Edward G Swaby RA Westchester Architect

His plans were impeccable. They were thorough and exact. He was extremely professional and got down to business immediately. He told you exactly what you were going to get how much and when you'd receive it. I'd recommend him in a heartbeat. He was attentive since day one and saw the project through from beginning to end. Never to busy to talk to me. He made a stressful undertaking just about worry free.

I really enjoyed working with Ed Swaby on my project. I found him to be thoroughly engaged in the process, and he worked tirelessly on finding creative solutions, while remaining focused on retaining the architectural integrity of a home built in 1901. He was open to my ideas and suggestions, and was understanding and flexible when I changed my mind about some of the project scope. I also appreciated his taking the extra time to come with me to various vendors to help choose decking materials. He was generous about making some site visits when structural and design questions arose during the demolition and construction stages. I recommend Ed very highly, and would gladly work with him again.

Mr. Swaby was a complete professional from start to finish of our basement project. He followed up at each stage of the project by either a visit, a phone call or an email, and provided several copies of the drawings for the contractors, building & housing department and myself..He also assisted in the permit application at the Buildings and Housing Dept. At the completion of the project he was readily available for inspection as required by the Buildings and Housing Dept. After his inspection Mr. Swaby forwarded an official letter of evaluation to the project inspector. After a visit from the inspector and approval of the project I received my certificate of completion within a week.

Ed is great. He came into our project with energy and enthusiasm, was always available to talk and work out our ideas, and never made us feel like we were being unreasonable or that our project was not important. He figured out how to move a set of stairs, fit in a powder room, and make a huge master bedroom with spacious closets. We had to scale back some of the initial plans he drew up because of our budget, but Ed worked with us all the way.

He was very professional, polite, and spent a lot of time to go over design options.

Great timely reasonable

Ed Swaby provided excellent guidance during a challenging renovation project. He was professional, knowledgeable about existing building codes and provided key information which helped us to make informed decisions about the next steps to take He went out of his way to help us resolve our issue with a problematic contractor. We don't hesitate to recommend Ed Swaby.

And details for this architect are available. Feel free to call me at 914-320-1791

?Edward G. Swaby RA Westchester Architect designed the architectural drawings for a two family house addition and alteration in Yonkers, NY. Ed designed the second floor master bedroom suite addition and a first floor alteration reconfiguring the locations of the living room, kitchen and dining room. He also did the plot plan and details showing how to build three parking spots and drywell drainage system. He did his own structural design as well. After the first set of bids, Ed found a way to get a less expensive design. He is an expert in maximizing space. Contractors bidding the project remarked that they liked the drawings. We were able to have preliminary design meetings on FaceTime. This was helpful because we live in California and Ed is in New York. Ed could email us ?pdf? copies. We enjoyed working with Ed very much! His experience made our project possible.? Thanks, Ed

We were able to get approval early because Mr. Swaby divided the project into two. One project was for the two family conversion and the other was for the garage. In this manner we avoided going to the Department of Public Works for the conversion and avoided delayed construction. The garage had impervious surface calculations and went to the Department of Public Works. When we were substantially completed with the two family house, we were able to start on the garage. Mr. Swaby did several designs, working drawings, and helped with the approval process. Mr. Swaby was available for multiple revisions. During the design phase, he listened to my ideas and helped to improve the design with his ideas. The working drawings were very detailed, well organized, and easy to read.

terrible

I'm a handy guy that bought a house with too many needs. I started my demo and found money pit problems, e.g., sagging floors that were covered up by small platforms. First, i talked to a floor guy and they told me to talk to a carpenter. Then I talked to a carpenter and while they had some good ideas; it became obvious that I needed an architect/structural engineer. I talked to a few, and Ed was the obvious choice. He had a background in what I needed: more importantly, Ed got me (that I wanted to be involved) and the project. He didn't try to upsell me; he identified my needs, went to work and came up with a functional plan. Architects are notorious for not thinking through how things get built; not Ed, he thought through many combinations. As a DYI'er, I appreciated the journey because he kept me informed and we talked about decisions. I was able to get my input in and we came up with a solid plan. My carpenter exclaimed, wow this is awesome, when he saw the plans. I plan to use Ed again for building a garage and making my attic legal. He was awesome. Very happy!

