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Original poster

Is my architect being a little 'poncetastic' for my house?

30 replies

TotalConfucius · 05/10/2015 10:06

After an initial 'meeting of the minds' he seems have become fixated on every bedroom having an ensuite. So this wee chalet bungalow with its 25 x 12m footprint would end up with 4 bathrooms and 5 toilets. He says this is how people live these days. Is it really?
One of the downstairs bedrooms already has an ensuite.
The other is adjacent to a bathroom which is also the guest toilet/hand wash.
Upstairs my vision was two good sized bedrooms, one excellent bathroom, and a large walk in closet/storage room (storage space at a premium in a chalet bungalow). So my plan is 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (all with showers and retaining a bath also upstairs) and 3 toilets. That seems acceptable to me. I am not looking for cutting edge design - more solid, practical, family-friendly living in a rural area, including dogs and various animals and lots of mud.
4 of us live here, that's likely to decrease to 3 over the next 5 years, we don't have many house guests but would still have guest room, and we intend to stay here very long term.
Despite my telling him we don't want two ensuites upstairs and a guest toilet squished under the stairs (losing even more storage space) he says plans will include these. Should I cite creative differences and look for someone else, or just send the plans back with amendments in red?
Up to now our house renovations have been more 'gimme that sledgehammer, I think this'll look ok' - we've never used an architect.

OP posts:

321rd · 05/10/2015 10:09

We had about five different versions of plans before we settled on a version that we liked.
The major point were covers but our architects obsession was wood burners. No matter how time we said no one was always left on the plans!!

blaeberry · 05/10/2015 10:11

Personally, I think your idea sounds better but I might think differently when I have teenagers. Not sure about the architect though - surely he should be responding to what you want?

OliviaBenson · 05/10/2015 10:13

I'd remind your architect that you are the client and that you do not want ensuites for every room. It's you that will have to live there, not them. If they can't do that I'd seriously think about getting a different firm in.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 05/10/2015 10:17

Sack your architect. He's an idiot. Your arrangement sounds sensible. You definitely don't want ensuites with every bathroom, it's a mistake made by lazy developers who don't want to engage brain.

When we worked with our architect, he listened the everything we wanted and only objected when it wasn't possible. I'm sure if we'd suggested something outlandish then he would have objected but we didn't so he didn't. I get the impression that some architects are divas, no way would I have stood for that considering how much we paid in fees!

Seriouslyffs · 05/10/2015 10:20

Does he have a bil who's a bathroom supplier by any chance? Ridiculous plans.

Original poster

TotalConfucius · 05/10/2015 11:39

Thank you all. I'm going to stand firm.
We've already done the teenage years, the youngest is 14. None of them was particularly psychologically affected by having to share a bathroom at any stage.
He really seemed to be trying to convince me that everyone everywhere had their very own private bathroom and as I don't go into very many other houses (hermits) I was starting to wonder if it was true. I had to look at the plans for a local new build development to reassure myself!
After discussion, he says the agreement is for as many sets of plans as needed to make me say 'Yes, that's it exactly!' So the first set will include some features he thinks I should consider - such as the en suites and the bloody bifold doors. I hate bifold doors!
When he first came here he walked into the sitting room and exclaimed that he could turn this into a showstopper worthy of the magazines. That's exactly what we don't want. I can't imagine anything worse. We'll see how it goes, maybe I'll revert to my back of a fag packet plans.

OP posts:

wowfudge · 05/10/2015 11:48

I hate houses where every bathroom has an ensuite. I don't want to live in a small hotel. Nor do I want to have to clean all those bloody bathrooms. Give me decent sized rooms and additional storage instead.

MrsCampbellBlack · 05/10/2015 11:57

That's why we worked out what we wanted ourselves and got a guy in the village to do the drawings.

I am not a fan of en-suites at all really - I like 2 doors between where I sleep etc and where people go to the loo but I am sure I am in the minority with that.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 05/10/2015 12:00

I think your plan sounds perfect, OP. When we house-hunted last year, I hated all the tiny en-suites we saw in the new-build houses. Teeny, windowless fart-traps.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 05/10/2015 12:02

I wouldn't want to be lying in bed listening to my DH crap, wipe, flush, scrub, flush again, swear, spray AirWick, before he strolls out, pursued by a noxious cloud, hoping to get lucky.

LittleBearPad · 05/10/2015 12:11

I'd remind him who's paying his fees. It's your house and he's working for you. You may want to consider getting someone else in.

I hate the modern obsession with giving every bedroom a bathroom. It means you end up with smaller bedrooms.

Also tell him to stop with the bifold doors. If you aren't going to have them he's wasting your time and his.

