of building our own small home in New Hampshire. We want an efficient home and have spent some time on GBA reading about REMOTE and double-studded walls. However, with no professional experience, we are getting the sense that putting together a design and then building the walls could be over our heads.
We have found a few design-build firms in our area, and while I am still contacting more of them, they seem pricey, and they prefer to do the building themselves. Is it reasonable to look for someone to just design the home for us to build? Is it a bad idea to build one of these less conventional wall assemblies as an amateur?
I am new to this world and hoping someone can shed some light on the design process, and point me in the right direction.
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Hello Rachel from a fellow NH resident. My wife and I recently moved into our new home which was built by a local custom home builder with little experience in building a high-efficiency home but who was willing to work with us in what I'd call a cooperative learning experience (I certainly learned a LOT!). We now have a well-insulated (very comfortable) all-electric house with double-stud walls.
There are several good articles by New England builders on the Fine Homebuilding Web site which illustrate construction with double-stud walls. Check out some of those and see if they give you an idea if the framing is something you can pull off yourself.
I'd be happy to share what we learned from our experience - drop me an e-mail to tony AT dziedzic DOT us if you'd like to chat (on the phone or in-person - we're in Merrimack). That would save me trying to write a mini-novel ;-) Tony.
Thank you so much, Tony! I will definitely send you an email!
If you want to build the home yourself, but also want a designer, looking for an architect or designer that specializes in high performance homes is probably a better route than a design-builder, because as you've noticed, design-builders like to do both the design and the building!
You'll definitely want to find a designer who both has experience with high performance homes, and also is excited about the fact that you want to build the home yourself, as you're likely to need a lot more support and ask a lot more questions during construction than a typical contractor!
My experience as an architect working with owners doing the building themselves is that I have to be thoughtful about which details might be easy for an experienced contractor with a crew of several people, but could be difficult for an owner-builder working alone.
I'm not in your part of the country, but if you poke around on GBA you'll find a fair number of architects and designers in the New England area! You also might really enjoy the book https://www.prettygoodhouse.org/ by several frequent GBA contributors (and might look into hiring one of the authors!).
Thank you so much, I have just jumped over to the Pretty Good House site and am already pulling up the authors. Can't wait to check out more of the articles; what I've seen already looks amazing.
I basically am looking for a designer, just like you said, just haven't figured out the right search terms to find the results I wanted. That's why I'm here asking humans, lol, and it's already going much better!
I highly recommend the Pretty Good House book. There's too much information out there, and the authors distill down the essential elements for comfort, durability, and eco responsibility.
I think you are an ideal candidate for a pre-fabricated, high efficiency well insulated home that is delivered and then assembled onsite. There are quite a few companies in the Northeast that achieve high quality, high efficiency homes delivered to your homesite. They aren't necessarily cheap but have economies of scale that circumvent your self proclaimed future learning curve and save you the money you will waste by not being experienced.
I'd seriously considered them if I were you.
Seconding Nick that if you already own your land and you're OK with stock options, just hire BrightBuilt / Unity Homes / Ecocor. Their houses will be way better built than whatever some random GC can put together, and won't cost more than a design-build firm.
I am open to pre fab options even if they stretch our desired budget somewhat, but the base pricing I saw on one of the sites @david_solar mentions was enough to scare me off right away. But, I will look into it more anyway, and perhaps see if one of those companies is within the realm of possibility.
Keep shopping. If those prices still scare you, your desired budget isn't going to work for a design/build either.
The only real way to seriously reduce your cost is to do as much of the construction yourself possible. You could certainly just hire an architect to design your home, or buy house plans online and then build the house yourself. But your lack of experience is a recipe for costly mistakes. Doable, of course, but time consuming. I did this 44 years ago and we are just now selling the house!
The other option is having plans and then asking GC's to build it for you. I suspect this will approach the same cost factor as the design/build people.
My bet is your budget is too low.
To clarify, we are planning on my husband doing much of the construction — he has experience with some, though not all, aspects of homebuilding — and hiring in those areas he does not. I do hear you about the risks of making mistakes. We are actively working on our financials to put as much toward this house as we can, to get it right with the knowledge and skill of professionals!
I am also in NH & would second looking at Unity Homes ...
They have a really innovative way of not only building the house, but also pricing the house ...
