When considering the undertaking of a home remodeling project, especially one that touches multiple rooms in the home, we at Merrick Design and Build believe it is vital to the success of the project that you engage in a design investigation and project feasibility period with your contractor. But what is “design investigation” or “project feasibility”? And why do we believe it is so vital? Let’s discuss further.
What is the design investigation portion of a remodeling project?
Design investigation, conceptual design, and project feasibility are three distinctly separate tasks that are part of the Merrick Design and Build home remodeling process. As a design-build firm, we emphasize the importance of the pre-construction phase, which we will call Phase 1 or the Design Agreement. We will use both terms interchangeably throughout this blog post. (Learn more about conceptual design in this post, and more about project feasibility here.)
Design Investigation
Project Goals
This is the first portion of Phase 1. In this section, we look at the goals of your home remodeling project. Together, we will determine which goals are “must haves,” which are wants, and which would be nice to have if the budget allows. We then take your goals and create specific construction tasks, which will be broken out in our project Scope of Work.
Budget Goals
Next, we take these goals and help you create a target budget to guide our design. We can play ‘Bad Cop’, sticking rigidly to that number, or play ‘Good Cop’, working with you to explore options and possible upgrades. It is important that we understand all options and possible upgrades that you want to explore upfront.
Existing Conditions
We will measure the existing space(s) to be remodeled and prepare a set of existing plans using our CAD program, Chief Architect. These existing drawings become the foundation for our future design drawings.
Regulatory Review
We will investigate your current zoning requirements to ensure that our plan will meet the requirements and can legally be constructed. We will look at:
- Zoning Analysis
- Land Development (for Montgomery County residents)/ DOEE (for DC residents)
- Building Code Analysis
- Historical considerations, special districts & HOAs
Why is it so important to the overall process of a remodel?
Design Investigation
Project Goals
We need to understand the goals of your project in order to design and create a project, and ultimately a home, that lives up to your expectations of the remodel and our company. The project goals set at the beginning of the Design Agreement will guide the rest of the entire process. It is vital to start off on the right foot, so to speak, by understanding your family’s wants and needs for the project.
Budget Goals
While budget may not be the most important factor in determining which contractor you choose to hire, or which parts of the project design become a reality, understanding your budgetary goals for your remodeling project will set the foundation for your designer’s vision. This is not our sneaky way of finding out how much we can charge you, based on how much you are willing to spend. While we believe it is important to show you options, we never want to design something that you fall in love with but are not able to afford… A missed step we witness too often in the architect bid model. (Learn more about the design-build advantage in remodeling here.) It is in both of our best interests to begin this process with the same understanding and expectations of budget.
Existing Conditions
Existing plans give us something to build off of in our CAD program, and they are also required for many projects during the permitting process.
Regulatory Review
By investigating zoning requirements, etc., and ensuring your project can legally be constructed, we are able to design for these requirements from the beginning. This avoids costly design changes making “surprise” appearances during the permitting process, streamlining the pre-construction phase.
Let’s talk about your home remodeling project.
If you are appreciating the detail that goes into the Phase 1 Design Agreement we use here at Merrick Design and Build, we would love to talk to you about your next home remodeling project. You can schedule a complimentary consultation by calling us at (301) 946-2356, or by filling out our contact form. We look forward to speaking with you.
To learn more about our design-build remodeling process, from the Phase 1 Design Agreement, all the way through to the final walkthrough of the completed remodel, check out our process page.