Good luck

Devora · 05/10/2015 12:35

Oh, get rid of him. Your plan sounds so much better, and the fact that he won't listen to you is really going to be a problem.

I think the mania for all these ensuites will die down once people realise that, truly, it's better to have storage space! And it's absolutely not true that 'everybody' has their own personal bathroom. Thank goodness.

Forestdreams · 05/10/2015 12:44

Your plan sounds excellent. Storage space is important. I'm not sure he is the best choice for you.

I grew up in a house with a sink or en suite in every bedroom. Guess who had to clean them all? i'd never buy a house like that, I've got better things to do with my life than bloody bathroom cleaning. And Imdon't think it's a good use of a cleaner's time either.

SometimesItRains · 05/10/2015 12:50

Yes definitely veto all those bathrooms - who needs to waste time cleaning 5 toilets? My parents architect tried to convince them t have a coffee machine in their new bathroom and a balcony off the bathroom where they could sit in the morning to drink it. What's wrong with the kitchen, living room or dining room like all normal people?

OnePlanOnHouzz · 05/10/2015 15:19

Tee hee - this made me chuckle !! Yes remind 'mr ensuite enthusiast' that this is what you'd like - maybe via email,so it's in writing - and clearly state what you are after - otherwise he is just wasting his time and yours !

...If he has spare time on his hands and wants to show you his vision ( at his own cost ) then why not indulge him - then you can point out all the reasons that it won't work for you at your next meeting.

It might help him realise that you have thought about it and you know what's best for your own family !

... And if he does come up with a little spark of innovation that you might otherwise have missed out on - you will see it !

Original poster

TotalConfucius · 05/10/2015 15:29

I'll take him at his word and see how he reacts to my comments on his first set of plans - other than this issue, our thoughts were very much in line. If I don't feel he's following the brief at that point, we shall have to part company as the plans are over a 3 year period and I can't be squabbling. I can forgive a bit of blue sky and unlimited budget thinking but we have to get real at some point.
The others who visited immediately started pushing for a huge glass roof extension at the back. At least this one understood my view that as I had left a 5 bed/4recep house to downsize to here, I wasn't looking to extend.

OP posts:

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 05/10/2015 15:39

I'd say some tough talking is required...let him know you are only paying for the plans you asked for, if he feels the need to try and tempt you with 50Shades of Shower Screens then it is going to be his own time he's wasting

Original poster

TotalConfucius · 05/10/2015 15:54

We've not gone so far as to talk about Shower Screens but he has a shock coming when we start talking bathrooms:
I HATE shower screens;
I actively dislike shower cubicles.
I don't like monsoon showers.
I need riser rails fitted low for days I don't want to wash my hair.
I do not want to have to bend down to pick up my shampoo.
I do not want poxy little shelves that stuff falls off.
I need somewhere to hoik my legs for shaving.
I do not like fancy pants taps with sticky out bits that gather limescale.
I think heated towels rails are generally ineffective and want a bloody great big bad ass radiator
thumping out heat right left and centre. So my fat rolls and I can frolick nudey all year.

OP posts:

blaeberry · 05/10/2015 16:22

In which case, you definitely need a decent size bathroom, not en-suites.

IHavemyownLighthouseyouknow · 05/10/2015 16:29

I agree with you (and everyone else up thread) - get rid of this architect. Ours talked a very good talk, and persuaded me to have an extra storey, bathrooms/ensuites galore, wanted fancy glass walls & wood cladding (on a bog standard 30s house) and swore on his mother's life that it could all be done in budget. Of course, when the quotes came in they were all 2-3 times our budget, so we binned the architect, went back to our original ideas & found a decent builder to do it instead. I'm still angry about the £10k in architects fees that went down the pan though.

I'd try to find a decent builder who will recommend a good architectural technician to draft up the plans that you want.

lalalonglegs · 05/10/2015 16:33

Ha ha - I think he's probably going to sack you .

MrsFlorrick · 05/10/2015 17:50

He wants every bedroom to have an ensuite as this will push up the cost of the build quite a way. And it just so happens that architects are paid 10% to 15% of the total cost of the build......

Get another architect. You would get several quotes from other trades and that should include the professionals.

BSites · 05/10/2015 18:39

WhatsGoingOnEh Has made me and DH roar with laughter. Me more than him, to be honest.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 06/10/2015 11:31

CiderwithBuda · 06/10/2015 12:04

House across the road from us did a big renovation and put ensuites in every room. They have now been trying to sell for two years. I'm sure the ensuites are not th only reason it's not selling but they are probably not helping.

We have a similar size house to theirs and put in one ensuite - and I am usually the only one who uses it. DH and DS use the big family bathroom which has a huge shower.

Downstairs cloakroom also has a shower but hardly ever gets used.

Ensuites in every room are completely unnecessary.

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