My wife and I hired them to build a 750 sq. ft. detached ADU. Sean was personable, patient, and genuinely helpful during the design and planning process. We had some initial permitting issues that he truly went above and beyond for and I have no doubt that he is a good person and wants to do right by people.
Unfortunately, once the project moved into construction, we encountered issue after issue.
Our underground rough in plumbing wasn’t done according to the plans and had to be re-done, cabinets were installed poorly, a toilet was installed 6 inches from the wall, mini-split placement disputes, subpar flooring installation, poor caulking work, and overall low-quality finishes required us to step in and advocate for ourselves countlessly. We were at times being asked to pay for change orders to resolve them, and only after significant pushback, were they finally resolved at no cost. Too often concerns were minimized or explained away before ultimately being fixed once we persisted.
The project passed inspection, stayed remarkably close to budget, and from an outsider looking in the finished ADU looks beautiful. But when I look at it, I don't feel pride or excitement. I mostly remember the stress, frustration, and feeling that I had to act as the quality control manager because no one else was consistently doing it. So, if you’re okay Project Managing a Project Manager, you don’t have a strict timeline, you are ok with poor communication, you don’t mind low quality sub-contractors and countless rework, then choose Merribuild.
