Hey Steve,

I understand your concern that you “enter into an agreement with a pro who wants to unravel my design and bill me for it”. The key will be to find someone you trust. If you are working with a good designer, they are there to help not just tear apart your design. However, they may have a lot to say about the design and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You need to find someone you are comfortable working with and you feel is adding value to your project. If there’s no trust you will have a difficult time accepting any of their advice and always feel like they are just trying to you’re your money. Are you building in an area that requires an architects stamp on the drawings? If so, that adds another level of complexity to the issue.

It sounds like you need to find someone that is willing to start by just provide consultation services in lieu of full design services, someone that will review and “redline” your design with any concerns or suggestions. It may be that once you get into the discussion you will decide that you need a little more help that initially expected. If not, you get their advice and move on. In the end, it is your house so the decision is always yours.