Before You Renovate: The Importance of a Residential Architect’s Input

Fred Wilson, AIA

Fred Wilson, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson

Jun 4, 2013 - 5 min read

Before You Renovate:  The Importance of a Residential Architect’s Input

Finally! After months of searching, you’ve signed a contract on your dream house. It’s bigger than your current home. It’s in a lovely, tree-lined neighborhood. It’s close to good schools. And the neighbors seem friendly. You are thrilled. Exhausted. And ready to tweak a few things. Your wish list? Maybe it’s expanding the current one-car garage to a more family-friendly, two-car version. Or bumping out the kitchen just a bit to create space for a mudroom. Perhaps you’re thinking of adding a guest bedroom over the garage, once it’s enlarged.

This is an ideal time to call in a residential architect. After all, unless you’re a trained architect yourself, how can you possibly know if the alterations you’d like to make are feasible? Allowable? And cost-effective? The only way to be sure is to walk an architect through your house. At Morgante-Wilson Architects, it’s a mantra we eagerly repeat over and over to potential clients: just let us have a look. We can save you untold heartache, not to mention money. And if your hunches are right, we can make them sing.

Let’s say the house you’ve found is perfect in almost every way, but you think it needs a bit more space. Maybe you’re contemplating adding to the back, to the side, or even raising the roof to create a second floor. Maybe you’d like to trade the living room’s 8-foot ceiling for a vaulted version. I could go on, but the point is this: only an architect will know for sure if it’s possible – or even wise - to transform your dreams into reality.

Walk a residential architect through your new home, and he or she will investigate structural issues, site concerns, drainage situations, load-bearing walls, and a host of other factors that may hinder, exacerbate, or obliterate your plans.

How is the house framed? Is its roofline fairly straightforward, or charmingly complex? In some cases, though alterations may be possible to make, the cost of doing so may outweigh the benefits. The services of a structural engineer may be required. Support beams may become necessary. The foundation may need to be strengthened to bear extra weight above.

Any or all of these scenarios will most likely invite scrutiny from local building officials, who may request that the rest of the house be brought up to code – adding significant expense you may not have planned to incur.

What about heating or cooling your new space? Perhaps your plans will require a larger HVAC system. They’ll almost certainly require insulation and drywall. Have you thought about that? An architect will think about it, that’s for sure!

The point is this: engage the services of a residential architecture firm to verify your hunches are sound so you can make an educated decision as to whether or not to proceed with your ideas. It’s the safest route to avoiding bumps in the road ahead – and will ideally lead to an even greater outcome than you envisioned.

Fred Wilson, AIA

Fred Wilson, AIA

Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson