Design Issues

[YouNeverKnow]

Has anyone had issues with their design person when designing a new house? Is there a supervisor or someone you can get in touch with to resolve issues? it seems that it's hard to find out who to contact for what when it comes to building. Thanks people!

[villagetinker]

Has anyone had issues with their design person when designing a new house? Is there a supervisor or someone you can get in touch with to resolve issues? it seems that it's hard to find out who to contact for what when it comes to building. Thanks people!

There are typically certain 'standard' modification to the standard houses. If you are trying for changes beyond the typical ones, I would expect resistance, as these may represent too wide of a deviation resulting in significant changes to the basic design. We have a Gardenia, that we were able to get 3 of 4 stretches, missed one due to the build lines on the lot. There was one request that I had requested, and was flatly refused because it would have required a redesign of several roof trusses.
I am hoping that the designer you are dealing with would be willing to sit down and explain why items that you want cannot be incorporated in your house.

Your other option, would be to contact one of the larger construction firms, to see if your changes could be made after the house is built, however this will require prior approval from ARC, and will cost more.
Hope this helps.

[YouNeverKnow]

There are typically certain 'standard' modification to the standard houses. If you are trying for changes beyond the typical ones, I would expect resistance, as these may represent too wide of a deviation resulting in significant changes to the basic design. We have a Gardenia, that we were able to get 3 of 4 stretches, missed one due to the build lines on the lot. There was one request that I had requested, and was flatly refused because it would have required a redesign of several roof trusses.
I am hoping that the designer you are dealing with would be willing to sit down and explain why items that you want cannot be incorporated in your house.

Your other option, would be to contact one of the larger construction firms, to see if your changes could be made after the house is built, however this will require prior approval from ARC, and will cost more.
Hope this helps.
It was what we believe was a mistake the designer made when designing our house. We asked for the standard window in a master bath to be replaced with block windows. The standard window Is 24 inches wide. (Which we found out later) When she replaced it with blocks, she only used 2 blocks wide which made the window 16 inches instead of the standard 24 inches wide. When we saw it, it looked like just a small slit in the bathroom and hardly lets any light in. They now want over a thousand dollars to change it! When she replaced the standard window it should have been 3 blocks wide and 4 blocks long to make it the standard window size. Have no idea why she would just have designed it with two blocks and she has no explanation. Looking for someone we can talk to to try and resolve this.

[ColdNoMore]

Tell them you paid for a 24" wide window...and expect them to live up to their legally binding contract.

Unless you inadvertently signed off on the existing 16" wide block window and didn't pick up on it, in which case......

[villagetinker]

OP, sorry to hear about the problem. This was probably a misunderstanding, we did have something similar, but it was so minor that we let it slide. No idea if you have a block or stick house, but I am guessing in any case it was framed for the smaller window, and that is why the high cost to change. IMHO, let it go for now, and have it changed later, I am GUESSING it will be lower cost, but you will have to deal with the dust, etc.

Actually, depending on the house, I am surprised they allowed that change. On our house if there was a fire in the closets or master bedroom the ONLY EXIT from the master bathroom is that small window.....while I KNOW these windows are NOT designated emergency exits, I still like having a window I can open and get out just in case.