Discussion Forum

I posted here a while back asking whether to hire an architect and contractor separately or go with one team, and we ended up choosing the design build route. I will not name the company but I can share what the experience was like. We interviewed three places and two of them felt like sales pitches, but the third actually walked us through a realistic budget and timeline instead of promising the moon. They handled the drawings, the permit submissions, and all the construction with their own crew and a few subs. The biggest surprise was how much time the permit phase ate up, almost two months before anyone touched a hammer. Once work started it moved fast, about ten weeks for a kitchen and two bathrooms, and the final cost came in about eight percent over the initial estimate because of some hidden water damage. They showed us photos before fixing it, which I appreciated. I know some people say home remodeling and design build services in Palo Alto are more expensive, and maybe they are, but for us the convenience of one point of contact was worth it. The only real downside was living through the dust and noise, but that is going to happen no matter who you hire. If anyone is on the fence, my advice is to ask for a detailed scope and a schedule in writing before you sign anything.