"Unity has developed a unique design system that streamlines the design-build process for our clients, and helps to ensure predictable quality, schedules and costs. The design system is based on five “platforms,” or starting points, and a library of pre-designed, pre-engineered components such as primary bedroom additions, porches, garages and connectors."
https://unityhomes.com/how-we-design-build/
I'd also take a look at Shelter-Kit in NH
"For over 50 years, Shelter-Kit has been designing and producing kit buildings, for assembly by owners, in a wide range of sizes and styles to meet your requirements. With so many existing designs, we have one that's perfect for you!
We have designed barn or garage kits that include living space, as well as ranch houses, colonials, capes, and more, to meet each customer’s specific requirements. We can work with you to design your building, help you obtain a building permit, and arrange shipping. We will be available to answer your questions before, during, and after construction. We consider every order to be a special order, and we will work with you accordingly. Lead times can be as short as five weeks for our Popular House kits, but will be longer for Custom Designs and in our busier seasons.
https://www.shelter-kit.com/about-shelter-kit.html
wow, thanks, can't believe I haven't come across them!
The people that design homes generally call them self’s architects as I recall they charge about 7% of the build price.
If your budget is so tight that a general contractor and even paying sub-contractors is off the table. It seems professional design services would be a total no go.
My guess is anyone professionally designing homes without being a state licensed architect is probably breaking the law and do you really want to employ a criminal?
I want to warn you that you are at a very vulnerable point in you build! It is all too easy to pay someone to design the home of your dreams only to be crushed when it costs 3 what you can afford. Your left with the choice of starting over or finding the money, both very painfully options.
Sadly, the only real way to cut a custom home construction budget is to reduce the number of square feet.
Walta
With the exception of a few states, you don't need a license to design single-family homes (and usually 2-family homes as well) anywhere in the USA.
Architects and designers typically charge anywhere from 1% to 15% of construction costs, depending on location, services and credentials. 7% is probably about average.
A good designer or architect will be able to tell you within reason how much your home is likely to cost. A designer who misses by a factor of 3X won't be in business very long. There are always a lot of variables so it's impossible to anticpate costs accurately before there's a design or builder involved, but most design professionals should be able to get within a reasonable range.
Reducing square footage certainly goes a long way toward reducing costs. Choices of materials, building shape complexity, site constraints and other things also play major roles in the cost of construction.
Thank you Michael for clarifying about archotects vs other professional home designers. re: budget, My comment was actually that one particular pre-fab company was above our budget. We plan on hiring some contractors.
Rachel, you mentioned reading the Pretty Good House website. I wrote most of the content there and co-wrote the book, including the chapter on "things to know before you start." Not to plug the book--just writing this comment is costing me more in time than I'll make if you buy a copy--but we did write it specifically for people in your position.
Lol, don't worry Michael, I already ordered the book yesterday! When I read the description, it was like all the things I've been searching for had projected out of my mind onto the Amazon webpage. Instant buy.
I think this is the worst advice to this question so far.
As Michael said, most states do not require architect license to design single family residential. There are a lot of very good designers that are not architects, who either started building and transitioned into design, or simply never saw the need for obtaining the license and it is not required for the work they do. You are not just going to magically get a great designer by making sure they are an architect. Many are good, many are ok, a few are bad, some have no knowledge of high performance building. You should just vet your designer like you would with any other professional you hire, interview them, look at past works, talk to previous clients, etc.
"I want to warn you that you are at a very vulnerable point in you build!" I would say you are actually at the very least vulnerable point in your build. The design phase is were you work out all your kinks and pricing data. The most vulnerable point in your build is halfway through, when you run out of money because you didn't spend the proper time in the design phase. As Michael said, if your designer is off by 3x they are either a bad designer or covid just happened. In any case this should be caught about halfway through the design process and you can remediate the design. You cant just magically know exactly how much something is going to cost without a set of plans.
"Sadly, the only real way to cut a custom home construction budget is to reduce the number of square feet." This is certainly not true. you can spend $20k on kitchen cabinets or you can spend $200k. There are a lot of areas for cost saving in custom construction, you just might have to make concessions.
As far as fees, I would recommend you hire a designer that charges hourly or else gives you a bid based on estimated hours to complete project. If it is based solely on % build it creates an inevitable conflict of interest.
