I am searching for information on this company: bad and good experiences doing business with them. (preferably good) Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks...

I, too, would like info on this company and their product -- original poster, please let me know if you have found anything out since you started this thread. Thanks!!

All I found out was that I cannot use them. I am building within the City of Los Angeles and Valubuild is not approved by the City. The approval process is very lenghty. I am still considering SIPs, but I plan to use one of the companies with approvals.

Interesting --- thanks for sharing. Are you finding costs of SIP's to be significantly less than stick building?? Good luck to you as you are exploring your options!

I am told by the manufacturers to expect the cost will exceed wood frame. The estimates I've recieved are all over the board and hard to compare: interior walls are not included, insultaion is included, etc. When I get closer to breaking ground I will better be able to compare......Phil

i am looking into valubuild,if you have started is it as easy as they make it sound?

We have not built yet (looking at next Spring now...), but we HAVE eliminated Valubuild as a contender for supplying SIPs. Just too many red flags as I do research. There is a SIPs manufacturer 70 miles from me that I have visited 2 times (Extreme Panel in Cottonwood, MN). They have been very helpful and very professional. I'd encourage you to check out their website.

www.extremepanel.com

Good luck!!

I am in construction, will be digging foundation in two weeks. I tried several times, as recently as two months ago, with numerous providers unsuccessfully. Southern California is an enourmous construction market and dominated by Los Angeles yet not a single home recently built or in construction using SIPs; no contractor within 400 miles is familiar. All SIP providers I contacted seemed initially interested but had very poor follow up. I am building a 4,500 square foot home and am a developer. Perhaps I ask too many good questions. Nevertheless, SIP costs seem about 50% higher than conventional stick frame.

My Valubuild kit (28x36 2-story) is due to arrive in about 2 weeks. I think I'm getting a lot for my money. I live in a very rural area, and having the ability to do things via the internet, telephone, and mail has been a real boon to me, saving many 6 hour round trips to town.

Their initial hype and pressure sales tactics were very off-putting at the beginning, but once we got started talking seriously, they were very easy to deal with. We renegotiated the terms of the contract over the phone and by fax, and so far, they have bent over backwards to accommodate my needs.

I've been really happy with the drafting support they provide. They took what I wanted and turned it into a plan that exceeded code. I had to pay a little extra for some items that weren't part of their basic kit (such as floor trusses with a 28'span and no center support), but the additional cost was fairly minor in terms of the total cost and getting what I wanted. Gloria, the chief draftsperson, has been really friendly and helpful, and she really seems to know her stuff.

My foundation is done and I'm waiting on the kit to arrive now. I'm confident that it will arrive as scheduled and as ordered. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to let you folks know about it.

Grumble-
Not sure where my origial posts about this company/product disapeared to. You are correct when you say that thier sales tactics need to be revised and in some cases thier statements are downright false especially when it comes to excess materials from a canceled job... not true they never manufacture the panels until the job is finalized in the drafting department.
I am at the rough trades inspection point of my project (three weeks in!!) and I have to admit that this type of construction is great for new construction, but I do not reccomend it for additions. I am matching the existing ridgeline and wall height and have had to cut every panel down on site in order for the structure to look like it was all built at once instead of some additions you see and you notice a "hump or bump" where another room was added on.
Grumble, be prepared to have to do odd stuff to make your building department happy if you have to have the construction inspected because building departments are not very familiar with SIPs and all codes are written now to make standard stick framing envelopes more air tight with no exceptions for alternate framing methods.
Your materials delivery is going to be one large delivery and I reccomend renting a "reach all" fork lift and having at least one helper spot for you because they will stack the materials as high as they can get it on the truck and a regular fork lift will not be able to get at it.

Good luck and have fun.