A Word From Kathy
Are you both excited and nervous?
At Kathy Pickens Residential Designs, I know building a home is a wonderful and exciting adventure, and undoubtedly an emotional process as well. I strive to provide my clients with the best design and living solutions that meet their project goals and, to put it simply, will make them happy and ready to build.
My clients end up with a product that is creative, functional, and reflective of their lifestyle, whether it’s new construction, a home addition, or a renovation of existing space. I provide my clients with accurate, reliable, and comprehensive house plans in a quick turn-around and within an estimated budget.
My experience over 28 years has helped me to become and expert in the overall home building process, allowing me to catch issues before they even arise. Part of my services includes consultation and ongoing support to help make sure you have a smooth journey.
The Design Process
Initial Consultation
We’ll meet in person or virtually to discuss your project goals and preferences.
Preliminary Designs
Based on your feedback, we’ll provide design options and layout suggestions.
Final Plan Creation
Once designs are approved, we’ll develop detailed house plans, ready for builders and engineers.
Ongoing Support
We continue to work with you and your builder throughout the construction process.
Initial Consultation
Whether you are building a custom home, opening up some space to redefine some rooms, or adding square footage, I will first meet with you to capture the essence of what you’re desiring. We can review pictures that you may have started to collect or a floor plan that you may have started to etch out, discuss what you certainly don’t want and, of course, do want, walk the space and take measurements in the case of a renovation, provide answers to home builder questions, etc. All designs are considerate of your budget and square footage. As a designer, I will blend your ideas with my design expertise and will guide you with the design process. I will make this an enjoyable process for you, this is my job now, so let me take some of the stress out of it for you. At this time, we will also make an agreement letter, which is necessary for our understanding of the terms and objectives of our relationship and the nature and limitations of the services provided.
CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS
Once you have handed over all of your ideas, dreams, wishes, photos, and deposits to me, I know you are ready to go and very excited to see what I am able to create from our discussion. I schedule myself in such a way so that I am able to produce the preliminary part of your project in about 10 days after our initial consultation (and deposit). In some cases, I may provide some optional design layout elements for you to review—different layouts for the allowable space that you may choose from or different elevation ideas showing optional material looks, for example. Most of the time we just communicate any changes or questions with each other through email, but we can certainly meet again if needed. Once you have decided on the final elements of your house, I will complete it to make one cohesive plan that will have all the pages ready to go to the structural engineer and then to your builder to build from.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
A properly built home that is to look and perform as intended is one of the most important investments a homeowner makes. All of my plans meet the requirements set forth by the NC Residential Code and various NC counties. These plans are also sealed by a registered professional engineer. Home structural engineering services prepare the plans that contain all the structural information a builder needs to assemble a home. The plans include specifics on the layout and size of the foundation, floor, wall framing, and roof framing elements. Proper structural design helps ensure that structural loads are transferred properly down through each floor level of the home from roof to foundation and tied together accurately. I send the plans to the structural engineer for you and there is a new contract with you and them. I have decided to not include this part in my fees because, through my many years of designing, I have learned that sometimes situations come up for the homeowner and the design process may need to be put on hold or stopped all together. If I truly want to treat your project as if it were my own, I wouldn’t want to charge you for their work if it isn’t going to be done, so I keep the accounts separate.
EXTRAS (PRINTS, SURVEYS, PERMIT, AND BUILDERS)
There are a few “extras” that go along with building your home that may just be good information to be aware of. Most cities and counties want to see or review your final plans in PDF form. I will give you the final plans (put together by me and the structural engineer) in PDF form, but you may also want a few paper copies for the builders on site. Your builder will let you know how many, but typically it is anywhere between 2 and 5, which I can have made for you.
Also, most cities and counties want to see your new home or proposed addition on a survey. Traditionally, the homeowner or builder works with the surveyor directly, but I can provide you or your builder with a portion of the CAD file for the surveyor if needed or a list of surveyors I have worked with in the area.
Once the plans are complete and ready for permit, meaning they have come back with the structural seal on them from the engineer and I have put them together with the architectural files I created for you, they can be sent on to your builder to obtain your permit.
If you hire a general contractor (GC) or builder, you turn over all aspects of the building project to them. Your GC will hire, schedule, supervise, and pay (with your money) a crew, plus all the electrical, plumbing, heating, and painting contractors for your job (or trade contractors).
When interviewing builders or your GC, tell them the kind of job you are planning and what stage you are in. Ask if they have a specialty, what their average size job is, how long it may be for them to start working on your project once you have the permitted plans, and how they bill out projects. Some builders will even be able to give you a preliminary bid on the preliminary plans of a project.
Ask your contractor for a list of clients and/or references to find out if they are happy with the work, if it went per the schedule, if the contractor was on the job site, if there is a warranty, if there were any problems with the trade contractors, how the change orders went, and how they communicated. Lastly, don’t forget to get a written agreement between the both of you.
Kathy Pickens Residential Designs
Custom Home Designs, Renovations, & Additions
Serving: Raleigh, Wake Forest, Youngsville, Louisburg, Durham, Chapel Hill, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Apex, Cary, Fuquay Varina, Clayton, Garner, Willow Springs
Mountains | Beach
North Carolina | Virginia | Georgia | Florida | South Carolina | Central United States | Eastern United States
Quick Links
Notices
Contact Details
- Raleigh, NC
- kpickens@nc.rr.com
- 123-456-7890
- Privacy policy
- Sitemap
- Terms of Use