We decided to renovate our basement and add a bathroom/laundry area where there was previously a storage room. We asked the architect we had used last year for kitchen remodel to help with CAD drawings. Neither my husband nor I liked the layout she presented so I created a layout plan using Home Designer Architectural software. We sent our plan to her and this is the one that we decided to use.

The original quote on the job from the contractor was roughly $80k (demo of existing wood panel walls, remove carpet, reframe walls, electric/plumbing, foam insulation, sheet rock walls, new drop ceiling, install new sub floor and EVP finished floor planks, build shower base and install tile work, replace 3 small windows, etc.)

So, other than the original drawing our architect presented to us, she has given us an elevation drawing of the staircase (decided to do half wall on one side and rails on other side) and she has written two progress reports which were each about 1/2 page outlining what work had been completed to date.

We have already paid her $6k. Her fee is 9.5% of what we thought would be the original job estimate.

As usual, one thing lead to another and we added on some extras (such as spray foam insulation, adding HVAC system to area). At this point, the new cost estimate is up to about $130k.

Should she get paid her percentage on this new total? If we choose to go with more expensive finishes, she should profit from this?? Does this sound right?