Last thing I will say is that, to an extent, the more you time and detail you iron out in the design phase, the cheaper and more consistent the construction will be. It is almost always cheaper to have a single designer work out a detail on a computer than a crew of 3-4 guys on a jobsite...
thanks Michael and Freyr! I've got a bunch of ideas for getting the most out of dollars spent building our house, like a simple square-footprint 1.5-story house, and our property is even a south-facing hill! To your point about kitchen cabinets, we certainly plan on utilizing used hutches, tables, and salvaged cabinets. It will be considered below lots of peoples' standards, but we prefer to stay within our means. However all my research and ideas won't produce a usable construction plan, which is what brings me here, and i've certainly gotten some leads that Google wasn't providing!
If you read some more on here, you'll find that 1.5 story construction is one of the hardest structures to build well.
General recommendation is either build a single story or two story.
Sometimes a 1.5 story does make sense for local architecture though. You can still build one but you essentially have to build it as a two story structure with short outside walls.
Couple of other recommendations. Corners, weather your builder charges for them are or not always add to the build cost and increase complexity so try to limit them.
I also generally aim for structures to clear span. This avoids interior load bearing structures/walls and additional foundation support. It also makes the building much more adaptable down the road.
If you are in the land where buyers expect a basement, build it even if it costs more as it will add significant value down the road. If you don't want the cost of a basement, I would still build with a conditioned crawlspace. It makes for great place for hvac and utilities, simplifies your plumbing and electrical and can be used for storage.
Thank you, I didn't know that about 1.5 vs 2! We are totally planning on a square/rectangle footprint, no bumpouts, one big gable roof. Like a traditional cape/colonial.
freyr_design,
"I would say you are actually at the very least vulnerable point in your build. The design phase is were you work out all your kinks and pricing data."
GBA's Q&A would be a pretty desolate place if people worked out their builds at the design stage, not once they were already framed. So much we discuss is remedial stuff related to things that hadn't been thought through.
You can do this! The real question is do you guys have the interest and dedication to
for the long grind and it will be a long grind. My wife and I have done this 3 times over
period exceeding thirty years - the first one is the hardest because of limited knowledge and budget. The upside is that if you find ways to do most of the work yourselves you have the potential for substantial profit at the end - the downside is likely 16 hour days 6 or 7 days a week for a couple years
( Ah! the wonderful life of a Do-it-Yourselfer).
Here is a little of what I have found to be true. Architects are generally way more
expensive than designers - but buying yourself a drafting table & learning enough to do- it-yourself is far less expensive than either (you don't need a computer to do this! Your building Department will accept hand drawn plans and will probably be of some help knowledge wise) - some of the work (not a very great percentage) requires
machinery and/or skills that aren't worth the time and expense to acquire
(for me that was mostly concrete work, roofing, and electrical) - nearly
everything else was strictly DIY. Why 16 hours a day? Because we held down full
time jobs while building. Was it worth it? At the time we often went to bed with
sawdust in our hair, but now looking back in old age and retirement -
It was a wonderful life!
Hi Rachel - I am a high performance architectural designer in Connecticut with experience in the type of project you're looking to do (high performance double stud residential) - while I am employed and have a noncompete, I'd still be glad to speak with you regarding your project within the bounds of my ability. I can try to point you to someone who can do the job, or offer any insight I can. Feel free to email me at jhwehrli @ gmail dot com if you'd like!
Thanks, I sent an email! If you are strapped on time, my one main question is really your recommended designer who could modify pre-made, purchased plans using double-stud, for our site. Thank you!
Hi there,
My advice is find a set of plans u can live with or modify from online house plan sites. Or the prefab high performance units.
I am also building in NH.
I fell for the "an architect will fit the house to the building lot" idea.....that did NOT work out for me. The local guy I hired said all the right things but took forever to deliver any portion of plan. It was not cheap either (nor crazy expensive).
The most stress I have had in my project so far was dealing with him and the contant delays and mistakes he made. I lost a year waiting for him.
I took his nearly finished plan and had some guy (from South America) on FIVER modify it to fit the land and correct several mistakes. I cannot say enough good about that service.
If I had to do it all over again I would keep searching the online sites till I found most of what I wanted....then hired someone to modify it from Fiverr.
