I've spoken to a few design firms & a couple of them have said my room, an over sized two car garage that measures inside at 23.2 X 19.4 X 9.9 high (not including the attic)would run in the area of $70k or more to design & build.
The problem I'm having is how to budget the different stages of the project. I don't think I'll go with the firms that are that high in price. One of the alternatives is using an acoustician that can come in take measurements & draw a detailed plan & cut out the architect all together. His fee is half of some bigger design firms in NYC. the other option is to use a leading designer that would not be that expensive (half of the above acoustician) in the design, but he would not be on location either.He would need detailed info on the roof before designing.
I do have a contractor that is reliable & all he needs are the detailed plans to go forward. Of course I can't get an estimate from him until i have the plans drawn up.
Part of the unknown as of yet is how the roof is affixed. It was added later & I'm not sure if it's worth breaking through the ceiling that raises to the roof at the center maybe to 15ft?. Their are two support beams in the front & back of the attic. My contractor suggested that I get an engineer to decide how to deal with it, & the well known but economical designer said that my contractor should handle it. Who do I go to?
So to sum it up, this is what it coming down to.
acoustician --$8,000 complete drawings/tests two on site visits (with his analysis I'll know exactly what to do with the attic/roof) or
Famous designer -- #$3,000 plans only, no on-site visit, I have to supply him with roof info
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Ed