Orchestral Maneuvers

Measure twice, cut once. The carpenter's adage has become so clichéd that it's lost much of its resonance. But it's still sound advice where productivity and efficiency are concerned. Building snafus that require mid-course remediation before the house is even finished can add weeks or months to cycle time. And while some jokingly refer to this pervasive practice as “renovation during construction,” it's not funny when it cuts into profit margins. We asked a handful of architects to reflect on their own experiences and to discuss how to avoid some of the most common mistakes.

Disregard for the third dimension is often the culprit in framing fiascos. And framing errors can be deadly in that they have a cascade effect on every step that follows. “I'd say 80 percent of problems happen in the vertical realm,” says Duo Dickinson, an architect in Madison, Conn. “A vast number of builders have a blind spot when it comes to cross sections. We are all programmed like robots to go straight from plans to elevations before we think about floor heights. Unless you know the relationship between the doors, windows, floors, and walls in cross section before you build, you'll spend literally weeks undoing errors.”

Dickinson recommends setting a benchmark for all vertical measurements before framing starts. “Have a surveyor come out to set a baseline zero point relative to the grade. It's a reality check that sets the starting point for the height of everything in the house. Without it, you may end up having to backfill or having to apply for a variance because you're over the height limit. In the worst case, you may have to chop out an entire section of concrete that's already been poured.”

Another area prone to pitfalls: stairs. “I recommend never accepting an architect's drawing interpretation of what a stair can do. All too often, the framing plan has nothing to do with the reality of the stair system,” says Dickinson. Have the building codes governing acceptable rise-to-run ratios changed? Has the vertical plan taken into account that the entry hall will have ¾-inch tile over ½ inch of Durarock and ¼ inch of Laticrete? If those incremental measurements aren't factored into the overall height of the staircase and it ends up being off by an inch (or even less), there will be trouble when the inspector comes calling.

“Three quarters of an inch is a big enough differential in a riser in a stair platform that it will cause people to trip and literally die in a fire situation, so building officials are totally intolerant of that kind of discrepancy,” Dickinson says. “We've had more than a few staircases become kindling because they couldn't be fixed. If you're operating on a tight profit margin, you can literally lose all your profit if you make one mistake like that.”

With today's infinite choices in window shapes and sizes, views often come with a price. Even a seemingly minor change in a window schedule can wreak havoc on a framing job and throw the schedule out of whack.

Perhaps you've found a comparable window product for faster delivery at a lower cost? Before you make the swap, make sure the new glazing will jibe with the space. One way to prevent window misfits, Dickinson says, is to up-set the header and hold off on framing the sills until the product arrives, in case the sizes are a little off. Another preventive option: Preorder all windows before construction starts so you can set the headers with product in hand.

Stucco in South Beach? Shingles on Cape Cod? No sweat. But specify nonindigenous or experimental materials, and you're likely to run into trouble with trades. Unfamiliarity with a product translates into time delays. “If you use wood siding all day in Colorado, it's a no-brainer. But introduce stucco here and it'll take you all day to get the labor lined up to do it,” says Rick New, director of residential architecture for DTJ Design in Boulder, Colo. “Alot has to do with the region and the knowledge of your subcontractor base.”

One practice DTJ and its clients use to ensure proper execution of cladding materials—particularly in large-scale developments—is to create a 4-foot prototype wall at the outset of every project. The sample wall serves as a model for elements such as mortar joints, siding, masonry, grout joint depth, roofing details, and colors. “That way, when they start building hundreds of feet of it, they have a direct reference for the type of coursing we want,” New says. “You see this done on custom homes a lot because the client and the architect want to see how the materials interact, but it also has applications on the production side before they start burning time on actual units.”

A prototype wall has the added benefit of protecting the builder from liability if mistakes are made. “The super should coordinate [the building of the sample wall] when bids are coming in,” New recommends. “That way, the subs can't say they didn't have a model to work from.”

Don't let your job fall victim to market forces you can't control before it even starts. “If possible, have alternatives to cover your butt in the event of a material shortage or procurement delay,” New advises. That includes backup choices for structural engineering, based on availability and timing. For example, if stick construction is your usual method, have an alternate plan for steel or engineered microlam. Then weigh your options at game time. “It may cost you more to get the steel, but if you can get it to the jobsite twice as fast and get your framing subs to the jobsite three weeks earlier, then the cost may be worth it,” New says.

