My husband and I want to renovate the dormers on a 1963 brick house. He has a specific design in mind but we’ve never seen it done before. Is there a way to pay for some architectual help without hiring full architectual services. We have a builder acquaintence who is learning computer architectural drawing and will draw what we want but he doesn’t have the kind of experience to take our idea and show us other ways to accomplish it.
There are two little gabled dormers on the waterfront side which we simply want to make larger. And there is an big ugly shed dormer on the non waterfront side.
We want a dormer(gabled, probably) on the non waterfront side of the house to extend above the ridgeline so that a window will let light in from the waterfront side. Also possibly have a small space up a ladder to sit with a book and look out over the water.
Can’t find a picture in a book or on the computer or on the street that has this type of dormer, much less any variations on it.
I’m frustrated and don’t want to go with this one idea without professional input.
Any ideas?
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Replies
I really think you need to get an architect for this one. You could end up with a mess if you aren't careful.
Be careful about the architect you get, also. You could end up with a mess on this kind of project with one, too.
Good luck.
gl
Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
I agree you probably need an archy for this one. Dormers are easy to get wrong in the sense of scale and proportions. Just look around at some areas w/ cape cods. I see more wrong than right. Another idea is to make a scale model out of cardboard or foamcore. It is easier to visualize than elevation drawings. Your idea does sound like a good one. It could even extend past the face of your house creating a porch under it. Good luck.
J.
What they are refering to is that this style roof has a few options in how it might have been framed and what you propose doing to it changes how structural members will interact with one another. You might need an engineer too. A good architect will take care of that for you as part of his services. Some will only focus on style and concept and underperform on the structural. An experienced one with the right attitude will try to design what you want in a way that will not cost too much.
Another thought - You have here described what you want to do, having in your mind, already designed it. An architect or designer might bring a fresh aproach to the team, starting with the Q, "What is your goal here, what do you want to accomplish?" and be able to present an original sceme to proceed with.
Many builders are becoming design/build services because they are able to integrate the process.
Your friend sounds like he knows the CAD thing without knowing the building and structural stuff. You need to have an idea what you want to design before you draw pictures or do drafting.
Good Luck!
Good design doesn't cost, it pays!
Thanks to you and the others for your input. You pretty much told me what I knew, but wasn't ready to accept. We understand the value of hiring a professional. I've talked to a couple but they quoted $15,000. Our problem is that we overextended ourselves finacially with the purchase of this house because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to own waterfront property in Galesville, MD. Do you know anyone in the Annapolis, MD area who could help us with this project just enough so that it looks good (it doesn't have to be grand) and doesn't cost a fortune. We have lots of time, as we live aboard a sail boat and don't need to move into the house right away.
Any ideas?
I suggest you go shopping. Talk to Design build firms. Other arch's. You can always find a quick scetch artist with a concept drawing. It's the hard work engineering that will cost. It is possible that you are in an expensive area where the archy is looking at the adress first when quoting this price.
If there is an architectural college in the area, maybe...but then I've only had one student haircut job in my life for a good reason.Excellence is its own reward!
You know, you're absolutely right. We need to seek out professional help to suite our needs. Just wasn't sure if we could find some help without having to pay for the big-bucks architectural services. I feel like I'm climbing up from the bottom of a steep learning curve. Guess I just would like a magic, simpler solution. I'm trying to drive this project and learn how at the same time while holding a full time job to finance it. Yikes.
It would be nice if I could at least find some pictures of the type of dormer/roof we would like. Checked all of the books at Barnes and Noble book store and tried typing in "dormers" on the search engine.
Anyway, thanks for your help.
D o
I t
Y ourself
so a diy'er is a doityourselfer.
If I were in your area, I could help you out. This is why I suggested a design/build firm. That's how I work.Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks, I feel embarrased for not figuring that out.
So, does anybody know anybody like piffin in the Annopolis, MD area? So I don't have to just call around and catch as catch can.
We won't be ready to summit plans for builing permits untill the beginning of next year. (we have to jump thru some county hoops first) So time is one thing we have.
You mean as a design/build firm, of course. We all know that there is nobody quite like piffin in other ways...
;-)
Yuck, Yuck, Yuck LOLExcellence is its own reward!
Maybe you should point your sailboat north...
I'm a diy'er involved in prety big rebuild. Worked with girlfriend Wendy to design. We also got stuck on gable dormer design and a couple other issues. She drove up to Vermont to attend the Yestermorrow Design/Build School. She stayed the weekend, thought the staff was really helpful...came home with a cardboard model that suited us both. The have little ads in the back of FH if you want to check it out - costs a few hundred bucks to attend.
I was dealing with "new" construction, so the structural issues weren't touchy like the ones you are facing. I would guess that they would help you design something that a good builder could handle, no sweat.
I will try to attach a pic of our little project. Cut a neo-gothic down to the foundation and built it back up - wanted to save most of the structure but there was too much water damage, including lots of rotten sills. The photo is a couple months old, there's now a full-length porch on the front, a window seat bump-out in each gable dormer, etc. That's a little curved dormer in the middle. House sits in the middle of 50 acres in central PA. Pretty proud of the effort.
Good luck with your project.
Todd
What is a diy'er? You're house is beautiful. You have every reason to be proud. I love those dormers. Would be nice to go to Vermont to learn how, but I'm stuck in Virginia working to finance this project. Maybe the old man could go. His work is more flexible. Thanks for the info and the picture and the well wishes.
I love Todd's idea...does any one know of a design school offering a similar opportunity on the wes coast? Specifically, the Seattle area, or even Vancouver or Portland?
I thought this was a 'renovation' discussion... silly me. Here are my dormers that require some siding replacement. I was wondering how close to this look I could get with some new cement board stuff? I figure I'd have to do the entire dormer, but I'm probably going to have to replace 50% or more of what's on each dormer anyway. Thoughts?
ps - My house was built in 1954. We recently replaceed th windows. My ex-step-father put in the middle dormer window that you see in the picture. He bought a stock window, then framed around it, instead of taking out the window and replacing with a custom-sized window (that's why that one window looks a little different).