I paid $1,500 for a full set of kitchen plans with electrical specifications done by an independent certified kitchen designer with 20 years of experience. No walls moved. 210 square feet, $60,000 budget. We had two meetings and exchanged a few emails about the details.

I paid $1,800 to an architect for a full set of plans for an addition that was about 1200 square feet, included a den, large porch, master suite with full master bath, and a garage. The hard work was done by the GC. We had two meetings and exchanged a few emails about the details.

Different areas of the country demand different prices. I'm in the Southeast so my numbers may be on the low side. You can spend more if you try. I am very clear about my requirements. I make decisions easily. Once I make the decision, I rarely change my mind.

My architect said to never let an architect do a kitchen plan. He does work for a well known home designer who sells plans at Southern Living and Coastal Living. He spends a lot of time fixing what the home designer creates. That often includes the kitchen.

If you go that route, be sure to have the final plans emailed to you on a .PDF file. It has save me lots of time to be able to simply email the file to someone who needs the information.

Do not rely on the architect for kitchen design plans! Our architect (whom I love) worked on a major renovation for our house, which made our living spaces incredibly more functional, and which moved the kitchen from the back of the house to the front. So, he more or less drew a space/shape for the kitchen and I disregarded most particulars and redesigned it with the help of this forum. For example, he had a structural post which would have been hugely in the way. After a post soliciting input from this forum, I learned about LVL beams (and other options). I called Skip (our architect) back, and asked for a redesign. An hour or so's work later (including some work from a technical buddy of his), I had a new plan back, which omitted the post.

Our architect (we're in New England, north of Boston) charges by the hour. I can't remember the rate but think it was around $180. Yes, it was ever so much worth it!

I also went and received quotes from 4 local KD's, including Lowes. Each time, I would present the space and my ideas, and solicit input. They helped a lot but the biggest help came from this forum. For example, the suggestion to plan out how you would make an omelet or prepare a common meal, and then clean up. Once you have your layout (or think you do), tape it out in a large space and walk through it. Are your prep bowls where you need them? Where is the fridge? How many times do you go back and forth between areas? Eventually, you end up with a very functional plan. Good luck!

We are doing a reno that involves fairly significant structural work including removing a set of stairs and relocating a second set. So we had to involve an architect.

I also hired a KD because I didn't want to rely on the architect for the planning and function of kitchen space.

I found both professionals added much needed and individualized value. HOWEVER, we paid much more for our architect that I would have liked. Much more. We're in the tri-state area though, so I'm sure there is a regionally associated up-charge. But it's kind of amazing because our KD cost is literally six times less expensive than the architect, but just as (if not more) useful and helpful

I can't imagine there are a lot of architects doing residential work because there can't be that much demand. Supporting walls and moving same just isn't that complicated. A decent framing contractor can figure it out and I've not met one yet that charges $180.00 an hour.

I'm the OP. I'm also in the tri-state area, so yeah, expensive. My project will include taking down a load bearing wall, a bathroom remodel upstairs with all new plumbing, the kitchen with a new layout including a powder room.

I'm being offered what I suppose is a reasonable enough price of ~$2,400. This will including an existing conditions drawing, from which you guys and cabinets dealers can help us work from. Then designs in progress, and then demo and final construction drawings once layouts are finalized.

What it wont include is cabinet elevations, but I suppose I'll get that from the KD/cabinet dealers, many of which offer design work free of charge to drive sales.

It's the structural and mechanical works, but not colors and finishes, etc. I'll be relying on you guys for that fun stuff ;-)

One reason I want to go with an architect is so that when getting bids from contractors I'm comparing apples to apples. They'll know how to do the beam, what windows are going where, how to run the plumbing, how many lights and where, etc. These will also be the drawings I'll submit for local permits. And, I'm thinking if good drawings prevent one or two costly mistakes the money will be well spent. (Although the truth is, in old homes like this, once the plaster comes off the walls and you see what's really in there, all bets are off.)

But having never worked with an architect before... any caveats or precautions I should consider? Anything I should be sure to ask for upfront?

Caveat -- a firm schedule and turn around times for updates. Also, don't pay in full until you are satisfied. Involve a kitchen designer very early, so if the architect is doing something stupid for your kitchen, you can tell him how you want it changed and have him fix/finalize the plans before you move to hiring a contractor. Ideally, interview your contractors and get one hired ASAP once your plans are finalized with the architect, and, if it were me, I'd include one more revision stage AFTER you've hired a contractor, because the contractors might suggest changes to economize, and it'd be great to have the architect to re-draw the plans with the revisions. Perhaps offer a $300 per revision for up to 2 or so revisions after "finalizing". $2400 sounds fair to me for what you are doing.

Good advice, szruns. Thank you. And thanks to everyone who's shared their experience. I'm starting to feel good about going with these guys.

wanna, we opted to use an architect for the same reasons - wanting to be able to compare bids apples to apples knowing the scope of restructuring, etc.

one thing i will tell that is for sure common practice in my area - the architect will charge you a percentage of the contractor bid. our architect offered either a flat 9% of bid, or to pay hourly up to but not exceeding 10%. we went with the flat rate so we wouldn't feel like we were ever worrying about accruing time.

HOWEVER, one thing we should have clarified was - how do you determine which bid the architect will base his percentages upon. He has a close working relationship with a contractor that is popular in our area. he was one of the guys who bid on our job. we ended up going with someone else, who's bid was lower. but the architect refused to lower his expected percentage. so look out for that and discuss beforehand.

This post was edited by lmgch on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 21:44

That sounds extremely awkward. Should certainly have been spelled out in his contract that his fee was tied to a specific contractor's bit. The situation sure sounds ripe for conflicts of interest. I want my guy looking for ways to save me money, not cost me.

M guy is quoting me a fixed price with hourly surcharges for additional revisions, etc. I'm much more comfortable with that. I just hope his heart is into it and he's not just going to be a draftsman.

yes, it was awkward. we parted ways with tension. not in small part because he found the contractor we selected to be perhaps "rougher around the edges" that the contractor he (the architect) prefers to work with. it was almost as if he was looking down the bridge of his nose.

he crafted a beautiful design - we truly so happy with our plans and so excited for everything to be finished because the flow will be vastly improved. but we're happy to be done with him and moving on to more "real" people.

it's good that you've got someone giving you a fixed price. we literally met with five or six architects and all of them discussed percentages of the project costs. it's absolutely the norm for our area of NJ

We are also in the tristate area (NYC) and are doing work that requires an architect (expansion of garage and small 2 story extension). Our kitchen remodel will involve changing gas lines and removing interior walls. We settled on a bare bones bid for $5k. The majority of the other bids, which would have allowed for more hand holding, were in the $15-20k range. So your price doesn't sound too bad to me.

Reconfiguring bearing walls is often straightforward, but sometimes it's quite complicated. For example:

1) Replacing the wall in my kitchen required a structural engineer because the load calculation was complicated by the roof truss structure and roofing material. The load transfer to the foundation and reinforcement of same also required analysis that contractors or architects without engineering training and software simply cannot provide.

2) Moving slider to patio required an engineer to spec changes to shear wall.

An architect probably could have handled shear wall analysis, but the vast majority of contractors lack the ability to spec changes like these.