It's an old standby in the efficiency equation, but there's much to be said for building with off-the-shelf materials. “If you know that plywood is 2x8, and carpeting comes in 12-foot rolls, and lumber comes in 2-foot increments, you can save time and minimize waste by designing and building with these standard sizes,” says Mike Rosen, president and owner of Philadelphia-based Mike Rosen Architects. “Room dimensions will be directed by the lengths that materials come in, but good design will make that seamless. It's common sense that having to make something is more time consuming than simply ordering it from inventory.”

The same logic holds true when it comes to replacing an item that breaks—say a custom-fabricated ornamental window or an odd-sized truss that falls off the truck and splinters before it even makes it to the jobsite. If this happens, you may be looking at a significant delay. “Depending on what it is, it might take a day to replace, or it might take six weeks,” Rosen says, “whereas if you're using off-the-shelf items, you can stockpile them and have them on hand or order new products quickly.”

Perhaps the super has a clear vision of how all the pieces will fall together, down to every last shower arm and dimmer switch. But are the trades equally clear on how the mechanicals need to be integrated into the structural system?

UH-OH: How do the hours rack up? Let us count the ways. Exhibit A (left): Pipes with asbestos discovered in the existing walls of a remodel. Fix time: One week using a licensed abatement subcontractor. Exhibit B (middle): Beam set too low to accommodate arched ceiling. Fix time: One week for three framers to reset. Exhibit C (right): Grade not considered with regard to setback. Fix time: Several months to reorient the garage to side-loaded and to create a switchback driveway. Or you could call it a day and open a ski lift.

A pre-emptive powwow with plumbers, electricians, and HVAC subs is well advised before the rough-in to make sure everyone understands where the pieces will fall into place, including the final millwork. Otherwise, you may find yourself ripping out structural members after the fact to accommodate a wall-mounted faucet or a rerouted air duct, and then waiting for the trades to come back. “A major issue we run into is sequencing,” says New. “There is a lot of down time when you're waiting for someone to come back to a jobsite.”

A tale of two timesaving strategies on the architecture side.

Construction efficiency can't happen when the design vision is a moving target. Blood-good Sharp Buster (BSB), a Des Moines, Iowa–based architecture and planning firm with offices coast to coast, mitigates the potential for strategic flip-flopping by kicking off each client project with an internal charrette. Architects and builders convene for three to five days and hash out a clearly defined design schematic.

“We start with a market study that's either been conducted by the client or an outside source—something that defines building envelopes, price ranges, and buyer profiles,” says Dan Swift, BSB partner in charge of its southern region. “On the first day, we evaluate that study and offer up two or three thumbnail studies for each housing type. By the end of the charrette, we have floor plans hard-lined in CAD, to scale, and one to three elevations per housing type.”

Swift says this approach condenses into a week what would typically involve two or three months of back-and-forth (via fax and e-mail) with the client. “It also helps troubleshoot problems that might arise at the construction phase,” he says. “We spend a lot of time focusing on how we can create the perception of value without just creating complicated buildings. A lot of firms believe there is design, and then there are construction documents. We don't separate the two.”

Houston-based builder Röhe & Wright had a similar goal, but met it with a different tack in 2005 that cut its average design-to-permitting timeline in half. The builder brought architectural and interior design services in house with the launch of a sister firm, Röhe & Wright Residential Design. “Too many of our [custom] client projects and spec homes were stalled by our inability to get plans through the system in a timely manner when we were using outside architects,” says partner Andy Suman.

Bringing design under roof also streamlined the building process because it allowed the company to get more detailed in its construction documents, Suman says. Plans now include cabinet elevations, tile surround diagrams, ceiling diagrams, and millwork specifications, including window and door casings, crown moldings, and baseboards. “Our plans now have three times the detail of what we were getting from outside firms,” he says. “A project manager can look at the plan diagrams and see the direction the wood floors are supposed to go, or how the tile in the foyer is supposed to look. That means less guesswork, less room for interpretation, and less waiting for decisions to be made.”

A seemingly minor miscalculation that takes two days to fix may seem like no biggie. But little mistakes can add up to stretch a delivery date by weeks or months. A look at some common offenders: