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We had our big 2nd trimester ultrasound today and were beyond excited to see a healthy GIRL! Most of our family and friends were predicting a girl (as did a few old wives tales) and we couldn’t be happier. With three boys in the house already (Kyle, Bailey and Felix), it was high time we […]
Between travelling, skiing and recurring colds, work on the house has slowed down a bit lately. But we still made some good progress, like this: A big thanks to a few of our readers who had the genius idea of installing casters under our IKEA Stolmen units. (We considered steel hairpin legs or building a wood […]
Last weekend Kyle and I went down to IKEA to take a closer look at the Stolmen drawer units that I wrote about a few weeks ago. We went on a Sunday evening, thinking it would be less busy. Yeah, just kidding…it was crazytown. As is tradition when shopping at IKEA with Kyle, our first […]
First of all, a huge thank you for all of the congratulations and well wishes for our big news! We’re excited to share this journey of how we transition to a family of 3 while staying in our small home. Lots more posts to come, that’s for sure! So back to the loft…a few weeks ago I […]
In addition to the basement and loft, we’ll be taking on one more interior project this year: Yup, we’re going to have a baby! The littlest Zerbey is due at the end of July and we can’t wait!
An architect is a qualified professional that not only designs your home or remodel but acts as your advocate throughout the entire process. A good architect will listen, they’ll be honest about how much things cost and how long things take and they’ll use their years of expertise to navigate an onerous permitting process, help vet potential contractors and be there for you during construction. If you don’t have an architect, that work is either done by you or the builder and compromises and sacrifices will inevitably happen.
This depends largely on the size and scope of the project and where you’re located. In some jurisdictions it’s easy and straightforward to get a permit, in others it can take 6 months to a year or longer. We usually advise clients to budget 3 -6 months for design for smaller projects and 12 months for larger projects. Permitting timelines can extend those estimates. Construction can take 4-6 months for small remodels or 16-18 months for custom homes.
Absolutely! We love to see what clients like (or don’t like!) and we’re used to gleaning the important info from all sorts of media – photos, sketches, diagrams – we’ve seen it all!
Maybe – this really depends on the housing market and how much time you have before you make an offer. It also depends on the property itself. If you’re looking at a house with a steep slope, we may advise that a geotechnical and structural engineer make their own evaluation. This can add more time based on people’s ability. We can usually make some basic recommendations based on our knowledge of the local codes, but it’s not a replacement for a more thorough feasibility study. If possible, we usually recommend that people make an offer contingent on a more thorough analysis. What we don’t want to do is give you a rosier outlook only to find that there were some unexpected issues with the property.
Depending on the scope of the project, phasing can be a practical approach. However, we usually advise that homeowners do everything in one phase if possible – this not only takes less time but simplifies the permitting process and is a more appealing process to contractors. When you phase a project, you have repeat mobilization costs that create a more expensive project in the end than doing it all at once. We’re happy to talk through phasing options though as each project is unique and sometimes it does make sense.
Yes! For us, interior design is an integral part of our process. We enjoy working with homeowners to think about their homes holistically and have extensive experience in all aspects of the design process.
In our experience, successful projects have homeowners that are engaged but trust us and the process. They ask questions and are clear communicators. They make timely decisions and speak up if something doesn’t feel right. They’re transparent about budget and schedule constraints so there aren’t missed expectations.
Say hello. Tell us about your project.