Depending on the contract and your business relationship, this can mean a lot of money in the Architect's pocket because every time you change your mind, I have to change the drawing. That costs you money.
But I think that most of the time, a halfway decent Architect can do a pretty good job of selecting the right look for your house and if you let them do their job and you'll be pleased with the results. A Good Architect will rifle through all the information and get your feedback on the things that are actually going to be important to you in the final product. We've done this many times before. It's probably your first time. Don't worry, we'll be gentle.
With that intro, I just finished a project in Chicago. It started out as a roof repair job for a badly detailed house. I can confidently say badly detailed because the townhouse was about 15 years old and the roof was ready to fall in on the owner's bedroom. Proper roof venting and double wythe masonry wall detailing cannot be overly stressed.
As the project grew into a penthouse remodel/expansion and roof deck terrace, the budget grew as well. Unfortunately, when the bids came in, the price tag for Union Labor* was shocking and the owner scaled everything back to pretty much a roof replacement, parapet wall reconstruction, and new roof deck.
When budgets start to get crunched, often the higher price tag items get nixed at the expense of long term quality. But at the end of the day, the owner did go with my recommendations with only minor foot draggery.
I designed the deck as a series of 3'-8" square removal panels on double 2x6 joists. The removable panels make the lower roof maintenance a breeze and the double 2x6s give a solid surface for the panels to rest against while minimizing the overall height of the structure. This allows more air to circulate under the deck so it will dry out faster, preventing freeze/thaw issues that can eventually damage the roof membrane. Sure, it would've been cheaper to do straight decking with no panelization... until you have to rip everything up to clean under there or do any modifications.
Deck Panelization and Hidden Fastner Assembly
I also specified Ipe (ee-pay) lumber** for the deck panels. Its a dense Brazilian hardwood that weathers extremely well, doesn't splinter, and lasts exceptionally longer than other natural decking materials without pressure treating, sealants or preservatives. Sure, it would've been cheaper to use pine... until you have to seal the deck every couple of years, replace it in 10 years, and spend a buttload of money on band-aids for all those 1" long splinters that find their way into your heel.
Routed Deck Board and Dense Fiber Structure of Ipe
Lastly, I specified Tiger Claw Hidden Fasteners for the deck. They have a sweet little design that firmly holds your routed edge boards to the joists with no visible screws. They also have a set 1/8" spacer built into the design so that your boards are consistently placed.
Tiger Claw Deck Fastner
Sure, it would have been cheaper to use screws, or even cheaper to use nails... until one day, in a gin soaked binge drinking episode***, you trip over your toy poodle*** and land facefirst onto the deck where a nail that has worked itself out of the deck surface stabs into your EYE!
Poodle Shown Actual Size
So the moral here is "Let your Architect do their Job... Or This Could Happen to You...".
Your Eye
Footnotes:
*Don't get me started on the excess of power that Unions have in our country. For those of you who don't know "Unions are to Democrats as Corporations are to Republicans". Believe it, cause that was a real SAT test analogy.
**If such a thing is possible, you should try to verify that your IPE comes from a sustainable source.
***I have consistently found that people who are wealthy enough to hire an architect to design their deck usually have gin soaked episodes and own a toy dog or multiple toy dogs. It should be noted that people with toy dogs probably deserve a nail in the eye.
