Top Reasons to Work With a Designer Rather Than Alone

Residential designers bring a lot of knowledge and skills to make sure all aspects of remodeling and custom home projects go smoothly. Situations arise for which only an experienced professional can apply his or her creative problem solving to save time and money. Here’s why it’s worth it to hire a designer. images-2

You’ll save yourself a lot of time. You may not know how certain structural choices can impact installation; you also may not know about certain options for new materials or technologies that might be cheaper, better or more appropriate. Its also crucial to have someone who understands how your building assembly meets current building code requirements.

Codes outside the building industry to understand. When designers submit drawings to the building authority, a plans examiner reviews them and issues a revision notice to address any variances from the current codes and construction standards.

Depending on your needs and budget, a designer can guide you through the relevant building application process, research planning legislation, helping you hire contractors, recommend subcontractors and manage the construction phase of a project on your behalf.

They already know the lingo. So much of a project is communicated using 2D drawings, and they can be difficult to interpret, which can arouse confusion, especially if your contractor isn’t quite familiar with the drawings. It also is helpful, because sometimes a contractor is busy and hasn’t had the time to really look at certain parts of the drawings, critical elements of the details can be overlooked. A designer knows how to stay on top of this. images

They’ll be on your side. If you’re having problems with contractors on your project, it might be tough for you to verify that they are properly carrying out the intent of the drawings, or even which contractor is actually responsible for the issue.

It can be hard to know where the responsibility for one contractor ends and the other begins. Time and again we’ve seen things get overlooked or improperly constructed early in the process, which affects contractors later in the job. And if that earlier contractor has left to another job, it’s oftentimes difficult to get the person back onsite to fix those mistakes. images-1

If you want a space that has lasting appeal and adds to the value of your investment, you need to hire a designer. Designers have the skills to include the features that will maximize your house, while making sure your project runs smoothly.

Access to other professionals. Being in the design business means meeting lots of other pros who also work on residential projects. From structural engineers to painters, your designer probably has quite the network of skilled contractors who can get the job done within the given budget.

2 Replies to “Top Reasons to Work With a Designer Rather Than Alone”

  1. I completely agree. You NEED a designer if you are going to undertake a large design project in your home. You won’t regret it. I didn’t hire one and I ended up eventually having to.

    • Hi Ken. Completely on board with you! This is what I was trying to get across with the article. If you don’t spend the money on a project that you should upfront, you generally end up paying more.

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