ᐅ Floor plan design shortly before submitting the building permit application

11ant schrieb:
I see the mistake (on both sides) more as the risk taken in trying to combine two things: the original poster wanted a genuine "architect-designed house," meaning a lot of individuality even in the details;

You have correctly described my approach. I also had the same concerns after talking to the general contractor (GC) and other GCs. The GC then "talked me out of it" or convinced me by saying that he is not a traditional GC, but rather specifically for clients like me who want a lot of individuality, they have their own architects, and there are no disadvantages compared to an independent architect. Moreover, there are advantages afterward from the experienced construction of single-family homes offered by a solid construction provider. So, despite these concerns, I was actively courted and convinced to sign with them.

11ant schrieb:
I live less than an hour’s drive from the GC’s headquarters, and I don't know of any unhappy customers. What they usually do is a bit more conventional house building – but that across all price ranges.

I see it the same way. I haven’t heard anything negative, and we visited several references and talked to them.

11ant schrieb:
I can well imagine that they have never had a site with so many critical details and must have thought, “usually the customers are satisfied, here it must be the builder or their expert who is overreacting.”

You can count on that. They already told me shortly before signing the construction contract that they have never had a customer with so many options worked in regarding additional or reduced services. I don’t believe they hold a grudge against me. Rather, I think they are pretty thick-skinned when it comes to dealing with complaints. They can handle that, and from what I heard, it sometimes goes similarly with other projects (statements like “people usually only call when there is something to complain about” when I said something positive).

11ant schrieb:
From my point of view, two parties came together here, of whom at least one should have said “no” (which neither probably anticipated).

On one hand, I can partly agree with that from my side. On the other hand, I don’t feel that I would necessarily have been better off elsewhere. It really seems to be the GC model. The architect there, who is almost semi-freelance, recently told me that he had to adjust massively because of standards (for example, concerning the terrace doors – he was told what to plan as standard initially). But the fact is, at the beginning, we were very open to such an architect-led solution, but despite various contacts, it never came together. So now it is what it is, and it’s not all bad.

Would the GC say “no” today? I don’t know. So far, they have basically managed or resolved everything well, and I see no significant reductions in their margins. On the contrary – they will likely have substantial deductions from the shell builder, but I can hardly or only partially pass those on.

Bau.mal schrieb:
I don’t find that funny, appropriate, or allowed; but it fits your general behavior here.

That is not my intention either. I am always only interested in substantive and professional exchange here, never in discrediting companies or individuals. That is far from my mind.

Bau.mal schrieb:
Quote: All rip-offs. Great conditions, then, to bring the construction project to a reasonable conclusion.

After your comment, I reflected on what I wrote and want to address it again. My statement certainly cannot stand as it was. In particular, I want to make clear that the GC is not part of that. There were things that annoyed me greatly and did not go well, but I never had the feeling they were rip-offs. Therefore, I shouldn’t have written that so categorically. I find their prices fair. Even contract supplements after signing were fair, from what I partly checked. Sure, I would have preferred a bit more goodwill or an outreached hand at points where both sides could have performed better, but otherwise, I think they are reputable and fair.

My comment actually related “only” to the interior contractor and I wrongly generalized it. I simply hate it when a contract is signed, services are identified, and then someone tries to renegotiate by disparaging other services without being able to precisely define or justify them. That is rip-off behavior for me, but I have less of that with the GC – with them, I have just the feeling of poor organization, chaos in the process and site supervision, and missing advice or inquiries during planning.

Snowy36 schrieb:
Has the blower door test already happened?

It was originally scheduled for two and a half weeks from now. I pushed a bit, and now they are coming on Wednesday.

kaho674 schrieb:
Blaming a layperson for choosing the wrong specialist is nonsense. How should they know the expert is overestimating themselves?

I agree. As I said at the beginning, they even bragged a bit and were proud of their own company. Looking at what they have built up, it deserves some respect from a certain perspective. I have to say that as well, because it is not all just black or white.

11ant schrieb:
The general contractor "can" do something different though: basic, basic Superior, and basic exquisite – each often including floor plans with their own inspirations, but still close enough to the standard...

As serious as the situation is, I really have to hold myself back here... absolutely wonderful, beautifully put...!

kaho674 schrieb:
Blaming the layperson for choosing the wrong specialist seems nonsense to me. How should they know that the professional is overestimating their abilities?

I didn’t accuse the layperson of that; as I said: "...which neither of them probably could have anticipated)."
And I also think that the professional, having worked mostly with clients with a different sense of individuality so far, sincerely believed they could handle “individual” projects. Maybe they still think that and simply write off all the frustration as "just bad luck with the new shell constructor."

Josephine2489 schrieb:
So wonderful, beautifully expressed...!

Every word is meant exactly as it reads. Their idea of “normal individuality” likely involves things like decorative plaster ceiling imitations, whirlpools instead of bathtubs, and asymmetrical gable roofs. Over several decades, they probably never encountered an unsolvable special request, so why would they doubt their expertise?

If I remember correctly, the in-house contract architect was changed here, and a new shell constructor was tried. The mishandling of the old plan with the energy supplier could have been handled more professionally. But I don’t see a commercial overconfident professional here who the building industry should be warned about.

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11ant schrieb:
But I don't see any professional overconfidence here that the construction industry would need to be warned about.

I don't see that either, and that's why it doesn't happen.

11ant schrieb:
If I remember correctly, both the internal contract architect changed here and a new structural builder was tried out.

Yes, that was quite strange. At first, they had an independent architect who did our design planning. I think they quickly realized that he also worked like a freelance architect and that he significantly exceeded the budget in some parts. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but afterwards we suddenly dealt with two different employed architects from whom we got the design planning completed. One was involved only briefly for a meeting, then was dismissed after producing a design that not only nullified the previous work of the first architect but also created a plan that completely missed our ideas. The third one eventually finished it somewhere, although I believe we had more meetings and caused more effort than other homeowners. But they were always patient with us.

The first architect has now formed a new company together with the general contractor (GC), whose business purpose is architectural planning. He has since taken over our interior design planning in some detailed matters. Recently, as I said, he told me that he had to learn a lot at the GC and had to adjust significantly. Various standards were mentioned here—apparently to achieve the necessary synergies for a GC.


Well, the same problem occurred with the architect responsible for the execution planning. Completely different people do that in the company. There was back and forth. One started with us, then was sick multiple times, and I had to explain to the other partially things that had already been discussed. Then the recovered person took over again and eventually emailed the clients announcing he was leaving the company immediately and wishing everyone all the best for the further construction process. So the other one was back in action...

These are not great conditions, of course. But I see neither intent nor malice, just some chaos, plus bad luck with the GC’s personnel and similar issues... and the fact that, despite our expressed wish through other reference homeowners, we didn’t get the highly praised site manager but someone else probably didn’t help the process run perfectly either. But of course, there is no entitlement to the preferred site manager. I should have had that written in the contract, but I was pretty sure they would assign him since by that time it was clear to me that our house was somewhat special for them (not just the house, probably also the homeowner—so I didn’t want to take any risks as the GC). I would have preferred to have the most experienced one.

So, as I said, I see it as a challenge.

After the roofer was here, I thought today, during the first rain since then, I’d check the basement—and then I see this disaster!

Water is dripping from the newly installed copper pipes. But it only happens in direct connection with the rain. Could the water be finding its way through the multi-utility conduit into the copper pipes? I can’t reach anyone today who can help with this. Simply terrible!!!!

Oh dear
Nothing is really going smoothly for you