Good luck
Wow, that's fascinating! I have actually found a house plan that I love, and would only want minor adjustments to. If it was possible to modify it to double-stud and any other high-efficiecy recommendations the designer had, that would be awesome.
Designers (and architects) can be very effective at lowering your total cost if you get a good one. A good designer has had some experience and seen where costly mistakes or just costly decisions were made and can help steer you away from them.
I've been in countless houses where the plans just simply suck. They were cookie cutter with little to no consideration for how the people building the home actually lived. "Oh, we'll live with that and fix it when we remodel." This was the most expensive option I could imagine...spending half a million, a year, and not being happy with it and then planning on spending hundred thousand or more down the line to change it. ...but they saved a couple thousand on designers fees!
Hello. I would recommend that you look at the series of books Called "The Not So Big House" by the Architect Sarah Susanka. She discusses how to build a smaller but much more functional home and walks you through each room in a house and points out every feature you should consider and its benefit to your lifestyle.
You can get many of her books at a local library.
My advice is to step back and start with an overall budget for the project. Do it the way a spec builder would do it, research what houses are selling for in the area. The rule of thumb is that it's hard to sell a house that's more than 15% away from the median price for houses in the area. So find out what that is.
That gives you a baseline. You may decide that you want to spend more or less than that, but you want that to be a conscious decision, not something you back into. Even if your intention is to live in the house for the rest of your life, and leave in a box, there are a lot of practical reasons to build a house that is sellable. First, plans change, you never know what life is going to throw at you. Second, a sellable house is a financeable house and it's always a good idea to have a house that appraises for at least what you put into it.
One thing to realize that a house that is inexpensive for its neighborhood is not as good of an investment as one closer to the median.
Once you've decided on a budget, the next question is how much house do you get for that number? And how do you get the most house for your money? Which is actually another way of saying, how do you build as cheaply as possible? Where do you skimp, and where are false economies? And if you're going to contribute your own labor, how much time do you have to offer, and where can you apply it to get the greatest return?
In that framework, I would say that having a house custom-designed is a luxury, and agree with the other posters that you should start with an existing plan.
I have no way of verifying this but....I feel a POPULAR existing plan has many of the bugs workded out of it......(Like my architect making stairway 6" too narrow).
Adding on a foot or two with the Website Plan companies in house modification process is no big deal.....adding 4' is pushing it(thats where we went wrong with proportions) . They are like robots, and will give what you ask for....but no opinions on how it will look.
I went the route of using an existing plan My wife had to have....I did not like it at first....we modified the crap out of it.....In the end it seemed to lose a lot of the original proportions and was awkward so we trashed it. All was not lost because we learned a lot in the process.
When we hired the architect for round 2 of our home.....I really though the guy was a perfect fit for us like "he can read my mind and knows exactly what we want without me saying much"....ha. ha was I wrong.
His winning statement to get the job was "when the plans are done, no one should be making any decisions....all site elevations will be set in stone". Boy did he backpedal a year later when I questioned the siting of the home on the topography compared to its shape.
Be sure the house fits the Lot. examples.....make sure your views are correct side of house, or garage doors point in correct direction. Or your walkout portions of basement are in correct spot (if building on sloped land).
Again Fiverr was crucial for me. I started with a walk thru video of the house (this is when the stair dimension came up). The video was awesome. I had the same guy relocate where garage attaches to house and several other things.
As an architect, I would like to make just a couple of comments...Fees can be a fixed fee, hourly, or percentage...All have their good and bad points. And a percentage fee doesn't necessarily mean an architect has an incentive to make things more expensive. Sometimes, I've spent hours (days) trying to make things less expensive, sometimes over small items, sometimes over large things. That said, you need to feel comfortable and have confidence in your architect (or designer) from day one. There will be good and bad days during the process, problems that arise during construction....you don't want to be in the position of questioning your choice down the road. Talk to other clients before engaging. See if you're simpatico with other projects they've done.
And yes, the size of a house has a major impact on costs, but don't feel if you reduce overall size by, say, 15% that you'll save 15% of cost....No way. You're still paying exactly the same for the septic system, the well, the electric service. You're still paying the same, or almost the same for the cost of almost everything except for a little less siding, or shingles, or wood floor, but chances are the labor is the same, the cost of the electrician, the plumber, etc is the same. Remember. Penny-wise, pound foolish.
