Design
“Measure twice, cut once”. Indeed, any talented and experienced craftsman may do this instinctively, but there is something even more important before a contractor ever gets to verify his measurements. Design, plan, and permit! The saying should be revised to “Plans first, measure twice, cut once” Remodeler Orange CA.
All professionals establish a plan before performing any important service. Sea captains don’t set sail without a plotted course, airline pilots don’t take off without a flight plan and good navigation equipment, surgeons don’t rush in to operate without at least an Xray or reading a MRI . According to Sun Tzu, author of the “The Art of War” successful military battles are won in the planning room long before the battle is ever fought. Construction plans are important and the quality of these plans is even more important. The architect and engineer’s plans are what general contractors need to follow in order to achieve the desired outcome.
The Quality of the Plans
A good set of construction plans can make or break a project. Planning offers the greatest leverage to the successful execution and bringing the project in our budget. A great set of detailed architectural design plans with a clear set of structural plans can literally save you tens of thousands of dollars in changes, errors and corrections during most mid to large scaled projects. A poor or non-existent set of plans can result in changes, overruns, unexpected encounters and can even result in penalties and fines by building departments and/or homeowner associations. If you’re looking for the best remodeler Orange CA to start your project then hiring the right planning company can make the end product a simple step by step reality.
In the Truplans design process our designers have all been trained to address four important design principles that we call the four cornerstones of design. We are always balancing these four aspects in order to optimize a design for our clients.
- Appearance
- Functionality
- Building Code
- Feasibility or Cost
Appearance
It is a Truplans remodeler Orange CA mantra that the number one most important factor is that your home remodeling project must be designed to look outstanding. It should look like it was part of the original structure. It should not stand out as something that was added like an afterthought.
Functionality
The function of a room is mainly referring to the type of room and how the space is going to be used. A space being designed as an open concept area can score high on the appearance but have a much lower functional value.
Building Code
All things being designed must meet the up to date building code requirements. We often encounter family members and friends who are either amateur designers or self-proclaimed professional interior designers that are strong of appearance and even functionality but are completely unaware of the building code regarding the space they are designing. It gets worked out in the end, but waiting for building code corrections to fix a poor design is just a waste of time.
Feasibility or Cost
Last, but certainly not least we consider the best locations for fixtures using the first three cornerstones above, but we also consider the cost of construction. Some changes can look incredible, but can have a very comparable design option available that could cut the cost to build by half. Feasibility and cost should always be part of the design process. Most remodeler Orange CA homeowners do not have an unlimited amount of money to throw at a home improvement. Providing effective cost saving options and considerations is the first step in managing the projects overall project cost.
Planning Disasters
Yes, having a bad set of plans with errors and even important omissions can crash your home remodeling project in many ways. Change orders and cost overruns become very common with vague planning documents. Failing to plan is literally like planning to fail. Without good plans and check points your project can easily fall into a catastrophe. We’ve seen the fallout of such cases and have been asked to come in and rescue projects from contractors that have either built illegally without getting plans or permits. When a contractor is not held to any standard due to the lack of a permit and the inspections that accompany the permitting process, they will always take shortcuts. In their mind this is the one opportunity to try and increase their margins because they know they are not going have to do everything according to building code. With all this being said you can also have a great set of plans and yet hire an inexperienced contractor to try and carry them out. This is a different type of remodeling disaster that leads to the planning company being pulled back into the project to revise things the contractor has built contrary to the written and approved set of plans. This situation is very expensive to the homeowner and the planning company is under no contractual obligation to redraw the plans according to how the contractor decided to change them.
As-Built and Existing Plans
Finding the existing plans for your home can be frustrating if not out right impossible. City records departments often lose plans of previously approved projects. The older the house the more likely the plans have gone missing. Even when you can find the remodeler Orange CA plans to your own home getting permission to get copies can be a time consuming process as well. Being able to view the existing plans is extremely helpful for contractors, engineers and architects to be able to reference important changes and how they are to be made. Knowing how your house was suppose to be built can be found by looking at existing as-built plans. We say suppose to be built because more often than you’d think original plans were not followed and even inspectors have approved structures while missing critical components.
3D Room Addition Plans
The remodeler Orange CA 3D design plans are really for the homeowner to be able to visualize what is being drawn on the architectural construction documents. Conceptual 3Ds, as helpful as they are, are not normally required for building permits for residential homes. The two dimensional architectural construction documents make up the official set that is required to convey the changes to square footage, natural lighting and ventilation, electrical, mechanical, framing, plumbing, structural as well as all the current building code requirements stated that are relevant to the projects approval. The Truplans 3D process uses state of the art software programs and apps to visually convey what the room addition is going to look like.