Home Renovation Part 2: The Architect

You need a good architect for a large renovation project. I found that the architect helped us in many ways that I did not anticipate. Here is what the architect did for us. Your architect may be do more or (likely) much less.

1. Defined the scope of the project and the style of the house (modern, traditional, country, etc). Converted our general ideas to concrete plans. Showed us various alternatives and helped us choose between them. Defining the scope of the project ahead of time prevented the common problem of enlarging the scope of the project midway. The architect prompted us to think about the alternatives ahead of time.
2. Helped us pick a general contractor.
3. Helped us write and review the general contractor's contract. Anything you miss in the contract will become extra work later, so it is better to be thorough here.
4. Converted our wishes to the technical terms that the contractor is using, and translated the contractor's speak to plain English.
5. Helped us estimate the cost of the project, which is often much more than what you pay to the general contractor. This was necessary to evaluate competing contractors, which often cover different parts of the same job.
6. Verified that the general contractor is doing his job right and did not cut corners.
7. Participated in the weekly meetings with the general contractor once the project started.
8. Helped us find vendors according to our specific needs. For example, my architect found cabinet makers that build low VOC (volatile organic compounds) cabinets.
9. Helped my wife pick tiles and paint to match our décor. She us saved much time here, because there are so many options. She also designed the pattern of the tiles in the bathrooms.
10. Paid attention to myriad small details during the job. For example, she told the tile person how to avoid water accumulation on the floor just outside the shower.
11. Noticed water damage in the outside walls during the project and showed me. Found additional water damage while fixing the first damage. The contractor and his people did not notice this water damage.
12. Designed custom furniture for us. For example, she prepared the plans for a custom computer desk, and she found the proper adjusting table legs for it.
13. Called some subcontractors and showed them the job.
14. Helped us evaluate the proposals of subcontractors and asked them to clarify important technical details that they omit in their proposals (and we did not know to ask).
    
15. Made many suggestions to replace or modify things that made our house look much more beautiful (like replacing light fixtures, modifying the living room area).

Before starting to work with my architect, I thought that she will help only in items 1-7, but she did all of the above. 

Architects are not cheap. I paid my architect hourly. Although I ended up paying her much more than I anticipated, I feel that it was money well spent. We could not have handled such a big project without her help, and she genuinely improved many aspects of the project.