Seems like design build is a good way of getting fucked from both ends...I feel like I have split personality disorder...the builder (me) hates the designer (me)....The designer (me) hates the builder (me)...the subs hate everyone...this is hard work. Anyone else doing DB that can offer some condolences?
I litterally had a nightmare last night that I was touching a wall we built and it was falling apart like it was made of sand...I looked inside the block cavity and it was filled with legos and trash...the subs were sitting on a bag of mortar laughing and calling me a pendejo...
Your experience matches mine. I worked for over ten years at a residential design/build firm, and for most of the last two years I did residential design/build on my own. The same tension between design and construction was always there, but when you are doing it all the fingers always point back to you. I finally decided that I can't do it all and I'm back to design-only. It's painful because I know I'm a pretty good builder, I think construction is more recession-proof and I tend to design somewhat unusual assemblies, which can be hard to get contractors to build. At some point I'll do some spec building and have some projects lined up for myself, but not for clients.
Jan 18, 20 1:10 pm ·
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x-jla
Yeah, there is a level of anxiety that is different from build only or design only. All fingers point to you as you said. It’s rewarding, but also very stressful to not have another party to take some of the burden and liability.
Jan 18, 20 1:53 pm ·
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x-jla
That said, my clients love me. It’s not the client that’s that issue. The problem tends to be dealing with subs that don’t care as much as I do, and the struggle of time it All takes up
Jan 18, 20 1:55 pm ·
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Wood Guy
Yeah the constant worrying is tough... I've seen some partnerships that appear to work well, with different people focusing on design and construction, but it's also hard to get the best jobs--architects tend to not want to send projects to D/B firms. I've found that the best solution for me is to cultivate strong relationships with a few builders I work well with, and treat the projects similar to D/B. But my two biggest projects right now will have builders I have not worked with, and there are already red flags about things they want to do their way.
Jan 18, 20 2:39 pm ·
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Is DB really just DP?
Seems like design build is a good way of getting fucked from both ends...I feel like I have split personality disorder...the builder (me) hates the designer (me)....The designer (me) hates the builder (me)...the subs hate everyone...this is hard work. Anyone else doing DB that can offer some condolences?
I litterally had a nightmare last night that I was touching a wall we built and it was falling apart like it was made of sand...I looked inside the block cavity and it was filled with legos and trash...the subs were sitting on a bag of mortar laughing and calling me a pendejo...
sounds like it is well deserved
Your experience matches mine. I worked for over ten years at a residential design/build firm, and for most of the last two years I did residential design/build on my own. The same tension between design and construction was always there, but when you are doing it all the fingers always point back to you. I finally decided that I can't do it all and I'm back to design-only. It's painful because I know I'm a pretty good builder, I think construction is more recession-proof and I tend to design somewhat unusual assemblies, which can be hard to get contractors to build. At some point I'll do some spec building and have some projects lined up for myself, but not for clients.
Yeah, there is a level of anxiety that is different from build only or design only. All fingers point to you as you said. It’s rewarding, but also very stressful to not have another party to take some of the burden and liability.
That said, my clients love me. It’s not the client that’s that issue. The problem tends to be dealing with subs that don’t care as much as I do, and the struggle of time it All takes up
Yeah the constant worrying is tough... I've seen some partnerships that appear to work well, with different people focusing on design and construction, but it's also hard to get the best jobs--architects tend to not want to send projects to D/B firms. I've found that the best solution for me is to cultivate strong relationships with a few builders I work well with, and treat the projects similar to D/B. But my two biggest projects right now will have builders I have not worked with, and there are already red flags about things they want to do their way.
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