Need suggestion on wardrobe and kitchen

[sreenath11]

I am looking for an architect who can design wardrobes and kitchen and supervise the carpenter. My house in Thanisandra area.
I think it is better if architect designs instead of carpenter designing.

Appreciate any suggestions.

[bloremanager]

Avoid wasting money on architect for wardrobes and kitchens. First decide how much budget you can afford for this project. Open ended can get you nowhere.
Discuss with your family, understand their needs and wants, document them and see if a L shaped or a U shaped or a straight line kitchen is feasible based on your area layout.
Decide whether you want the wall cabinets upto lintel level (7 ft height) or right upto the ceiling. Also decide if you need to incorporate granite sink or SS kitchen sink. Decide if you wish to add dish washer or oven. Decide if you want a 32-33 inch height (standard) for the granite counter or 34-35 inch (if your family is taller than average). Do you need a Tall unit or not. How many shelves and baskets would you require?
For the wardrobes, do you need sliding wardrobes (if space is tight) which can be very elegant, or swing wardrobes which occupy more space but quite cheap when compared to the sliding ones. Sliding wardrobes will cost you not less than 1.0 lakh/wardrobe (they are usually 18-24 inches in width and length can be anywhere from 6 feet to 12 feet)
With all this, you can conceptualize the drawings yourself and then goto a modular fella and ask them to provide their drawings (3d drawings are best but cost is extra) and then get 2-3 quotes, review the material quality at the vendor's site and compare line by line of the quotes and approve.

[sreenath11]

bloremanager
Thanks for the useful info.
My carpenter showed some pictures and said will do without any drawings as he did for many houses. I have to depend on him for materials and quality.
While it looks OK, thought of architect opinion particularly on material and fittings even if it costs little extra.
Let me think designing myself and check if it works well. Thanks for the info.

[bloremanager]

I would not trust a carpenter with material picking and specs. There are 3-4 popular modular board providers in India (Kitply, centuryply, greenply) from whom you can source the material. There are several plywood options within those brands depending on quality and water retention abilities.
The problem is there are lot of fraudster dealers in the market who would print those company logos on the plywood boards and sell it to un-suspecting buyers. Also, there is lot of chinese plywood junk floating around with questionable chemical processes. If any modular fella is providing you a quote for your project at 500-700/sq.ft, you can be fairly sure it is chinese plywood they are trying to sell you as they have huge margins on it.
Avoid MDF in kitchen altogether.
There are 3 ways to get your project done.
1. You pick the material, give the drawings to the carpenter, and get him to complete the work.
2. You hire an architect, describe your needs, obtain drawings, revise if reqd, architect gets a modular fella they work with, gives you options for materials, gives costing for options and you choose.
3. Document your reqs, get 3-4 references from your extended family, friends for modular work, visit their factory, check the materials, ask them to visit your site to provide you a quote, compare the quotes apple to apple and decide

[sreenath11]

Bloremanager
Thank you
For the position and lack of detailed knowledge of fine details about this I th I I will go with option 2 and try to collect further knowledge
Thank you for the info

[rsk]

Hi,

My carpenter is quoting 1100rs per sqft for doing wardrobes(box) for using Assam gold plywood and will put mica on top and inside. Any idea about the quality of this plywood and the rate quoted.

Thanks

[sabarishm]

My suggestion is to go with an architect or some specialized team (example, urban ladder, home lane etc) to get woodwork done. I made a mistake and trusted the engineer and his carpenter. They don't have the vision or imagination and that could cause a lot of imperfections to the whole work. The attitude of the engineer and carpenter would be easy going when you point out the mistakes, quoting my engineer, "those are small things, don't worry about it nothing can be perfect. Rejoice as we have used the best ply, laminate and veneer for you which will last long". I got so tired of showing and getting the mistakes the carpenter made, i am almost at the verge of getting someone else to fix the issues.

So for me the lesson learned is, you or the engineer and his carpenters may miss certain details that an architect can help you with. Spending so much on quality materials for the wardrobe and kitchen and when you get mediocre finishing, you will feel sad and irritated. I am happy with the civil work my engineer done for me, extremely happy at that. But he tried to take up more things than he could chew and now the mistakes he made on that front is weighing down his good work done so far on the house. Leave each work to the experts on that field.

[msn1270]

Blindly following anyone may yield either kind of results. Majority people look for cost advantage rather than the quality of materials used & the finishing. Later they repent for the mistakes.

Everything depends on the individual Skill set. Neither all carpenters give bad finishing nor all architects give 100% guaranteed/satisfactory service.

Many carpenters shows an album to showcase their past works. Just having a look at those photos, doesn't give you the micro details of their workmanship. Always Make it practice to evaluate the workmanship of the service provider by practically visiting to their previous work sites
(at least 3-4 Projects) and also speak to those owners and get an opinion. Accountability always in the hand of the individual who need to avail the service from the others.