100 k--how far can this go
Just closing on a brownstone and want to do work on the parlor floor (Ultimately this first project would be ‘phase one’ of an overall plan for the house.) What we are hoping to do in the short term is install new flooring, expand the kitchen, convert a full bath to a half, renovate the…
Just closing on a brownstone and want to do work on the parlor floor (Ultimately this first project would be ‘phase one’ of an overall plan for the house.) What we are hoping to do in the short term is install new flooring, expand the kitchen, convert a full bath to a half, renovate the parlor floor fireplace and possibly open up the wall into the stairwell. Our overall budget for this one floor would be 100-
$150k (not including architect design fees or incidentals.)
Am I crazy to think we can do all this with this budget?
If you were an architect would you consider taking this gig?
I just want to make sure I’m not approaching architects and offending them or sending them into fits of laughter by even suggesting it…
The people on this site obviously have no conception of what it takes to run a business.
$150K is not a large project for a multi-person firm.
$150,000 X 20% fee is only $30,000. At a 3.0 multiplier that’s only $10,000 in labor. If you average a team of people working on the job making $25-$30/hr that gives you only 400 hours total to do the entire job. That’s 10 weeks of work; 2.5 months. That doesn’t really sustain a practice for very long. As a business you need to make a decision to take on projects that are going to keep your employees and yourself gainfully employed for longer than 2 months.
Obviously some phases take longer than others, but you’d need to have 10 of these projects in your office at the same time in order to sustain having an employee.
So, it’s a small job.
Smokychimp said:
“I find your description simply unbelievable”…”your description as written above is simply not plausible”
Okay so Smokychimp, bklynrosie’s post was inappropriate and yet it was not inappropriate for you to outright say she’s lying? That was so rude.
If we’re not allowed to tell our honest experiences good AND bad, then I don’t need to come to this site anymore. That is, if all this place provides is advertising for architects and contractors.
I come here looking for the straight story. Thank you, bklynrosie, for sharing. Everybody else here really appreciates it.
As for Jeff Sherman being such a great guy, I’m in a creative business, I’ve had to turn away many potential clients who weren’t the right match for me, and there are plenty ways to tell someone that without sending them away offended.
Since when is an $150k project a small one? Sheesh.
Right, no problem, I just thought you were stepping up on my homeboy. You’re right they do excellent work.
I would recommend Robert Schultz (at Khanna/Schultz). They will do smaller projects and they are absolutely great.
Smokychimp:
This was not meant at all to be a personal attack.
I found Jeff to be lovely and professional upon our meeting. I think he was perhaps a bit miffed that he had spent time on a visit and putting together a proposal and then finding out we were below his minimum.
I think it’s totally fair and reasonable that D+S should set a minimum project size, and was simply stating that if one is looking to hire an architect you should try and be as clear as possible regarding budget, to avoid situations such as this.
I was heartbroken we couldn’t use Jeff–I think they do great work and wish the outcome had been different, but c’est la vie!
Bklynrose, Jeff Sherman has been a good friend and colleague of mine for twenty years now and I find your description simply unbelievable. His firm does set a minimum size for a project, which is a perfectly normal and natural business model for an office of that size. But as well as being a talented architect he is a consummate professional, extremely considerate and thoughtful, and your description as written above is simply not plausible to anyone who actually knows him.
I know where OP is coming from–I just had an architect (Jeff Sherman of Delson or Sherman) balk at my project, which is not too far from the 150k mark. We had originally wanted to spend more (around 200-250k,) but the markets have been cruel recently, and things changed in the week since he and I met. When I approached him with my revised budget, I was met with a terse response: “Oh, that’s a very different project isn’t it–no, we would not be interested in a project of that scale–I wish we had known from the start.”
Not exactly the friendliest reaction–he definitely made it seem like I had royally wasted his time!
So I definitely recommend being clear with your budget up front if you are looking to work with an architect. It will avoid hurt feelings all around. Good Luck!
Just watch all the materials you choose. That’s key and that’s what puts people over budget, getting excited at the kitchen design place and going overboard. It might be hard to pass up fancy cabinetry, but do it, say no and pass it up. Same with appliances. The U.S. brand appliances are totally FINE. Don’t worry about keeping up with the Joneses and you can do this within your budget.
If you want fancier cabinets and appliances someday then you put it in years from now when you can afford it. Spend the real money on the mechanicals in the kitchen, the walls, the permanent things. All the rest can be replaced later.
Are you kidding? OF course you could. Everyone on this site is so CRAZY how much they spend on these renovations. You are really getting taken for a ride…
If you want a great job done for less, forgo the architect (it really doesn’t sound like you need one) and go straight to Anais Rogers, 646-460-0100 – she is a designer who works with her huband,Greg, a high end independent contractor. They both do amazing work, are totally reliable AND, as a bonus, are fun to work with.
By the way, for a 16×42 ft wide brownstone, there probably aren’t any load bearing walls – As long as the beams span the whole width, 16 ft is narrow enough that you don’t need support other than the outer brick walls. Make sure the spanning beams are doubled up at either end of the staircase opening.
(I know this because my house is 16.67 ft wide and I knocked out the whole wall that divides staircase from living room – makes the space look SO much bigger.