Great. Ed really takes the time to listen and then try to find various working solutions. I found him knowledgeable and honest. He helped me choose a kitchen cabinet company after my dealings with Home Depot did not work out. Ed also had a list of contractors that were interested in bidding on my job. In my opinion, Ed takes his job very seriously and he is committed to the final outcome of the project and the satisfaction of the client. He was very responsive to emails and phone calls. I highly recommend Ed.

KUDOS TO ED SWABY FOR HIS EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND PROFESSIONALISM! ANYONE THAT HAS HAD WORK DONE ON THEIR HOUSE HAS EXPERIENCED SLOW OR NO RESPONSE AS FAR AS CONTRACTORS' ATTENDANCE TO THE JOB, PUNCTUALITY OR CALLBACKS. NOT WITH ED. FROM OUR FIRST CALL TO SET UP AN INTERVIEW TO TYING UP LOOSE ENDS WITH THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT FOR FINAL INSPECTION, ED WAS ALWAYS PROMPT, RESPONSIVE AND PROFESSIONAL. MY WIFE AND I WANTED TO UPDATE AND ENLARGE OUR SMALL, CRAMPED KITCHEN IN OUR BRICK 1924-BUILT COLONIAL. ED CREATED A DESIGN FOR OUR KITCHEN THAT FULFILLED ALL OUR WISHES AND MORE AND JUST GARNERS COMPLIMENTS FROM EVERYONE WHO VISITS OUR HOME. ENLARGING A KITCHEN IN A BRICK HOUSE IS NO EASY FEAT AND CAN BE TRICKY, AND ED WAS THERE TO WATCH OVER THE BUILDERS. MY WIFE AND I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND ED TO ALL WHO NEED A PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECT WITH A KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL AND AN ARTISTIC VISION.

My wife and I hired Ed to help devise a solution to a specific problem?create a pitched roof over the portion of our house that has a flat roof so that we no longer would have to shovel off the snow. In our first meeting, we told Ed that we had a bid by a licensed builder for a simple shed roof, for $13K plus architect fees. Ed suggested that if we were willing to spend somewhat more, we possibly could acquire not just dead space under a pitched roof, but also simple unfinished storage space or even additional living space. We replied that our maximum budget for any option was $30-40K. In the preliminary phase, Ed designed a pitched roof covering a new, 170 sq ft finished sitting room with a dormer, to adjoin our master bedroom. We were satisfied with the design work. The ?overall? rating above reflects our belief that Ed gave us poor advice on the cost of the project, resulting in designs whose cost far exceeded the budget we had discussed with him. On at least three occasions?including at the end of the preliminary phase, when we had the option to end our agreement and not pay the remaining $1,300 fee if we did not wish to proceed with the working drawings?we reminded ourselves and Ed of our maximum cost range. On each of these occasions, even though our contract did not require Ed to give us construction cost estimates, we explicitly asked him for a reality check on the cost of the new space we were designing. He never said, ?Sorry, I can?t or won?t offer you any opinion on this subject.? Far from it. Instead, he responded consistently that the new sitting room we had been discussing was a very small job and that he was confident we would find builders interested in doing it within or very close to our price range. At the end of the preliminary phase, he also advised us that we probably could not get meaningful ballpark cost estimates from builders without the working drawings. After paying the second fee installment of $1,300, we distributed the working drawings to three potential builders, including two recommended by Ed. We received one firm written bid for $62,500 that would have grown to at least $70,000 when adding excluded items such as painting. We received ?ballpark? estimates of $75-80K and $95-115K from the other builders, both of whom we then asked not to submit a firm bid. As the three price indications were so far above our budget maximum, we put the project on hold and declined Ed's suggestion to talk further. We were naïve to rely upon Ed?s reassurances concerning building costs and not seek independent input from local builders anywhere during this process. However, Ed should not have offered us repeated assurances that the space he was designing for us would be within or near our budget maximum, given that his market knowledge on this score was, apparently, quite inadequate. In February 2015, we decided to proceed with a simple gable type roof over the flat roof, with no additional storage or living space, in the hope of accomplishing our original goal within our maximum budget. We asked Ed several times by email and phone if he would do the necessary drawings for us for a reduced fee, but he did not respond to any of these requests.

