Getting Ready and What to Expect

DESIGNline ARCHITECTS will visit your home or office, discuss design options, and answer basic questions about costs and construction practices. Together we can explore basic goals and room placement and discuss the project’s budget and time frame.  We can help you avoid many common mistakes that are made with construction projects.

What We Need from You

The following items will help us give you the most useful recommendations in the least amount of time.  Have copies ready before the consultation begins if available.

• Site Plan or Survey. This document, which is prepared by a surveyor, shows property lines, easements and all existing structures on the property. It is often included with your closing documents.
• Property restrictions, (if applicable). Many properties have regulatory limitations that exceed the city’s or county’s building requirements with restrictive covenants. These covenants can limit the materials, establish mandatory building set-backs and require approval of any plans. Look in your closing documents for these papers. If you aren’t sure if your property has such restrictions, check with your real estate agent, closing attorney, or property association.
• Your Clip File. Start an image file by collecting pictures of spaces and buildings you like. Create a list of the rooms and functions you want accommodated. Write down your dream of the perfect experience in your completed home or business.  Identify your goals for project schedule and budget.

• Floor Plans. A copy of your floor plan is the best record, though many older buildings don’t have these. If the original plans are unavailable, check your closing documents for a plan that may have been included in the appraisal or in the description of the property. If there is not existing documentation, we will field measure the existing building and prepare accurate “as-built” drawings that allow us to develop plans that reflect the actual field conditions to be considered.

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