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tell me about your U Build It experience, Formula1

16 years ago

I noticed in another thread that you utilized the U Build consultants to help you with your home. I'm considering them myself and I'm curious to know how you would rate your experience. Also, you mentioned that the cost was approx. 5% of the total cost of construction. The numbers I've been quoted seem much higher.

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formula1
16 years ago
Our experience with UBI was definitely positive.

We wanted a home built to a higher quality and with more amenities than average. Also, as experienced DIYers, we were planning on doing the plumbing, electrical, DV fireplace, central vac, enclosed deck, insulation prep work, floor tile prep, and many other aspects of construction ourselves. There was heartburn over the concept of paying UBI a percentage on work that we would be performing (why pay for oversight that we didnÂt need?). UBI offered a straight fee based on square footage that allowed us to achieve the 5% UBI cost on the home (combination of lower fee and more spent on upgrades).

Regardless of how your home gets built, acting as your own GC or using a consultant, I strongly recommend issuing detailed RFQÂs for each aspect of the home when you bid the subs. Do your research and get educated on each aspect of the home and the best building practices to use. www.buildingscience.com is a huge resource for this. We didnÂt stay strictly with UBI-recommended subs, but also found high-quality subs ourselves. Many quote packages sent out had a full page or two of itemized details of what we wanted. Sometimes drawings from published articles were included to explain the particulars and procedures so there was no misunderstanding. I know this level of detail kept us away from many issues and misunderstanding during the build process.

Also required are daily visits to the jobsite. Many were to talk through on-site what a sub was bidding; sometimes these exchanges resulted in improvements in materials or practices that we didnÂt know about. We always visited daily during construction to oversee potential quality issues. Realize, too, that there always will be the inevitable changes that need to be worked out as issues arise.

Hope this helps.
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