Hi Rachel - My wife and I are also starting construction on a home in NH (southern White Mtns) this summer, and we are hoping to do as much as possible ourselves. This will be our second build. The first was not easy, but we learned a ton in the process. Generally, we took our time and were proud and gratified with the work. I think saving money is an OK motivation for DIY. However, I think understanding what a house is made up of, and executing the various aspects of construction are great things to have under one's belt. It is a giant problem-solving exercise that can be broken down into small pieces.
There is so much education available these days. I try to spend at least 45 minutes a day reading a bit in the Pretty Good House book, and an article or three from this list: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/how-to-do-everything
On our first build in 2005, when we were quite young, we just went to an architect that had an office about 15 minutes from our land and asked him how cheaply he could modify a simple plan I found online. This worked well for getting the state stamp on the plans. Also, the plan as it ended up getting built was pretty good. I think he did the plans, including elevations for under $4000...It could have even been in the 2-3k range, as it was 20 years ago.
A few people in this thread mentioned using Fiverr. I've done that. I used a guy to design a 1 story as well as a 1.5 story. Ultimately, my wife and I decided on the 1 story...mainly for reasons of insulation depth and wanting a truly vented attic.
Once we had the Fiverr design, I posted the floor plan here on GBA and asked for critique. I am very grateful for all of the folks who gave the design serious thought. I bought the Live Home 3D software and then started to work on the floor plan myself. It has been through more than a dozen iterations, but it has come around to something that we are pretty happy with. Additionally, thanks to the folks here on GBA, I've picked up a pile of great thoughts/suggestions. Here is a link to the thread where folks assisted me with our floor plan: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/floor-plan-critique-requested
A final word on Fiverr. There is a big mix of contractors on that platform. I've used dozens for various types of work, in graphic design, photo editing, video editing, and more. On a cheap job, I recommend that folks just hire 2-3 people and get them all working on the same thing. One can then dial it in with one of the contractors that is the best at understanding your goal and has good communication. I didn't do that for our floor plan, but I wish I had. I was charged $80 for a single-story floor plan. It had some issues, but it was a very good starting point, which is really what I wanted since I was not finding any off-the-shelf floor plans that matched my rough exterior dimensions and were designed for passive solar orientation.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but trying to cut costs and use online stock plans at the design phase is one of the last things I would do. The design is the heart and soul of the house and there are so many things that can compromise it such as orientation and sun, shade patterns, views, flow and function and even bulkhead and mechanical chase locations.
I'm in the tail end of my build and there are tens if not hundreds of decisions that are made during the build that impact budget way more than any savings on design fees. Everything from surprises during excavation to windows, doors, mechanicals, cladding, cabinets, counters, etc. It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and fall for for "it's only $x more" Do that that a hundred times and it's really significant. I've adopted a test to even think about extras. It sounds great, but am I going to care in a year? If no, it's not done. IMO, any premium in design fees can be recovered with trade offs in cosmetic choices in finishes, many which can be upgraded later. It's impossible to upgrade the design without a major renovation.
I hired a local Designer and insisted on a site visit and walk around. Some wanted to sit at their desks and look at google maps. I eliminated them early.
I agree with this, though I’m probably biased. There is a reason vernacular architecture exists, different areas have different requirements.
The book Building an Affordable House (second edition) by Fernando Pages Ruiz is now available from Amazon. He has some good recommendations for keeping costs low. I updated some elements in the house that I am designing for myself.
for reference costs. I paid my local NH architect 15.5k and it was a price never set in stone and pre-paid before every step. At the time i hired him, NO other architect even returned my call. As far a getting references....I think that is kinda a joke. As a carpenter.....the very few times I had to give a referral name to a new customer.....I did so with a very long time happy customer......I am sure any architect would do the same.....if not give me the name of his cousin.
My experience was awful......but then again I can name 3 customers in my 20 years with my own business who would say the same of me.
I just do not believe that ALL architects are going to be great (or even not ok). My 2 best points of advice is 1) get a schedule in writing 2) have a house plan you already like but needs to be customized.
Also, if you are on this site...then you obviously care about being green....so read the PGH book for starters
These are great points about references, Dirk. I am curious, what year was this (when you paid the architect 15k) and where in NH?
A referral is far different than a reference, and even then, experiences can vary widely.