Moving right along

Before I forget, I should mention we finally got a proposal last week from Doug Shoemaker, with no explanation about the delay. Interestingly enough, though, he sent along "back of the envelope" sketches of a pair of ideas. One was a minimal remodel that seemingly left all the walls and doorways where they currently are, and solved few of our flow problems. The other plan added an interior stairway to the guest room floor, but moved the dining room, bedroom, kitchen and bath to new locations -- nothing close to manageable on our budget -- and put the bedroom in the front of the house... an option that we specifically told him we didn't want.

concept floorplan © 2006 Shoemaker Architects
(click to enlarge)

Oh, well... it's nice, again, to have decisions validated.

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Tonight we had our first sit-down meeting with Andrew Mann, our architect. (Ooh, that's so cool.) He brought along the as-built drawings, which were stunningly accurate -- we only found one missing door, and that was only after spending a long time working with the plans.

As-built plans © 2006 Andrew H. Mann Architecture
(click to enlarge)




We showed him our tearsheets of kitchens and bathrooms we like, and talked with him about the things we do and don't want out of our remodel.

Cameron and I are both fighting wicked colds, so we didn't really talk much about it, but I got the sense that we both felt that Andrew really connected with the project. He asked a lot of intelligent questions, and seemed very receptive to the type of space we're trying to create. He definitely gets Cameron's "kitchen as workshop" idea -- which I think is an inspired way of describing it -- and he's already coming up with good solutions to some of our biggest issues.

Before the meeting (actually last week) he sent over a rough timeline. Our next milestone happens in a mere 2 weeks: Andrew will present the initial schematic drawings, which he expects will either be 2 different approaches, or 1 approach with 2 variations. Two weeks after we give him our feedback (presumably quickly) we'll get revised schematics, then we'll send them out to contractors for preliminary, sanity-check pricing.

Estimates should roll in about 3 weeks later, after which Andrew will spend 6 weeks -- with interim meetings -- creating construction documents, while we choose materials, finishes, cabinets, and appliances. Another 3 weeks for contractor pricing and a week of revisions based on this final cost... which brings us to Christmas. After the holiday, we submit the plans to the city, and -- fingers crossed -- we begin construction right after the new year. Whew...

With any luck, we'll be cooking in the new kitchen by Memorial Day 2007.