046_2026_05_05_Mailbag 2_Audio(0)

Speakers

• Speaker 1 0:06
• Speaker 2 0:00
• Speaker 3 8:28
• Speaker 4 8:02
• Speaker 5 24:10
• Speaker 6 22:47

1. 0:00

   Chapter 1: Hi, and welcome to a mailbag episode of Home the Second Story. 299s · Speaker 2

   Hi, and welcome to a mailbag episode of Home the Second Story. I'm Sherry Scott in Cincinnati, Ohio with Springhouse Architects. And I'm Marilyn Modinger with Runcible Studios based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Boston, Massachusetts. So m…

2. 5:00

   Chapter 2: attorney's time to kind of check in and say, hey, we're trying to do this and we know we might need a variance, but have you seen that that's been successful in the past? 182s · Speaker 1

   attorney's time to kind of check in and say, hey, we're trying to do this and we know we might need a variance, but have you seen that that's been successful in the past? And sometimes a zoning attorney will say, yeah, that's one that I see…

3. 8:02

   Chapter 3: Yeah. If there are limitations. 301s · Speaker 4

   Yeah. If there are limitations. So that's often something that comes up when you're doing an addition. If you're on a septic system, the first question is, can the septic system that exists handle another bedroom? So septic systems are desi…

4. 13:04

   Chapter 4: But it works. 304s · Speaker 2

   But it works. So, I mean, we're talking a lot about lots right now. I think, you know, we can chime in on houses maybe a little bit. Are we missing hidden constraints? But I think, you know, if you're buying a house to renovate, I think it'…

5. 18:09

   Chapter 5: and it wasn't until it was sort of all fleshed out that they saw oh wow like if we have all of these different separate spaces that's really impacting because we we're not adding on to the house we're just using existing spaces and kind of reconfiguring and they were like oh i guess we didn't need that or i guess we didn't and my response was well then this has been a perfect meeting because it's not a bad thing at all for you to show up with your list of priorities we draw it because guess what it is so much cheaper to move lines around on paper yeah there's no failure here we're not going backwards we're not whatever you're realizing through this process that you don't need all that stuff or you want other things instead of this so have your list of priorities but be ready to have that adjust as you go through the process yeah that's really good it's one of the things i have a a course that people can go through with a workbook and that's one of the segments is to just work through your priorities you know we ask questions like how do you want to show up at the end of the day and and through thinking through um those questions that we ask it kind of narrows everything down and you realize okay this is what my priority is and then you make decisions through that lens and it it just helps instead of i think a lot of people get nervous about some of this stuff because they think how am i ever going to make all of these decisions when it's all just random up in their head but as soon as you start prioritizing things and making um processes and and ways to make the decisions easier it's it it becomes more fun well and we've talked about this in various you ways over and over on this podcast, but we are here, architects, one of our main roles is to help people through the decision-making process, to help people weigh the options, to be there to say, well, yeah, you guys said that you wanted two offices. 277s · Speaker 2

   and it wasn't until it was sort of all fleshed out that they saw oh wow like if we have all of these different separate spaces that's really impacting because we we're not adding on to the house we're just using existing spaces and kind of …

6. 22:47

   Chapter 6: Right, right. 72s · Speaker 6

   Right, right. But I also want to say about budget too, is to remember. So I often hear, well, if I tell you my budget, then you're going to spend it all. Well, yeah, I am because that's what you told me you wanted to spend. So if you have a…

7. 23:59

   Chapter 7: And the earlier we can have that conversation, the better for the entire project to align that first. 151s · Speaker 2

   And the earlier we can have that conversation, the better for the entire project to align that first. Yep. I was going to move on to the next question because it has everything to do with budget. Oh, great. Perfect. I thought we could just …

8. 26:31

   Chapter 8: Right. Absolutely. 208s · Speaker 4

   Right. Absolutely. It's a very rough number. It is plus or minus 20%, right? Or maybe even 30%. Yeah, yeah. It is not a number that you use to say, okay, great. I want to save X dollars. Let me chop off seven square feet, and then I will be…