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Issues with the Yurt Designer and Formal Design

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amaralice

New member
I have been working with Chris the designer at Smiling Woods Yurts for my yurt plans. He basically went MIA 2 weeks before Christmas after he had said I would get my designs around then (to be fair he had been good to work with for many months before this). I emailed and called several times - nada. Finally I reached out to my main contact at SWY - Jesse and asked him was Chris ill (we are in a pandemic you never know). That is what finally prompted Chris to email me back. Essentially he apologized for leaving me hanging and attributed it to framing issues he had with my plan and having to re-work it and offered me an undetermined discount for my trouble (this is affecting my in progress construction loan as he was aware - and, dude, it's the end of the year now bank officers take holidays too!).

I finally got my final plans today and the invoice with a 10% discount. Is that enough? I was expecting more like 15%.

What do others think?
 
I don't understand the mindset that this seems to be reflecting, but maybe (hopefully) there's more to the story. You are paying for a custom job. There is a lot of knowledge, know how, and active thinking needing to go on for the planning and you are paying a professional for all of that intensive work. Someone went MIA during the holidays for 2 weeks? During a pandemic? At the end of the worst year the world has had in a long time? Maybe be thankful there was a good reason, that he's still there doing the work, that your project isn't derailed, that the professional's delay was pretty minor, and that they're offering a discount. Sounds pretty fair dealing to me and plenty of good to be found.
 
HawaiiYurts said:
I don't understand the mindset that this seems to be reflecting,
......
Sounds pretty fair dealing to me and plenty of good to be found.
Click to expand...

I´m agreeing fully with that. I never would expect any discount in such a situation, if it´s not contracted for cases of delay.....
 
With the cost of lumber, it's a miracle anything's getting done. Special design? Sounds like a price increase for cause.
 
Lumber is absolutely insane right now, especially anything pressure treated. This summer, my contractor put some stairs up for me around my deck. He is a good friend of mine and always does stuff like this at cost. It was a large wrap around staircase and he charged my $1,100 for it. When he got the bill for the lumber? It was $1,000!! He couldn't believe it. He wasn't going to charge me more but I insisted.

To boil it all down: These are not normal times.
 
That's a good friend right there, plus you did good as well. That's the way to handle it dude.

Yup, lumber is up here, and likely everywhere else. Example 2x4 studs used to be ~$4.00 now they are ~$6.50. I used my 2020 stimulus check to build myself a very high grade 10x12 barn shed on my old yurt platform last summer. I spent $2900 on it. I juuuust beat the massive price increase or it probably would have been $4500.
 
its a yurt not the white house he is building , what framing problem could you have, everything is easy to build or replace in a yurt, that the beauty of them when it comes to maintenance hell push come to shove process your own wood, these are yurt people let your imagine fly, figure thinks out build them yourself, this is not rocket science
 
James, maybe start with a brief overview of Smiling Woods Yurts. They are a wooden round house, AKA a panel yurt. Not the same as a traditional yurt. Most houses aren't rocket science or a Gothic era church. That doesn't mean that State and Counties worldwide don't require drawings. Permitting a yurt often takes the same amount of planning and effort as permitting a typical house.
 
I know that if you do not use them for a business the government does not have a say in it, I beat the city of Columbus a number of time, using the constition, still the law of the land you just have to stand up for your rights, first off go in as a people of the united state not a citizen, if you do not make your money this way building yurts, then they do not have a say in it that is how I built mine in the city put in my well in the city , my own power supply in the city, and using whole house composting toliet in the city, and disconnected from all of that from the city, I do not pay property tax on the house infront of the yurt, or the lot, I do not pay federal tax you just have to use there rules and the constition ,
 
now if you have someone else do it for you, then you have to get the permits and follow there rules

if they make money that way, professional contratator have to get permit, electrician the same way, etc etc if they make there money off of it then they have to get permits
 
Update: Thanks for all of the collective feedback and perspective.

Every field is different - in my field (higher education) this would not fly at all and there would be consequences for ghosting a colleague or similar type person - so that's my point of reference - which is why I polled for feedback here. The world of construction and design is something I am just now getting familiar with - as far as do's and don'ts.

In the end I got my designs on Dec 31 and settled up with the invoice - so far so good. Sending the engineered set to the town for approval this week.
 
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