Experiences with Bolster or Sweeten?

We have gotten shocking sticker prices from a couple of architects for renovations of a townhouse. We know what we want, feel that we have a decent budget, but we’re having trouble pulling the trigger because the architects fees seem so high and to cut into what could be the project budget. A couple of the articles I’ve read were sponsored by either Sweeten or Bolster, so I took the lower budget expectations with a grain of salt. However, it sounds appealing to have someone else do the matchmaking and a guarantee of budget matching and value for the money.

Has anyone RECENTLY had a good experience with either of these services? Pros/cons? Thanks in advance.

monique

in General Discussion 7 years and 11 months ago

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jimhillra | 7 years and 10 months ago

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We’ve tried Sweeten as a source of referrals, and at first (a few years ago) they hooked us up with a couple of owners for very small projects. Nothing ever came of those projects, and then we stopped hearing from them for a couple of years. Our profile is still active, but it seems they’ve shifted their focus to connecting homeowners to contractors, and architects to contractors. No experience with Bolster, though.

I will say though, that pricing for construction seems to be very high lately, and still going up. Most of our clients at this point are doing gut renovations, meaning taking everything down to the floor joists, and sometimes even replacing many to all of those, removing all electrical , plumbing, etc, and we tell clients not to expect less than $250 – $300 per square foot at a minimum, and that’s not a particularly high-end finish.

We’ve got two passive house renovations now that are almost double that, not just because of the amount of work required to achieve passive house standards, but also because the kind of contractor that can do that kind of work tends to be a bit more high end to begin with.

As for our own fees, we charge hourly. We prepare a detailed analysis of the amount of time we expect each person in the office to devote to each aspect of the project, and then multiply the hours by that person’s rate. The amount of time varies by the degree of customization or complexity of the project. We provide a summary of that analysis in our proposals as a means of communicating expectations on both sides of the agreement, and use it as a tool to tailor our services to the needs of the client.

As a measure of evaluation, we determine what percentage our fees are of the overall construction budget, but that’s not how we arrive at the fees. Smaller projects tend to be more complex for their size than larger ones, so our fees tend to be higher percentage of the construction budget on smaller jobs.

I’m not sure if this is what you were asking, but maybe it helps clarify one approach to architects’ fees.

Jim Hill, RA, LEED AP
Certified Passive House Designer
Urban Pioneering Architecture, DPC

mw40784 | 7 years and 10 months ago

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Would you consider a design-build firm? A design-build firm often can lower overall fee costs by bringing many services under one roof. In addition they can provide detailed budgets up front to help make informed decisions early on in the design process.

Andy Urbany, RA
Dixon Projects

notfromny | 7 years and 10 months ago

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I got median numbers from Bolster on their actual cost per sqft of renovations in BK for 2016, and they were exactly in line with the estimate numbers I got from an architect (unaffiliated with Bolster). So I think Bolster is not necessarily a cost savings, but they are great if you are wanting to make sure your bids are apples to apples. The downside is that you have to go with one of their three contractor options they provide you, and you get a limited number of revisions on drawings. You also have to be more hands-on than in a typical architectural relationship (e.g. many architectural firms will also curate many of the design decisions, down to finishes, lamp choice, etc., and this was not something I was interested in!) Sweeten I had a really negative experience with, and I think they are for smaller-scale projects, as I far as I understand. But my old neighbors used them twice and were very happy with them.

housepoor | 7 years and 11 months ago

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I thought Sweeten was simply a referral for contractors and will oversee the project to an extent — not orchestrating design work. But maybe they have architects they refer to. Out of curiosity, what kind of numbers were you seeing from architects?

agdipierro

in General Discussion 7 years and 11 months ago

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Most architectural references come by word of mouth. To get an idea about fees, take a look at www.architecturalfees.com

I am happy to discuss off line.