We did a similar project to what the OP is proposing. Originally talked with some design-build firms but eventually went with an architect & contractor. Design-build shrinks the calendar a bit, but on the down side you lose the benefit of multiple bids. Beyond that, I'm not sure one route is significantly faster than the other. If you hate to make decisions or have zero interest in all the gazillion choices, then you should definitely go with a design-build firm over an architect/contractor.

As for the upfront costs and risks, I don't think there's a way to avoid that entirely. And yes everything will take much longer and cost much more than you can possibly imagine. Still worth it for us; we invested about $450k in a house we bought for that amount 20 years ago. It's still small (2500sf plus a big screen porch) but everything has been updated/upgraded and it will all be paid off in 4 more years.

I’ve seen some very nice pop tops. To say they all suck is just not true. It’s true that selling and starting from scratch requires the least creativity and hassle.

Anonymous wrote:dont pop up, sell the house and get another or tear it down and build new, these popus rarely are worth the roi

This. They just end up weird with low ceilings. Tear down. It will cost a bit more but the end product will be worth so much more.

Just chiming in to say we are doing architect + contractor on a much smaller project (kitchen + basement reno) and everything is taking far longer than we originally anticipated. We are at the 1 year point since we signed with our architect and are still waiting for permits. Will likely be 1.5 years all in.

We used a design-build firm. We had it so that we could buy the plans and go with a different contractor if we wanted. We chose to stay with the firm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Design build is typically cheaper in my experience but you get what you pay for. There are no checks and balances because the arch and the contractor are on the same team. For my 3 design build projects I had to be the defacto GC. Do you fell comfortable with that?

There are checks and balances. It's called code enforcement. You will not get an occupancy permit if everything isn't right.

Lol. That's the bare minimum and code inspectors are hit or miss.

Not in Fairfax County it isn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Design build is typically cheaper in my experience but you get what you pay for. There are no checks and balances because the arch and the contractor are on the same team. For my 3 design build projects I had to be the defacto GC. Do you fell comfortable with that?

There are checks and balances. It's called code enforcement. You will not get an occupancy permit if everything isn't right.

Lol. That's the bare minimum and code inspectors are hit or miss.

Anonymous wrote:Design build is typically cheaper in my experience but you get what you pay for. There are no checks and balances because the arch and the contractor are on the same team. For my 3 design build projects I had to be the defacto GC. Do you fell comfortable with that?

There are checks and balances. It's called code enforcement. You will not get an occupancy permit if everything isn't right.