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We first talked about counters way back in January. By April, we had narrowed it down to quartz. In May, we put together this materials palette to see how everything would work together. We then gathered all of our whitish quartz samples and landed somewhere in between white-white and speckly white. We thought we had […]
Well, maybe it was a little overly optimistic on my part to think we could get most of the painting done this weekend. But we did get a lot done! It’s 10:00 on Monday night and we’re beat. Here’s the holiday weekend recap: Last week we picked up the primer and paint. We’re using a vapor […]
Last week, the drywallers were busy mudding and taping. They are doing an awesome job and it was so rewarding to come home each night and see something new. Bailey, on the other hand, stayed home to supervise. Uh oh…who’s got drywall paws? After a failed craigslist and consignment effort, the ol’ piano finally got rolled out to the […]
It’s true, chezerbey the blog is one year old. (Ok, disclaimer – we were on blogger before but it was basically a glorified flickr account.) We switched over to wordpress last year and bought chezerbey.com. It was a huge jump from the old layout, but there are a few things I’d like to do during year two: 1. Revamp […]
I’m not really sure what the technical term is for a piece of built-in furniture that also doubles as a stair guard rail, but we’ve decided to call it a stair cabinet! Anyhow, the stair cabinet is another one of our chezerbey small-space, double-duty solutions. Now that we’ve blown out most of the interior walls we have less wall space […]
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.