Just went through this and you need to get with a firm that has all three. Understand that if you are tearing out walls, finalization of the plan occurs AFTER the walls are out and you can see what is behind them. Get as many items decided BEFORE any demolition occurs. For instance, I had an architect that designed a roof that was beautiful, but when the builder came in he said due the slope it would add $40,000 to the budget. By reducing the slope 10 degrees, I saved $40,000 and I can’t tell the difference. The designer would also come up with solutions for the builder during construction that saved $. So it really is a team effort.

Judy, yes correct one wall. There is a bedroom connected to the living and we plan on removing the conjoining wall to open it up as there is no dining. So will be an open living/dining situation. Everything else will stay the same. Layout in bathroom will stay, might move some things around in kitchen but the kitchen will stay on the same location and isn't expanding.

Someone needs the big picture here in a multi hundred thousand dollar project. Start with the bank and a real estate agent. See what actually makes sense. For instance, Removing a bedroom loses you home value and does not make sense for resale.

Then if it the Scope hasn’t changed to reflect the fact that such a Scope doesn’t make financial sense, start with the architect to get that big picture plan. The contractor should be in that planning too. Designer as well.

Sophie-house has lots of bedrooms (7) but no dining room. My husband is a real estate agent with several decades of experience. We have a healthy cash budget for remodeling of main floor.

I think it depends on whether the scope of the entire house project will be closer to "full remodel" with construction or closer to "one wall will be opened up" and what that one wall looks like but I would lean towards getting more vs. less expertise.

About 20 years ago, we redecorated/renovated the main floor and replaced flooring in the whole house. The 2 upstairs bathrooms were re-done about 5 years later as part 2.

We started with a decorator. With her assistance, we decided to remove the wall between the kitchen and family room, and close off the original family room door to the hallway. The wall was load bearing and a hidden beam was needed. The kitchen layout was working well and the work triangle location of sink, fridge and stove remained the same. New cabinets and appliances were purchased. A kitchen window was replaced with a new door to the deck, and the other rear windows/doors were replaced upstairs and down.

Then we hired a general contractor to execute the plan. It cost us just over $100,000, including living room furniture. We are in Toronto Canada.

Mine involved a flood due to a plumbing issue. The master bedroom was flipped to the other side of the house, we re-configured the bathrooms. Took down a wall to remove a bedroom to make a walk in closet. Addition of a conservatory & reconfiguration of the kitchen. Most of the house was taken to the studs. The architect was the least used but important for the addition.

we are going through this right now and have an interior designer and a GC. They seem to work well together. The interior designer spec'd out all the materials, lighting, locations etc. We are not moving much around layout wise. Kitchen, living, dining, master and master closet were 90K. Master bath 38K. upstairs floors and moving a small wall was around 15K

This includes things like

removing some soffits, arch, 1000 sq ft of new oak floor to match existing, then refinishing the entire 2000 sq ft of flooring

new mantles

cat 6 wiring

removing 2 columns, replacing 2 load bearing columns

gutting the kitchen

gut master bath

gutting the master closet

replacing entry, dining, breakfast light fixtures

You can see my thread for pictures of the scope of work.

Interior designer cost about $6000 up front with a specific list of choices they would be making. GC has about a 25% markup

General contractor is a given..the rest-it largely depends on you-your funds, confidence what you can/cannot do, resilience, time and energy you can devote, etc.

(And experience and passion of your contractor. He won't pick your finishes of course; but he might have an idea to put a window instead of a door for example or some other thing you didn't think of by yourself. Brainstorming is part of the process)

we pulled off gut remodel plus addition plus reconfiguring stuff with the help of GC only

but I'd say I longed to have a designer not once..would be easier. it's a very trying experience, long as well, you want more professional people by your side. It doesn't get done by itself-and it's a full time job, if nobody undertakes it, you do. So by all means either contact a designer, or maybe look at design-build firms. Just make sure you have a good chemistry with that person. Important with everybody of course, builder as well. You'll spend hours with these people..days..months..hopefully not years but can happen:) Minimize stuff that can go wrong by choosing right people. Some things will go wrong but the better your relationship is the more chance in overcoming obstacles.

Architect, I'm not sure you need..your builder may advise with structural engineer if needed for that to be removed wall

"Understand that if you are tearing out walls, finalization of the plan occurs AFTER the walls are out and you can see what is behind them"-agreed

(we didn't tear down walls though, if anything we added some lol..but as we fully gutted the space-I know some stuff can't be predicted until you touch the wall and know what's there)

So yes..the combo of general contractor and interior designer would be best. Whom to contact first? I'd start with a GC to get a feel of a general scope of the work, but I think both can be contacted simultaneously, or one can start with a designer too

Whether people do double duty? Rarely. They might want to, but will not be best equipped for it even if passionate or simply won't have time.

But you don't neccessarily need them to do double duty, in your particular case. Interior designers, for example, are trained to understand how the house works, so they are not architects but can have great vision and realize the mechanics that are required to achieve it.

No one has his finger on the pulse of construction costs better than a general contractor. If you've got unlimited funds and can commission what you please, start with an architect and put it up for bid. If you've got a budget, find a reputable GC and tell him what it is. He's got architects and interior designers he's worked with previously. Take advantage of that experience, please.

If it was in indiana i would be able design on revit and engineer it with my remodeling team

I would start with an Interior Designer. They are specifically trained to decipher your own particular "movement" throughout the house. Once you have determined your living requirements, then I would go with a design/build firm, which combines architects and builders to provide a cohesive communication team. Sometimes, as one of the previous poster made a point of, the architect and the builders have different viewpoints. And sometimes the architect "signs off" after the design phase and won't communicate with the builder unless additional fees are involved.

How many times have we read here about how a homeowner hired an architect/designer, put the plans up for bid, and was shocked to find those expensive drawings would be 30% or more than budgeted to build?

I've got nothing against them, but they can and will draw anything. If you can pay for anything, have at it. If not, you want to get prices from a guy who just had a hell of a time staffing his last job so he won't have that problem on yours.

"Judy, yes correct one wall. There is a bedroom connected to the living and we plan on removing the conjoining wall to open it up as there is no dining. So will be an open living/dining situation. Everything else will stay the same. Layout in bathroom will stay, might move some things around in kitchen but the kitchen will stay on the same location and isn't expanding."

How did taking down a wall become a multi-hundred thousand dollar project?

Find a reputable Design + Build firm. That's what we do. We have licensed designers on staff to create the vision and they know the numbers. We have CAD designers so we can create the high-def drawings to confirm design decisions long before swinging hammers. Once the space is designed, we have our own employee build crews to bring it to reality. We only design what we build and only build what we design. If we have a challenging load bearing wall, we bring in a licensed structural engineer to create that portion - but we use him enough to know what those costs will be. We remove walls on more than half of the projects we build. Best of luck with your project! Robert

Well, I think Joseph Corlett nailed this. If you'd like a second opinion, you might read the following article, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Light Construction: http://www.jlconline.com/business/sales-marketing/work-scopes-designs-and-contracts_o?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=Feature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JLC_010718%20(1)&he=43e26d7fe9f12dad71e130f4a7868a94dc2044a8

Spoiler alert: If budget is an issue, then consult your remodeler first. If you have an unlimited budget, then hire your architect first and put the job out for multiple bids.