What are the steps you need to take when starting an architecture project? Building in the Bay Area is an expensive and time consuming process. You don’t want to just jump into something without laying the proper groundwork first. Whether you are thinking about a house remodel, addition, new house, […]
House Remodel
36 posts
A couple of years ago friends hired me to help them bring their 1930, vaguely Craftsman style bungalow into the 21st century. Among other things, they wanted a new kitchen. They wanted the kitchen opened up to the dining room. It was a fun project. They were very hands on […]
I can’t recall if I’ve written about this project or not. Years ago, I did a project for these clients in this house, enclosing a carport to be a garage. That was successful. But the owners soon had to relocate for work, and the house was rented out. They’ve returned […]
Are you thinking about working on a project in San Francisco? It could be remodeling, or legalizing an in-law unit. Maybe you are thinking about adding a rental unit. Whatever it is, you probably have lots of questions. This week there is an event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium […]
What are “Full Architectural Services”? Architects just draw, right? Wrong! Architects do a lot more than just draw. Whether your project is a house addition, a house remodel, or a kitchen remodel, the services that an architect can provide are extensive. We do research. We design (yes). We draw (yes). […]
You want to remodel your house, or build an addition. Maybe you want to build your dream home. Do you hire an architect? You hear from one person an architect is essential. You hear from another person that you don’t need one. Besides, they are expensive, right? What does an […]
I haven’t posted about this project in a while. I started working on this project in December of 2014. It is a fairly simply 240 square foot extension to a 1950’s ranch house located in San Bruno. We were required to jump through some bureaucratic, and expensive hoops to allow […]
For those who are thinking about remodeling or adding on, there is a bewildering amount of things you need to think about: the problem you are trying to solve, Planning codes, construction costs, and those are the things you can think of! My Project Planning Checklist is a checklist that […]
The project to legalize an existing secondary dwelling at the garage level of a house in San Francisco is getting closer to be completed. The permit was issued in May. So we are three months into construction and it’s starting to look pretty good. This project is being built as […]
The other day my client for the project in San Leandro texted me a photograph. It made me smile. This is the view from the back hall through the kitchen through the new opening between the kitchen and dining room, through the dining room to the window and out to […]
The project to update a long neglected mid-century modern house in the Oakland hills is coming along. At what feels like a snail’s pace, but moving along none the less. In this post we’ll look at a nearly completed bathroom, a detail that makes my eye twitch, and a little […]
One of the projects in the office at the moment is the remodel of mid-century house in the Oakland hills. I have written about this project before here and here. The construction is moving along. Here are some photographs of the construction in progress. The Master Bedroom is small, but […]
A couple of weeks ago I visited the project in San Leandro which is currently under construction. I took some pictures and realized that this project provides an example of a principal of design I call “Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference”. In this case, opening up the wall between […]
Today I visited my Oakland remodel project. The owner and I met with the contractor to discuss tile details – where grout joints will be, alignments, and so on. The owner and I also discussed the paint colors for the remodeled Master Suite and came to some decisions. This above […]
This post is about a bathroom remodeling which is part of a larger remodeling project to a mid-century house in the Oakland Hills. The bathroom has a good size, but the fixtures are arranged in a strange way and date to the late 1940’s – and not in a good […]
How do you think about the money you are spending on an addition or remodeling project? Is it an expense – just money spent? or is it an investment – money spent with the expectation of a return? I suggest that when you are considering adding on or remodeling, that […]
If you live in San Francisco and have a rental unit on your property that was built without proper permits, the City has an amnesty program which will allow you to legalize the unit. If you are legalizing voluntarily, the program allows you to legalize your illegal rental unit without […]
For home owners building codes can be a real mystery, particularly when the project is to remodel an existing house. New projects are required to comply with the current building code (the code in effect at the time you apply for a building permit). The general rule is that whatever […]
The schematic design phase of the Bay Vista project is over. Now is a good time to recap the design. As you may recall, the Bay Vista project, in Oakland, is a whole house remodel + an addition to a faintly Swiss cottage style California Ranch house that dates from […]
I’m really excited about this project. I started it about a month ago and it’s off to a great start. The project is to remodel and expand an existing house in the Oakland hills. The house sits on a down sloping one acre site with a tremendous view of the […]