Can-Usa-Arch-Designs
Ask the Expert: Architectural & Construction Advice
Ep. 12 - Take the brakes off
Building better lifestyles
The majority of people wanting a custom home are already experienced homeowners, and the same is true for those adding on extensions.
Typically, experienced homeowners know exactly what they want before calling an architectural designer.
Ep. 11 - Shortcuts gone wrong
Long after you move in
There’s nothing more disheartening than buying a new home, or spending over $200,000 on an extension and almost out of nowhere, you can suddenly see bulging drywall in the living room because the contractor chose to use crowned lumber, or wind blowing through an exterior wall socket that wasn’t insulated and guarded properly.
Ep. 10 - Details matter
Trust the process
The perfect client is someone who gives almost too much information at the beginning of the design process, and then stays out of the way and trusts the process until they’re ready to start the build. They always give quick responses when requested and payments are usually early.
Ep. 9 - Winter Construction
As it begins...
As we begin the new construction season, after the longest break of the year, all the trades have returned back to building, and the architecture world gets a lot busier.
Ep. 8 - Experience is everything
Taking advice
What is the entire point of hiring a professional? Answer: So, they can use the sometimes decades of experience to make your life better in some way. That’s what you’re paying them for the services they provide.
So, if you’re paying someone hundreds of dollars an hour, why would you argue or resist their advice? It’s an all-too-common situation, and it usually involves the monetary parts of the agreement or contract.
Ep. 7 - Going in the right direction
Means of communicating
Take a plain piece of paper (scaled graph paper is even better) and a ruler, and just start drawing out the ideal floor plan as you imagine it.
You’ll be quite surprised by how much better your involvement helps the designer and your understanding of it.
Ep. 6 - New year rush
Same thing every year
It’s always the same thing every year – People put off starting their building project until the very last moment, and then from the last week of December to the first week of January the calls and emails start coming in endlessly. If you’re in the architectural business, it’s not a complaint, but it is a dilemma since there are the timewasters who are still asking questions with no planned date on taking any action, and the real-time clients that need quick answers and attention in getting their projects moving. This goes on right up to the end of April.
Ep. 5 - Online Ethics
First Impressions
Two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression.” – Cynthia Ozick
Imagine if you will… operating a store, and a customer comes in and begins asking a few questions, but they haven’t given you enough information so you ask further questions to serve them better. And then right in the middle of the conversation, they turn around and walk out. A few days later, they return and ask why you have not responded to their earlier questions. This is a regular occurrence for businesses online.
Ep. 4 - Hesitation
Product of ruined happiness
“Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.” – Thomas Huxley
In the last 12 months, I’ve seen the bottom of fear and hesitation when it comes to making life so much better by improving through the number one piece of property people reside on – Their home. As part of multiple means of leads with individuals only interested in either designing a custom home or adding on an addition to their existing home, I’ve spoken to over 330 people about the exact same subject.
In the last 12 months, I’ve seen the bottom of fear and hesitation when it comes to making life so much better by improving through the number one piece of property people reside on – Their home. As part of multiple means of leads with individuals only interested in either designing a custom home or adding on an addition to their existing home, I’ve spoken to over 330 people about the exact same subject.
Ep. 3 - Feeling out your space
Stand in the middle
When building a new space, especially where it ends up being part of home life, it takes special planning.
The easiest way to do this is by looking around in the places you live and work in, and then taking the time to imagine what would make that same space better, which is the essence of every human being’s purpose in changing their surroundings of daily living.
The easiest way to do this is by looking around in the places you live and work in, and then taking the time to imagine what would make that same space better, which is the essence of every human being’s purpose in changing their surroundings of daily living.
Ep. 2 - Timing; Trust the process
Timing is everything
Like clockwork, by the middle to end of February, people are clawing at their architects, designers, and contractors to build their Spring projects, only to find out their badly timed requests will be delayed well into the late Summer or Fall. Sometimes, even longer. Most individuals who’ve yet to experience it find understanding the timing concept hard to accept.
If you want to begin construction by late Spring 2023, the first place to have started was early September 2022. Leaving it to the New Year will only bring disappointment.
If you want to begin construction by late Spring 2023, the first place to have started was early September 2022. Leaving it to the New Year will only bring disappointment.
Ep. 1 - New podcast: When to start?
Timing is everything
Like clockwork, by the middle to end of February, people are clawing at their architects, designers, and contractors to build their Spring projects, only to find out their badly timed requests will be delayed well into the late Summer or Fall. Sometimes, even longer. Most individuals who’ve yet to experience it find understanding the timing concept hard to accept.
If you want to begin construction by late Spring 2023, the first place to have started was early September 2022. Leaving it to the New Year will only bring disappointment.
If you want to begin construction by late Spring 2023, the first place to have started was early September 2022. Leaving it to the New Year will only bring disappointment.
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