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Hi. I need some advice about the necessity for construction plans. A partner and I recently had an accepted offer on a four story brownstone which we’ll be inhabiting as double duplexes. It’s a gut reno–electric, plumbing, roof, HVAC, facade, some layout reconfiguration, adding kitchens and baths. We are able to afford it since we got a good deal as long as we keep the reno costs from snowballing out of control.

So far, we’ve gotten estimates from 5 different contractors based on a set of specs where I listed everything I could imagine we might want. But I didn’t provide a specific layout (since we don’t quite know it yet) beyond a kitchen and two baths in this unit, etc, nor did I specifiy the type of boiler or flooring, etc. The estimates ranged from 300k to 585k (for 3000 square feet).

Based on recs from this forum we are thinking of using Scott Schnall to submit BOD plans, but a number of architects I’ve spoken with have made the case for needing construction plans too. I was hoping that I could just hire an architect for some design help because frankly we can’t budget much more than 5k for architecture fees on top of Schnall’s 5k for submitting permits (including HVAC). I was hoping that an experienced contractor could work without them, but according to the architects I spoke with, that route will likely result in inaccurate bids for the job and a lot of change orders, which is exactly how reno costs can spiral out of control.

So now we are trying to decide whether to cough up the dough to hire an architect to draw up construction plans or just hire them for our 5k budget for design help and some guidance on choosing heating systems, flooring, etc, or whether a good contractor can offer the guidance and design help we need. Sorry for the length of this post!!! But I’m hoping that those of you with reno experience can share some of your experience.

Gratefully,
LucyBB