The Design Department Inc

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We met with Pat after having a horrible experience with an architect where we were told we could not have the open floor plan we wanted, etc. Pat assured us immediately that she would design the house exactly how we wanted it and we would be happy with the results. Pat was extremely knowledgeable about the entire permit process as well as design and structural engineering process and coordinated everything beautifully. You could tell a lot of thought went into our plans to make the house exactly how we wanted it. Her suggestions were always useful in getting a better design. We had some major issues come up with the foundation that were not known originally and Pat helped us fix the plans with the engineer and city and most importantly, was very reassuring. Her confidence and experience helped us get through a very stressful time when we thought we may not be able to finish the project due to budget constraints. Pat worked with the engineer and contractor to keep costs lower for us and even did some extra work for us for free when these changes put us over her estimate. Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better designer. Pat has showed us that we don't have to use an architect to get plans, and we never will again! She is so easy to work with that our general contractor has already recommended her to several new clients.

We met with Pat and I gave her a detailed list of all the features and spaces I wanted to squeeze into our first floor. These included moving the kitchen, adding a new back hall and a laundry room, and reconfiguring the entry, guest room and bathroom. We scribbled a few ideas on paper. Then a couple of weeks later, she came back with fabulous ideas for how to get what we wanted in the space and budget we had to work with. We tweaked it a number of times until we finally had exactly what we wanted. Once we agreed on the plan, we sent them to the engineer to get Engineering approval. The engineer made some notations on the plans about how it was to be built (like extra bolts for wind shearing). Once we had the engineering done, Pat took the plans to the department that hands out building permits and brought us all the permits we needed. What a relief. We gave the plans to the builder who part, the plans were self explanatory and we got everything we wanted. The house looks great now.