Plan Ahead

  • Kathy M. Kristof / Los Angeles Times
  • Saturday, September 29, 2001 9:00pm
  • Business

By Kathy M. Kristof

Los Angeles Times

Act in haste; repent in leisure. Never is this phrase more appropriate than in the design phase of a remodel.

Just ask Glen Pickren, president of Barron Financial Services in Irvine, Calif. He once added up the cost of all the completed plans that had landed in his company’s waste bin – not the cost to build, mind you, but the cost of the drawings. The result: $1 million in scrap paper.

Pickren places a lot of the blame on architects and designers who don’t pay enough attention to the budget. But the ultimate cost – and responsibility – falls on the consumer. The real tragedy is that many of these plans would never have been tossed had homeowners done the proper homework.

When you start the process of remodeling a home, you or your designer or architect creates an “as-built” sketch. It will reduce your current living space to a floor plan, showing the square feet and where the walls, doors, windows, closets and built-ins are now.

Shortly thereafter, you’ll get a proposed floor plan for the new space. This shows how it ties in to the old, which walls stay and which go, and where the new walls, windows, doors and built-ins will be situated.

Although creating both the as-built sketch and the floor plan costs money-generally you will have paid at least several hundred dollars by now and possibly more – you’re likely to have spent less than one-quarter of your design budget. More important, at this early stage, the design is easy to change.

Unfortunately, consumers often give the floor plan a quick stamp of approval, a move they live to regret. Why? There are almost as many reasons as there are construction horror stories. The family is anxious to get started and thinks “this might work.”

Many consumers also find it hard to visualize what the floor plan looks like in three dimensions, says Walt Stoeppelwerth, co-founder of HomeTech Information Systems, a Bethesda, Md.-based publisher of construction information.

It is understandably difficult to translate quarter-inch scale to real life, adds Pickren.

“They know how they live in their current house,” Pickren adds. “What they can’t picture is how they are going to live in the new house.”

The best approach is to tell your design professional that you want to take some time to consider what’s been drawn. Does he or she have tips that would help you imagine how you’ll live in this house that’s being designed?

Some architects and designers have miniature furniture cutouts that can help you “furnish your plan” with the pieces you already have or that you plan to buy.

If you get these cutouts, spend the time to measure your existing furniture and play paper dolls with your blueprints.

But your first step is to figure out what you can’t furnish.

“People need to understand that every time you put a door in a room, you have created a highway,” Pickren says.

Because you don’t want your guests to have to wrestle the sofa to get to your kitchen, you have to make sure you create clear pathways from one room to the next.

“We recommend that you put a road 3 feet wide through (the plan),” Pickren adds. “Now try to arrange your furniture so that you don’t have it in the road.”

Then consider where you would put your tables, chairs, beds, chests, piano and the like. Pencil them into the plan. By drawing, or placing furniture cutouts on the floor plan, you do two things: You get a good idea of scale, determining whether the rooms are too big or too small and whether windows and doors are placed in a way that suits your lifestyle.

In addition, by placing the furniture on the plan you can determine where you need electrical outlets and lights.

The clearer your picture of what the house will look like and how you’ll live in it, the better chance you have of getting through construction without costly changes.

Keep in mind that ample passageways are a must but that bigger is not always better. In fact, though enormous rooms look great on a drawing, they can look and feel cold in real life. Moreover, they can bust your budget.

“We had a plan that came in way over budget. These people wanted to know if they could cut $200,000 out of the cost,” Pickren says. “Normally, you’d say that’s impossible, but we took one look at these plans and said, ‘Absolutely.’ “

The proportions of every room were uncomfortably large, Pickren says. Even the stairway took up 800 square feet – roughly the size of two large rooms. They reviewed the plans and eliminated 2,000 square feet, leaving the owner with a luxurious 5,300-square-foot house.

“She couldn’t understand how the house could be 2,000 square feet smaller and still be every bit as nice,” Pickren says. “But she didn’t realize that what she had before was a 5,000-square-foot house on steroids.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

A closing sign hangs above the entrance of the Big Lots at Evergreen and Madison on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Big Lots announces it will shutter Everett and Lynnwood stores

The Marysville store will remain open for now. The retailer reported declining sales in the first quarter of the year.

George Montemor poses for a photo in front of his office in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Despite high mortgage rates, Snohomish County home market still competitive

Snohomish County homes priced from $550K to $850K are pulling in multiple offers and selling quickly.

Henry M. Jackson High School’s robotic team, Jack in the Bot, shake hands at the 2024 Indiana Robotics Invitational.(Henry M. Jackson High School)
Mill Creek robotics team — Jack in the Bot — wins big

Henry M. Jackson High School students took first place at the Indiana Robotic Invitational for the second year in a row.

The computer science and robotics and artificial intelligence department faculty includes (left to right) faculty department head Allison Obourn; Dean Carey Schroyer; Ishaani Priyadarshini; ROBAI department head Sirine Maalej and Charlene Lugli. PHOTO: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College.
Edmonds College to offer 2 new four-year degree programs

The college is accepting applications for bachelor programs in computer science as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

FILE — Boeing 737 MAX8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. Boeing said on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, that it was shaking up the leadership in its commercial airplanes unit after a harrowing incident last month during which a piece fell off a 737 Max 9 jet in flight. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
Federal judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea related to 737 Max crashes

The plea agreement included a fine of up to $487 million and three years of probation.

Neetha Hsu practices a command with Marley, left, and Andie Holsten practices with Oshie, right, during a puppy training class at The Everett Zoom Room in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Tricks of the trade: New Everett dog training gym is a people-pleaser

Everett Zoom Room offers training for puppies, dogs and their owners: “We don’t train dogs, we train the people who love them.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center executive director Larry Cluphf, Boeing Director of manufacturing and safety Cameron Myers, Edmonds College President Amit Singh, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 2 celebrating the opening of a new fuselage training lab at Paine Field. Credit: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College
‘Magic happens’: Paine Field aerospace center dedicates new hands-on lab

Last month, Edmonds College officials cut the ribbon on a new training lab — a section of a 12-ton Boeing 767 tanker.

Gov. Jay Inslee presents CEO Fredrik Hellstrom with the Swedish flag during a grand opening ceremony for Sweden-based Echandia on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Swedish battery maker opens first U.S. facility in Marysville

Echandia’s marine battery systems power everything from tug boats to passenger and car ferries.

Helion Energy CEO and co-founder David Kirtley talks to Governor Jay Inslee about Trenta, Helion’s 6th fusion prototype, during a tour of their facility on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
State grants Everett-based Helion a fusion energy license

The permit allows Helion to use radioactive materials to operate the company’s fusion generator.

People walk past the new J.sweets storefront in Alderwood Mall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Japanese-style sweets shop to open in Lynnwood

J. Sweets, offering traditional Japanese and western style treats opens, could open by early August at the Alderwood mall.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.