Mr. Swaby contacted over 680 neighbors for the Planning Board meeting at no cost to our company. Mr. Swaby was successful in expediting approval from the Department of Public Works, the Building Department, and the Planning Board in White Plains. Ed followed up quickly on requests made by the departments. He kept our project from being lost in the municipal shuffle. It was nice to be able to use the same reliable person for architectural, site and structural needs. I would use him again.

He prepared appropriate plans within a tight timeline and all work was done in a professional manner.

I called in Ed based on Angie's List reviews and after viewing his web page etc. I needed to "bump out" one wall of my kitchen so that my window would no longer be shaded by the second floor overhang. I wanted a sunny kitchen as well as needing to replace old/worn out cabinets, countertops, floors, and lighting. Ed was a pleasure to work with. Always on time, plenty of ideas, knowledge of all the systems (structural, plumbing, heating, electric) that have to come together to make a kitchen work. He listened to my needs and concerns and we had a productive back-and-forth dialog. The final design is highly workable and will give me a sunny, spacious kitchen. We finalized plans, and that's when Ed's other skills came into play. He had worked in the building inspector's office early in his career and he spoke their language. He was able to facilitate the approval of the building permit and reduce red tape. Construction has just begun on my project and I have asked Ed to review progress at crucial points. I will add to my review when all is completed.

Very very pleased working with Ed. Ed removes all uncertainties and provides professional guidance in every step of planing to remodel our house. Ed is a great listener, has excellent approach in meeting our plans and makes perfect balance between capability and building regulations. He modified the plan couple of times with great improvements over our original ideas. Work in planning is 90% interior redesign (floor layout): - New (bigger) Kitchen (merging current kitchen and dinning room) - Two new bathrooms - New family/great room - New master bedroom and bathroom - Two bedrooms Exterior work: adding bigger entrance. Highly recommended, and would hire Mr. Swaby again on my next project.

li am still working with ED, the project is not over yet. will follow with our story & experience......

I was in a bind and needed architectural drawings ASAP for a small home renovation project. I called Mr. Swaby, told him I was looking for an architect, and he said he just happened to finish up a job and was looking for something. Encouraged, I described the scope of the project. At this point, realizing this was not going to be a big money maker, he backtracked. He said he really doesn't get involved in smaller jobs. I told him I completely understood -- I said I know he had a business to run and if it was not profitable for him to spend time on smaller jobs then that is fine. As we kept talking I thought maybe he was going to change his mind. He said something to the effect of, "Well....maybe I could do it...but its probably more than you are looking to spend..." As I stated above, I was in need of someone right away, so I was willing to overpay to some degree. I asked him what he had in mind. He said, "Oh probably about $3,000". That was twice as high as the estimate that I received from another architect (unfortunately that person had a two week backlog). I told him that was too much for the amount of work that we were talking about and he did not disagree. At this point it was clear that Mr. Swaby would not be taking the job, so I asked him if he could recommend any architects in the area that might be more open to smaller projects. He said he really couldn't recommend anyone because no one would do as good of a job on it as he would. I said, "But you won't do the job!" I understand the motivation to not want to send business to your competitors, but I thought his response was absurd. I really couldn't believe what had just happened, and that basically ended the conversation. Based on reviews that I had read, Mr. Swaby seemed like a very competent architect. Unfortunately our needs did not align, but I still wish he could have been more helpful.

Called Ed seeking advice on hiring a structural engineer. Even though my email stated I was only looking for a referral and that there was not Architecture business involved, he called me right back, discussed my project extensively and then promptly emailed me contact information for a local structural engineer he recommended highly.I was very impressed with Ed's Professionalism and would use him for other services.

Mr. Swaby did a complete set of architectural plans and presented it to the building department that expedited approval. I was very pleased with his work and I recommend his work. Mr. Swaby was able to help due to his knowlege and expertise in building codes and zoning and ordinances.

He came up with excellent ideas that maximized the utility of our space. He listened to our ideas and helped us test out if they would work. He was completely open to a new suggestion when it made sense. As a former building inspector, he was very aware of the aspects of the building code that applied and guided us through the permit application. He does fine art paintings as a sideline and he brings an artist's eye to the work of designing. He ably assisted the contractor when issues arose during constuction. Lastly, he has a sense of humor which helps a lot in a matter as anxiety producing as a major remodel.

I am very pleased with the results. The ideas came out on the plans beautifully and I am so pleased with the end results. My dreams have come true. He is very creative and has some wonderful ideas.