Are you planning a home renovation? Big or
small, the first step is to create a solid floor plan and layout.
Talk to anyone who has been through a home reno and you will always hear the horror stories about delays and cost overruns. Most of these delays are due to insufficient planning upfront or design changes after the work has begun. One example would be the choice of flooring. Most people don't think this is really a critical decision, so they think they can put off this decision off. A simple question from the plumber, "what is the finished floor height", forces the plumber to stop work because the plumber needs to set the toilet flange at the same height as the finished floor. You are now going to have to get the plumber back at a later date and plumbers are very busy. A simple change in finished flooring choice say from hardwood to ceramic has a ripple effect requiring most of the trades people to come back and rework things to accommodate the changes. This is time consuming and adds to the cost of you project. Flooring usually has a lead time, so an order was probably placed fairly early on so that the flooring material is available when the floor is ready to be laid (after the drywall has been painted). A change in the flooring means that the order has to be changed, a restocking fee is applied, and a new floor is ordered. The best way to minimize these delays and cost overruns is to have a solid plan before you start. As well, everyone needs to visualize these choices in the room to see if they work together.
Another nasty surprise that usually happens is that things seem out of scale or out of proportion. Ever walked into a room and though that the room is too small, a closet is too large or just the whole room seems off? These nasty surprises usually only become apparent once the drywall is up or worse yet, when you start placing your furniture. A floor plan can help you here, but you really need to visualize the plans to see how they work.
The floor plan is really the first step to see if the ideas are workable and make sense. We help you go beyond the floor plan and look at your design in 3D! This allows you to fly around the room, walk down hallways, place furniture, select wall colours and see how your ideas look and work before you drive the first nail.
The CAD software we use produces these 3D views and room prospectives. Once you are happy with the layouts, we go ahead and add the:
- Ventilation views.
- Heating and cooling views.
- Plumbing views.
- Electrical views.
Once we have completed design then you can take the plans to your local City Planning department and have them approved. You can also shop these plans with the trades people to get more accurate quotes for the work. We will also work with the trades people of your choice to refine the different views if needed.
We are not an architectural firm, so are rates for completing the plans is much more affordable. We will let you know upfront if the work you are planning is better done by an architect or an engineering firm.
If you would like to learn more than you can contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
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2002-2003 Spout Cove Ventures Inc
Last modified: June