This was after extensive, somewhat intense, personal conversations regarding our options - "love it or list it" style. (Maggie = love it. Will = list it.) We'd house hunted last summer and just couldn't find something that lived up to our location, lot, and home's character.
We interviewed three architects. Hired one. Settled on the plan to add a bedroom and "jack and jill" bathroom to the second floor, as well as renovate the existing upstairs bath. Months went by. Measurements taken. Drawings sketched. Changed. Plans completed. And, about a month ago, we went to bid. Drawings and schematics were sent out, as well as a line-item, open-book bidding excel spreadsheet. In the past few weeks the architect's associate and I spent hours walking three different builders through the house.
(Now, as an aside, the unreasonably lengthy duration of the planning/architecture process was understandably stress-producing. We embarked on this endeavor to accommodate the baby in my belly, who was growing each and every day. So, each and every day we weren't moving forward was another day for me to stress about. Recently, we'd come to the conclusion that this would be a two-step job. First step (before baby) = demo and rough-in. Second step (1+ month post baby) = finishing. Totally not ideal, but hey, what can ya do... Yes, I wanted to scream at the architect to hurry the f*** up, but, I was trying to be flexible. To help expedite the process I interviewed and hired somebody to source fixtures and cabinetry based on idea boards I developed. The horses were in the gate.)
The three bids came back this week and on Thursday, the architect, his associate, Will and I gathered around our dining room table to go over the proposals.
End result? We are out $5K to the architect, have some useless plans, and are back where we were in February (or even arguably, last summer, at the "love it or list it" phase.) I am 8 weeks away from having a baby.
We are livid.
Of course, when we started the process we talked numbers. Before hiring the architect, we got rough estimates on costs. Conclusion? He is the world's worst estimator, or a very deceptive individual. He underestimated between 75-100%.
So, what happens now? I cry. A lot. I am angry. Embarrassingly, I grieve. And, we try to pull together a game plan, both for the baby's arrival, and the future. I don't want to move. At all. I.Love.This.House. But, we really need more space, and, now that it seems adding the space here is financially ridiculous, we...sob...house hunt?
Stay tuned.
And, for effect, let me repeat. We paid somebody $5K, invested 60+ hours of time, and are at the same place we were 8 months ago.
p.s. Yes, I realize the kids could share a room. (I did as a child - and loved it.) But, we determined that would be tough given our home, and, that we didn't want to go that route. And yes, I do realize this is another one of my first world problems.
