Imagine your perfect dream home, with all the amenities you’ve desired… but it faces the wrong way in the lot. Or the structure wasn’t designed to fit your grand piano. Or there’s a drainage problem that could have been avoided if it had been built one foot to the left. If you’ve been saving for your dream home for a while, you’ll want to leave the actual designing in the hands of professionals to avoid mistakes such as these.
But do you need to hire an architect to design your home?
As with many custom home needs, the answer to this question is a bit more nuanced than just yes or no.
Benefits of Hiring an Architect
In addition to avoiding costly mistakes like the ones mentioned above, architects will ensure your home’s insides flow perfectly for your needs. Here are just some of the areas they’ll consider when designing a home for you:
Considering how the building will look with the landscape
Creating a design with symmetry and proportion
Designing around structural elements
Noticing the direction of the sun
Ensuring the home meets regulations
Observing the work for quality
Some architects also select building materials and provide project management services as well. If you decide to hire an architect, you will need to consider what services you wish your contractor to provide and what you wish your architects to provide.
Costs of Hiring an Architect
The cost is one of the biggest roadblocks for hiring an architect for your custom home. Many architects charge 5-10% of the home’s overall cost, adding on a significant financial responsibility to your home’s overall cost.
If you have a home designed already and just need some adjustments made, that can be a cheaper option than asking an architect to design something from scratch. The less work you require from the architect, the cheaper it will be for you.
This significant cost often deters homeowners from hiring an architect — and that’s okay, as homeowners have several other options to consider for design.
Alternatives to Hiring an Architect
While there are many advantages to hiring an architect, homeowners have other options they should consider before making that call. Here are two options.
Builder/contractor design
Home builders often have design personnel on staff to assist with custom needs that are just as equipped as an architect to design the perfect home for you. (This is the option we offer at Fortin; more on that below.) However, make sure you fully understand what options your builder provides, as some “customizations” are merely cosmetic.
Stock Builder Plan
It’s easy to find stock plans for houses in a variety of styles, sizes and budgets. This can be a huge savings from hiring someone to design your home. Stock buildings cannot take into account other factors such as climate or landscape, however, and may not completely match your needs.
If you choose Fortin Construction for your custom home build, there’s no need to hire an architect. We have several people on staff with architectural experience, and your design is included in our construction costs so that you have a one-stop shop for your custom home build.
Our designers make the same considerations as an architect and ensure that the home is strategically placed in the lot and that the inside meets all your needs perfectly. We build time into our process to sit down and have a discussion about who will live in the home, what needs you have, and how you anticipate growing over time.
Our design process is fully customizable to your needs and wants, not just limited to cosmetic items like paint colors or tile options. We want you to have the home of your dreams.
If you do have an architect you’ve already hired, we are also happy to work with them. The beauty of our process is that it adjusts to best suit your personal needs.
You can find several Fortin-created home designs on our website! Just choose your home type, then click through to see our library of designs.
