Anonymous wrote:Call Cameo Kitchens and ask them for an estimate too.

Yes, call Cameo. I know 2 people who used them for projects which involved renovations in addition to the kitchen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks. Clearly I am a newbie. I have now talked to three builders who have design experience/team members and have done this kind of work so I think i'm on the right track. I mistakenly thought design build was going to be more expensive than architect route (because I talked to one DB firm who did a rough quote of 125k, which is ridiculous and which I think was to try to get rid of us as potential clients as they did really high end work). I will report back!

Honestly, I don't think $125k is all thwart ridiculous, especially right now when there is so much work. Fall is a popular time to start projects. And with rates so low, a lot of people are doing renovations (myself included).

125 is the cost of half a house

In 1998 ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks. Clearly I am a newbie. I have now talked to three builders who have design experience/team members and have done this kind of work so I think i'm on the right track. I mistakenly thought design build was going to be more expensive than architect route (because I talked to one DB firm who did a rough quote of 125k, which is ridiculous and which I think was to try to get rid of us as potential clients as they did really high end work). I will report back!

Honestly, I don't think $125k is all thwart ridiculous, especially right now when there is so much work. Fall is a popular time to start projects. And with rates so low, a lot of people are doing renovations (myself included).

125 is the cost of half a house

You might try Matt Ossolinski from Ossolinski Architects. He does a range of projects and has done some smaller projects in the past. He charges by the hour which makes sense with a project like your project. You can look on Houzz for his info and photos of his work. I would send him an email describing your project and budget and then he can let you know if it is something that he could help with. We met with him and were very impressed. He's very detail oriented and came highly recommended to us. We didn't wind up using Matt because it looks like we are going to have to move, we have recommended him to our friends because we were that impressed with him.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks. Clearly I am a newbie. I have now talked to three builders who have design experience/team members and have done this kind of work so I think i'm on the right track. I mistakenly thought design build was going to be more expensive than architect route (because I talked to one DB firm who did a rough quote of 125k, which is ridiculous and which I think was to try to get rid of us as potential clients as they did really high end work). I will report back!

Honestly, I don't think $125k is all thwart ridiculous, especially right now when there is so much work. Fall is a popular time to start projects. And with rates so low, a lot of people are doing renovations (myself included).

Call Cameo Kitchens and ask them for an estimate too.

OP here, thanks. Clearly I am a newbie. I have now talked to three builders who have design experience/team members and have done this kind of work so I think i'm on the right track. I mistakenly thought design build was going to be more expensive than architect route (because I talked to one DB firm who did a rough quote of 125k, which is ridiculous and which I think was to try to get rid of us as potential clients as they did really high end work). I will report back!

Anonymous wrote:

The only people I know who used architects for kitchen renovations were doing incredibly big budget projects. For a regular project, you don't use an architect - that's why you can't find anyone who "specializes" in this. You use a kitchen designer. They will do an excellent job on kitchen/bath plans and not eat up your entire budget.

OP here, we are reconfiguring half the house, pretty much. Opening the kitchen into the mudroom and what is currently a breakfast nook and opening the back of the house to the deck, all of which will require structural work (moving or opening supporting walls/columns) . WIll a kitchen designer do that? If so, I"m game.

If you are not removing supporting walls, just widening openings that exist, then a design build firm can help you.

The only people I know who used architects for kitchen renovations were doing incredibly big budget projects. For a regular project, you don't use an architect - that's why you can't find anyone who "specializes" in this. You use a kitchen designer. They will do an excellent job on kitchen/bath plans and not eat up your entire budget.

OP here, we are reconfiguring half the house, pretty much. Opening the kitchen into the mudroom and what is currently a breakfast nook and opening the back of the house to the deck, all of which will require structural work (moving or opening supporting walls/columns) . WIll a kitchen designer do that? If so, I"m game.

The only people I know who used architects for kitchen renovations were doing incredibly big budget projects. For a regular project, you don't use an architect - that's why you can't find anyone who "specializes" in this. You use a kitchen designer. They will do an excellent job on kitchen/bath plans and not eat up your entire budget.