@andrewgarulayrla
active 16 hours, 33 minutes ago-
Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic What don't you know (well enough)? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month ago
We were also taught that we are important and need to take control of everything landscape – the less you do the more diminished you are. This is something that took me forever to learn. It goes back to the most important thing that we need to do -Get Work. Every time we over reach we are affecting someone else’s livelihood. Some would call it…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic What don't you know (well enough)? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month ago
Leslie, those three areas that you mentioned you are weak in are exactly the types of things that were beaten into our heads by professors and cheerleaders of the profession.
I do a ton of pool plans (especially since the Great White Shark spike here on Cape Cod). I don’t touch the pool guts other than for accounting for the structure of an…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic What don't you know (well enough)? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month ago
One thing that I did not understand early on and for a long time after was that the concept of that all landscape architects need to know and be good at a certain template of skills and knowledge to succeed is not necessarily true due to the diversity of the profession. I think I wore cement shoes for quite a while trying to do what I was taught…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Landscape Designer Prices in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month, 1 week ago
Amber,
If you are just starting out you might want to start with flat rate fees. That makes it much easier for a prospect to feel comfortable about the overall cost. You’ll need to write a contract with the scope of work described so it is clear what you are and what you are not doing for the fee. You should state how many revisions you’ll do…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Landscape Designer Prices in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month, 2 weeks ago
I’m all for 50% retainer, but I know there are some states that limit how much you can take up front. I’m almost certain that California is one that limits it to 10% or $1,000 which ever is more. I might be confusing this with Oregon, but I don’t think so.
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Landscape Designer Prices in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Check your state laws on how much you can legally ask for up front. I think California limits that to 10%.
The simple yet complex answer as to what landscape designers charge is this – whatever someone is willing to pay. We are not selling something that comes in a box that is the same thing in the box that the next landscape designer is selling,…[Read more]
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David Cristiani and
Andrew Garulay, RLA are now friends 3 months, 1 week ago
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Are disasters considered opportunities? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 3 months, 2 weeks ago
J.,
Now you can develop your side work without a conflict of interest. You also don’t have to rely on it for your sole source of income. I used that to allow myself to pick and choose side work to develop a portfolio of built work and develop methods and strategies that worked for me.
It helps that you do not necessarily have to charge top…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Are disasters considered opportunities? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 3 months, 2 weeks ago
J.,
I’m glad to share.
The secret to walking on water is knowing where the rocks are.
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Are disasters considered opportunities? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 4 months, 2 weeks ago
My mentality is to harness energy that already exists rather than trying to force something. If you pay a lot of attention and observe where the energy is or more importantly where it starts to grow.
An analogy is to put your mill wheel where the river is flowing. Recently, all the good mill sites were filled so there was no place to put your…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Are disasters considered opportunities? in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 4 months, 2 weeks ago
I can only speak from my own little area and my own niche. Two “disasters” have benefitted the niche that I work in.
First is the boom in seal population on Cape Cod which has made a steady and fast growth in Great White Shark sightings and a few incidences in the last 8 years or so – this has raised a high demand for swimming pools. I am quite…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Design Software in the forum TECHNOLOGY 5 months, 4 weeks ago
And, I totally understand that “autoCAD” is where the LA profession has been for many years. But, I’ve seen way too many “autoCAD” drawings where maybe only (1 or 2) line weights were used…very difficult to read & understand those drawings. A variety of “line weights” makes a huge different, whether it’s “autoCAD” or “Hand Drawn”. What’s…
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Design Software in the forum TECHNOLOGY 6 months ago
“Whether drawings are created using “autoCAD” or “Drawn by Hand”……both the Design and the quality of the drawings need to be “outstanding”! Creativity, Strong Graphics, Good Line Weights, etc…High Quality Design & Graphics, regardless of the method/s you use should be a high priority, IMO.”
I’m not sure why it is. Maybe it is the computer age.…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Survey Liability Release in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 6 months, 1 week ago
I have never had to sign anything, but it is pretty standard practice that a dwg is sent with an email stating that the dwg shall only be used exclusively to do the landscape plan or whatever the request is for. It protects them from you passing it along to another surveyor to stake the job. More importantly is that they are making it clear that…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic describing grading slopes for transportation projects in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 7 months, 1 week ago
The simplest way would be to say that you would like the lower slope concave and the upper slope convex, or so I think this is what you want to describe.
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Work/Practice under the New Normal in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 8 months ago
Definitely agree that there are lots of people in lots of different boats in society at large and lots of different niches in the landscape architecture world. Some are in calmer waters than others.
This is a good time to pay attention to which segments of the market stay active and who keeps doing well. I’m talking about the people who hire LAs…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Work/Practice under the New Normal in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 8 months, 1 week ago
I have a one person home office since I started working on my own nine years ago, so that is a zero change for me. I do residential design – 90% raze and replace home projects on desirable vacation home lots, so it is a demographic that is not as “financially inconvenienced” as most. They still treat their personal lifestyles very well while how…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Commercial Building Site/Grading Plans in the forum DETAILS & MATERIALS 9 months ago
I have not worked in a big firm, but what I seen is that the CE takes the drainage responsibility. They are all using software like hydrocad as an add on to Autocad. I don’t know that anyone is doing drainage calc’s the old fashioned way these days.
I don’t know ow many states allow LAs to do drainage calc’s. I know that Idaho did at least for a…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Commercial Building Site/Grading Plans in the forum DETAILS & MATERIALS 9 months ago
Another thing regarding commercial sites with LAs. I did see several projects that most of the site was planned by the engineers with the details filled in by landscape architects. I was not involved in the site plans, but did have to prepare the survey crew’s data to stake local medium sized projects that were designed by bigger distant firms and…[Read more]
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Andrew Garulay, RLA replied to the topic Commercial Building Site/Grading Plans in the forum DETAILS & MATERIALS 9 months ago
WBS, you also added the question of how the work would be divided if the developer or business wanted to use an LA.
I saw a few commercial projects where the CE did a rough site plan and then the LA enhanced it. I did a few Dunkin Donut plans after I left the CE offices. I had a bit of a long leash because the CE on the projects was someone that…[Read more]
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