So, along with the vlogs this season I am going to attempt to do some blogging as well. My hope is to share some additional information that will be helpful for your renovation, but might not make the vlog, or I can’t figure out how to get it in the vlog…
So that’s the goal. If you have things you’d like to see here, or have any questions for me. Hit the comments and I’ll get you answers.
The first vlog goes live tomorrow: Planning & Demolition.
With that in mind, I wanted to share my plan sets, scope of work (SOW), and schedule with you guys, so you can see how much detail I put on the drawings and exactly what I send out to my contractors in order to get a bid. For clarity, these are the exact docs I sent them with some redactions added on various contact information. And as I’ve said in the past: please take my SOW and use it as a starting point if you find it helpful.
I also want to answer one questions preemptively: No, you do not need to be able to draw architectural plans in order to convey all the detail you want your contractors to be aware of…here are some other options:
get additional copies of your plans from your architect and draw on them directly. This is super labor intensive as nothing is digital - it works, but I would steer away from this option.
put all of your detail on the scope of work broken down room by room - this is a great option, and if you don’t have anything where you need to convey a super specific location to your contractors this will work for you.
get a PDF set of plans from your architect and use an app like Morpholio Trace on your iPad to digitally draw over the top of your plans - I love this option because 1) you can get a month-by-month subscription to Trace so you don’t need to pay for a full year, although I would because you will wind up using it throughout your project anytime you need to convey something on a drawing to your GC. 2) it allows you to export the full PDF with your notes laid over top so you can email the drawing set to as many people as need be, and print it.
and if you are interested in learning how to draw your own plans I recommend looking at Chief Architect - I absolutely love it; it has a bit of a learning curve, but their online video tutorials are fantastic, and once you get the basics of it you start to learn new things exponentially faster. - if you have an affinity for design and layouts, and you think you will be doing more and more projects it is worth investing your time here because once you learn this software you don’t have to wait on anyone to make design and planning progress.
Ok, so here are my documents:
Scope of Work
this is what I writeup to accompany my plan set when I send them out for bid. It adds all the detail that is not reflected in the drawings. For example, what material I will supply and what I expect the contractors to supplyPreliminary Schedule
Gantt chart schedule of the entire job as I see it. This will chop and change once you hire your GC and confirm their start date, but 1) it helps me wrap my head around the project timeline, and 2) it shows your GC that you are organized and will be pushing the job forward. Keep in mind that you need to go over the schedule directly with your GC and they need to confirm or alter the dates you have set - the schedule is a guide, a moving target; construction projects change daily based on myriad factors. If you’re curious what that conversation sounds like with your GC you can watch this vlog from the Firehouse Project.
this is what a structural beam looks like…now I have an 18’ opening
The last thing I want to share with you guys are the engineering calculations. These are areas of the home that I want to make larger openings, so a structural piece of lumber is required in order the support the load above and allow me to accomplish my overall space plan. Please note these calculations are also required when you want to vault a ceiling; in order to remove all the existing trusses, which currently support the roofs in my living room and master bedroom.
When you are in a rural environment a lot of times the municipality will allow you to draw your own plans, so long as they are accompanied by a set of calculations like these from a licensed structural engineer, so that is exactly what I did, and by doing so I saved at least $6,000 on architectural costs.
That covers it for the time being. Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Much Love -A