House remodel - contact contractors before architect or after?
Hello, we are in contract to buy a home in Berkeley but it needs a little ( ok a lot) of love. We are interviewing architects at the moment but I also wanted advice on if we should be concurrently contacting contractors as well? Unsure if it's worth doing that until plans are ready etc. Appreciate any advice on this subject!
Feb 16, 2021
Parent Replies
We have used Crow at crowworksdesign [at] gmail.com for different remodel projects including two bathrooms. He is a time and materials guy, honest, creative, and a delight to work with.
I would happily recommend Emanuel with BuildMark. It was a pleasure working with him and his team, very professional, great communicator and meticulous. They remodeled our kitchen, bathroom and replaced all the electrical for our 3 bedroom/2 bath home. His phone number is 510-484 5765 and email emanuel [at] buildmarkinc.com
Hi there - yes I would highly recommend you contract contractors as well, especially if you have a budget that is firm (meaning you can't absorb +20%). From personal experience, our first architect was completely off-base about how much things would cost with his design (but to be fair, it may just have been his general incompetence). After that fiasco, we ended up working with a design-build and that was a complete 180 experience and a breath of fresh air. It is important that if you have a firm budget to work with someone who actually truly knows how much things cost to build / remodel.
Happy to answer more questions privately as well.