Edward G Swaby RA Westchester Architect
About us
This architectural firm designs new buildings, additions and alterations to residences, apartments, and commercial uses using AutoCAD LT. 5% discount to Angie's List members
Business highlights
Services we offer
Architectural & Interior Design
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 92% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 0% |
?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
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.
"How is telling a prospective client I am too busy to take on their project is worthy of a negative review? I am following my mentor's advice when I take on only what I can handle in order to not disappoint my clients."
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.
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.
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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.
"When the client asked me to provide a cost, I told him that is not a service I provide. When the Culps pressed me, I gave them a standard price per square foot prevalent in the field and said I did not know if it would be applicable in his situation. I designed a minimal design and the client decided to add a dormer and some extra windows. I explained the extra dormer would increase the price substantially but the client did not heed my advice. I also advised the client he could be his own contractor and save 20% but I do not think he was willing to do that either. I later found a contractor that was willing to build the addition for $30,000 but the Culps has lost interest."
"When I got to Mt. Kisco, the memeber told me that she had e-mailed me to cancel (to which I had never responded because I did not read it). She said she had a medical condition that was interfering with her talking to me but she was healthy enough to come to the door and talk to me. I do not know of any medical condition that would prevent a walking talking person from having a conversation about improving their home. I sent her a bill for my hour of travel time. Instead of paying me for my time, she complained to Angie’s List."
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.
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.
will follow with our story & experience......
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.
"I gave the member an estimate. She did not like it. Although I would like to, I cannot please everyone. Next time I will refer another architect or engineer."
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