UBuildIt With A Little Help....Tales of a Remodel Gone Mostly Right

My husband and I are just wrapping up the final stages of our 4 month remodeling project (just a little painting and some furniture moving left to do). When I say remodel, I really mean that nothing of the original house remains except the foundation and framing. While we didn't completely knock it down, there wasn't a wall untouched, there's a new roof, and now the house is twice as big.

My husband, being a teacher (yay for summers off!) and a fairly handy guy, saved us a lot of money by doing the framing and a lot of the work himself. And just when I was starting to lose it (literally, losing my cell phone, my keys, going to weddings on the wrong weekend) I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now things are almost done, we actually got to make and eat dinner in our kitchen last night, I'm breathing a little bit easier. Our son finally has some room to run around and his own room back!

We didn't hire a general contractor (I've heard enough horror stories that we knew we needed a little more control) but we didn't go completely alone either. Since we wanted some level of control, but still needed some help organizing the process, we used an in-between solution, a contracting consultant. Which, I believe, is a term that the company we worked with made up, but a good term nonetheless. The company, UBuildIt, helps you by laying out bids, spec'ing out the process, total cost, and approximate construction timeline. A good place to start if you don't know where to begin.

All in all, although there were frustrating moments, we've gotten a lot of feedback from the sub-contractors that we handled the process well. There were no huge hiccups, well, maybe there were but I just don't see them that way. But to go from demo to completion in a little over four months is an amazing feat!

If anyone wants ideas or has questions about living in and remodeling their house, feel free to post them here!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Katrina,
Thanks for sharing your and your husband's experience. Interestingly, you sound like the infamous cardiologist when an auto mechanic said to her, "Hey, I work on engines and you work on hearts -- we both open up "engines" and fix them; why do you get paid so much more than I do?" Her reply was, "Next time, try to open up your engine while it's running."

With all best wishes and regards in your "new home,"

Bill Emener
Erin M said…
We've been living under construction for 2 years now. the house must be finished by the end of december, I'm hoping to find myself enjoying my "new" home soon too. Congrats on wrapping things up
Melissa said…
Wow, I'm really impressed. We even have trouble getting redecorating done.
Unknown said…
I'm a current UBI customer and got called on writing a review on my blog. It wasn't terrible, but we had a few bumps with UBI along the way. Enjoyed yours!

P.S. I took it off the web, so you won't find it on my blog any longer.
Anonymous said…
Hi Katrina,

I'm a 60 year old contractor living in Boone, NC. My wife and I have built our own homes for the last 27 years.

You are to be congratulated on the completion of your first do-it-yourself home.

I would love to know how much you paid UBI for their services. I am thinking about openning a similar service here in the high country.

Thanks,

Steve
Unknown said…
Hi Steve,

The pricing is broken out and I believe the first 2 phases are a set price (maybe something around $1000 to $2000). The third phase (construction) is based on the value of the project. I think in total we paid around $7000 to $8000.

But, I am just estimating, although I know the figure came in under $10,000.

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