apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Woodsmith Design Build Group. Mark can do basic drawings (enough to get through the permit process) for a reasonable fee and his crew is good at basic projects like what you are talking about. (847) 219-8174 is Mark's mobile number.

You could check Consumers Checkbook.com -- like Consumers Report but for services, rather than products -- and has a section where individual consumers can provide reviews of verious service providers (like architects or contractors). You have to pay to subscribe, but cost is small (I think $30 or so for 2 years).

We are actually in the same boat ourselves (although we are only doing a kitchen redo, taking down the two walls between our kitchen and our living/dining room in our small, early 1960s ranch house in the chicago suburbs). Our contractor (Greenview Homes in Naperville--so far so good but its early) has an architect they use, and I will find out this week what he/she will charge to do the drawings (all we need is to pass muster with our village). I will try to do a followup post with that info. Bottom line -- if you find a contractor they may have an architect for you.

Good luck -- big job.

You can probably get a draftsman to do it. I have to say, of the 4 renovations I have done, I have been really sorry I didn't just pay for a fricking architect. They are worth the money.

I have a friend who is an architect who owns his own firm. The Firms name is Square Root Architecture Design and his name is Jeffrey Sommers. I would reccomend paying for the architect to do the drawings and get the permit. Jeff has some contractors he can suggest..

http://www.squarerootarch.com/

not sure of the requirements in your area, but most jurisdictions require an architect or engineer to stamp permit drawings. architects can charge a percentage based on cost of construction or hourly. for a smaller job, you probably want to go hourly, since it seems like you will not have a lot of design time. it is basically just implementing what you already want, but the architect should have knowledge of code (building, energy, etc.) and life safety issues that are required for permitting.

Listen to jenzoe. You get what you pay for.

An "affordable" (i.e. cheap) architect/draftsman/contractor may be able to give you what you THINK you need, but in reality may not give you what you absolutely DO need.

Plus, even if the job weren't to take much time on the architect's part, you're really paying for that architect's knowledge of the local codes, permits, zoning, etc. as well as their connections with potential contractors, building officials, etc. And that knowledge and connections are worth FAR MORE than just time spent.

I know of a couple architects that could do it (not I, I'm not self-certified in Chicago) and 1 contractor that I know of offhand (http://www.donosoinc.com/index.htm).

You'll want to make sure that the architect you choose is familiar with the Chicago permitting process (and hopefully is self-certified, they will be able to explain more) and that you get along with them. Chicago's permit process is, um, 'challenging'. If you're doing a garage with a curb cut I'm 80% sure that you'll need to talk to the driveway department and obtain a driveway permit which is in a different building than city hall last time I checked. The building permit also takes a bit to get, easily 6 weeks (I've waited as long as 4 months before).

Architecture fees are generally about 3-5% of the construction costs but can go as high as 10% for really detailed drawings. However, there really isn't a huge cost and time difference for doing a 1 room addition to a 6 room as the work involved isn't that much more (code, structure, etc.).

Figure on budgeting about $150/SF for renovations with a 10% contingency (if you're looking at more green and/or high end finishes you can expect to pay more).

Just my $.02 as an architect.

Something else you may want to consider is an expediter - basically someone who is familiar with the permit dance, who will make the appointments and sit in the neverending lines, etc. These guys are usually flat-fee on top of the architect or draftsman fees and sometimes associated with their companies. If you're interested I can try to dig up the name of the one that my contractor used - he was quite good.

In addition to all the great advice that was posted, the best option may be to go through the city's GREEN PERMIT PROCESS. You will receive expedited permitting [2-4 weeks] and reduced fees. A self-certified architect can speed the process along, but is not necessary in the project. You will need a registered energy professional [REP] to review the project.

Based on the work you are proposing, the critical path [i.e. the one that will take the longest to get approved] will be the curb cut. One recommendation would be to get two permits, one for the garage and curb cut and one for the rest of the condo remodel.

Architect's fees are typically 3%-6% of the project budget. You can be billed hourly or set a guaranteed maximum price. You can also get recommendations from the architect of contractors. You should get bids from two or three different contractors and the same should go for architects.

I am an architect, LEED AP and principal of BOXdesign studio. Please feel free to contact me kdarnstadt@boxarch.com or view our website at www.boxarch.com. The featured project on our home page demonstrates how well we can negotiate the permit and political process. Shown is green roof and addition on a building in a landmark area.

Best of luck with your remodel.

Katherine

How we used to do it when I worked in construction, we would have a draftsperson (me) make the necessary changes and get everything together then pay the architect/engineers to look over and stamp them. It would cut our cost down considerably. Though a draftsperson may not have a vision of what the end will look like. It is however, a cheaper alternative.

Shannon and Emmett,

I am also an architect with my own firm, who would love to talk with you about your project. We do a lot of residential and commercial work in the city.

Overall, I agree with most of the advice you've already received, with the glaring exception of the method described by the draftsperson. If you are to go this route, the architect involved will be breaking the law, so they're probably hard up for work...and if they're hard up for work, they're probably not very good at their jobs...

Self-certification and the green permit process are both great time savers, but both require additional paperwork on the part of the architect (which leads to somewhat higher architectural fees). Depending on your overall project time frame and your daily availability, you may also take the architectural drawings, and go to a neighborhood permit center and apply in person. You can do this as a walk-in on certain days, or with an appointment.

Probably not the best thing to admit, but I checked out Katherine D's work (her post is above), and their house in the south loop is pretty sweet. Never heard of them before, but I'd be in good company to have them as competition. To get some idea of what we could do, please e-mail me:david@schroederarch.com

Don't come knocking on my door to stamp a set of drawings that were drawn by a non-professional. Any registered Architect that does so is asking for problems and helps perpetuate a really crappy practice. Its one thing to do construction documents, its another thing entirely to create architecture.

You get what you pay for.