WHERE DO YOU EVEN START WITH HIRING SOMEONE TO DESIGN YOUR HOUSE?
You nailed it—there’s so much focus on the flashy “green” features, but not enough on the fundamentals. I’ve seen houses with all the right buzzwords, but then you walk inside and it’s drafty as heck. When we built a few years back, I spent more time grilling architects about their approach to air sealing and insulation than anything else. It’s surprising how many just gloss over those details.
Curious if anyone’s found a good way to vet designers for this? I always wonder if there’s a set of questions or maybe some kind of checklist that actually gets to the heart of whether they understand building science, or if they’re just good at picking out reclaimed tile.
WHERE DO YOU EVEN START WITH HIRING SOMEONE TO DESIGN YOUR HOUSE?
This hits close to home for me. Years ago, I worked with a couple who were all about the “eco” label, but they’d been burned before by a previous designer who talked a big game about green roofs and solar panels—meanwhile, the place leaked cold air like crazy. When they came to me, their first question wasn’t about style, it was about how I’d handle the building envelope. That’s when I realized most folks don’t even know to ask about blower door tests or thermal bridging, but they really should.
What I’ve noticed is, if you ask a designer to walk you through how they’d detail a wall section—like, literally sketch it out and explain where the vapor barrier goes—you’ll see pretty quickly who gets it and who’s just repeating buzzwords. I know it sounds nitty-gritty, but the ones who light up and get into the weeds? Those are the keepers. The rest usually pivot back to talking about tile samples, which is... telling.
Totally agree about the wall section thing—if they can’t explain where the vapor barrier goes, run. I learned the hard way that “eco-friendly” doesn’t mean much if you’re freezing in January. Ask about insulation details, not just pretty renderings.
WHERE DO YOU EVEN START WITH HIRING SOMEONE TO DESIGN YOUR HOUSE?
Honestly, I get the obsession with vapor barriers and insulation—nobody wants to shiver through winter. But sometimes I feel like people get a little too hung up on technical specs and forget that some of this stuff is just as much about how you live in the space. Like, yeah, ask about the wall assembly, but also push them on things like passive solar or window placement. I’ve seen houses with great insulation that still felt cold because the layout ignored sun exposure. For me, it’s less about running if they don’t have a textbook answer and more about seeing if they’re open to thinking through the details with you.
For me, it’s less about running if they don’t have a textbook answer and more about seeing if they’re open to thinking through the details with you.
- Totally agree—if they can’t talk through how your family actually uses the space, that’s a red flag for me.
- I always ask about how they balance must-haves vs. budget. Some designers get fixated on fancy features that blow the budget fast.
- Practical stuff like storage, mudroom space, or laundry location gets skipped over way too often.
- Anyone else feel like you have to keep reminding pros that you’re not made of money? Curious how people keep things realistic without feeling like you’re just being “cheap.”
