[sleepy]

The problem I have with L.A 's is the budget. The jobs Ive bidded on were a big fat waste of time for me. The "how much do you want to spend" question hasent seemed to cross the minds of our local design firms. I come in and ya they want the stucco wall with the mosaic. They want the most expencive stone for the patio. They want the good neighbor fence with all the trim . That costs alot of money and 10 or 20 grand dosent go very far. For all the bells and whistles. I also see alot of mass planting that I dont personaly like and frankly some plants that just might not make it. Im responsable for the end product of the job not the designer. Im a licenced contractor they are not! Design build is the way to go. Find someone who you can work with not against in this situation and you both have to gamble on getting the job. Do a rough plan with a budget in mind and go from there. This is a "design feasability study" than you can acheive what the costomer wants and can afford. Yes that study costs money for your and your designers time.
Just my 2 cents
Do you talk about budget alga?Im not dissin the designers just the dreamer customers who think its all so cheap.