What Is It Really Like to Build an ADU in Pembroke?
Watch: Instead of the Nursing Home We Built THIS | Pembroke ADU
You've been thinking about building an ADU for months now, maybe even longer than that. You read the news about that new Massachusetts ADU law. So you looked at a few builders' websites, and maybe you even talked to someone you know who was also thinking about building one. But you still don't really know the process or how the whole thing even works. You can look on the internet and find cost breakdowns and summaries or zoning laws and other basic information, but it won't tell you what the experience is really like on a daily basis or what it was like for a family who went through it in your same town.
My name is Buz Artiano, and I am the founder of BuildX. We've built dozens of ADUs across Massachusetts, mostly around the South Shore and Plymouth County. Every project we take on goes through all the same basic steps. We start with septic evaluation, then lot coverage constraints, municipal permitting, and the state's by-right ADU laws. We also handle design, permitting, and construction under one roof. So we see the full picture of your project from the first conversation up to the day you move in.
Shannon Swann is a BuildX client. We built her mother's 518-square-foot attached ADU in Pembroke, which was connected to the main house by a breezeway. The ADU is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit that we custom designed for Shannon's mother after Shannon's stepfather passed away. Shannon's mom didn't want to sell her home, and she didn't want to move into a 55-plus community. She wanted to stay on the property that she loved, with her daughter close by. We were able to build her a space that made that possible.
Of course we want to share stories from families who had a great experience with us. We are sharing Shannon's story because she found us on her own, did her own extensive research using our website, and chose BuildX without even talking to another company. Her opinion and perspective on what it's like to go through the process of building an ADU in Pembroke is going to be more useful to you than hearing what we have to say about ourselves.
Quick Answer: Building an ADU in Pembroke is achievable, and Shannon Swann's ADU proves it. We built a 518-square-foot attached ADU with a breezeway for her mom, and the project was finished in 100 days. Shannon said that our process was seamless. BuildX handled design, permitting, septic, and construction. The crew showed up every time they were on the schedule, we communicated by email every week with project manager check-ins, and were able to accommodate the family's lifestyle, including their two large dogs on the property. Shannon never even spoke to any other builders. She found BuildX through all the online content we have and she went straight to Buz.
In This Article
- What Does the ADU Building Process in Pembroke Actually Feel Like?
- Why Did Shannon Build an ADU Instead of Moving Her Mother?
- How Did Shannon Find BuildX, and Why Did She Skip Other Builders?
- What Did We Design for Shannon's Mother?
- What Happened During Construction?
- Is BuildX the Right Fit for Every Pembroke Homeowner?
- Your Family's ADU Starts with a Conversation
What Does the ADU Building Process in Pembroke Actually Feel Like?
Shannon said that the whole ADU process didn't feel like all of these contractor horror stories she'd heard. She described us in three words: professional, courteous, and thorough. From the very first meeting to the move-in day the whole process was all laid out and predictable. Shannon had her own personal project manager, Tom, who sent her weekly email updates and always responded to questions via text, email, and phone. All the permits were pulled by BuildX and the septic system was designed and installed by us as well. Shannon and her mom didn't have to deal with any subcontractors or worry about scheduling any inspection on their own.
Shannon works from home, and we built the ADU in the summer. The construction noise was actually manageable. She said it did get a little loud with the windows open, but we were consistent enough that she was able to plan her day around it. Her advice to other homeowners was to be patient, and enjoy watching the process. It really will move fast.
If you're also thinking about whether an ADU build in your town is realistic or if it's more of a pipe dream, Shannon's experience is definitely worth listening to. She went from not knowing if the project was even possible to watching her mom move in only 100 days after construction started.
Watch: Two Generations, One Property | Mom's ADU in Massachusetts
Why Did Shannon Build an ADU Instead of Moving Her Mother?
About three years before the project started, Shannon's stepfather passed away. Her mom was living alone in their family home in Pembroke. She didn't want to sell the house, and she also thought about maybe a 55-plus community, but decided against that as well. And Shannon knew that the two of them couldn't live together in the same house. They love each other, but they needed their own space.
An ADU was the perfect solution. Shannon moved into the main house, and her mom moved into the attached ADU that we connected with a breezeway. Shannon's mother said it perfectly when she said she wanted to live together, but not together. The breezeway was actually her idea. She wanted to be connected to the main house for safety reasons and just to be close to her daughter. But she also wanted her own front door.
If your family is in a similar situation, here's what is really important to remember. An ADU isn't about putting a parent into a separate, small apartment. It's about designing a space where parents and kids have exactly what they need, like independence and the security of knowing that family is near.
How Did Shannon Find BuildX, and Why Did She Skip Other Builders?
Shannon found BuildX online and she watched some of our build videos. She went through and read testimonials from other families. She saw the 24-hour construction surveillance cameras that let homeowners watch progress and construction live. All of this is why Shannon was already sold before she ever walked into our office.
She simply told us that she never interviewed another company. She went straight to Buz and that was pretty much it. She had good practical reasons for her choice. She had of course heard horror stories about contractors who don't show up, don't finish, or flat out disappear right in the middle of the project. The clearness of our actual process, the real experiences of real families, and the capability to see what a BuildX project really looks like from beginning to end gave her confidence to just skip the comparison phase completely.
If you've also been looking into ADU builders, but you can't figure out which company to trust, Shannon's decision-making process says it all. She didn't even hear a sales pitch from us, she went off of documented evidence from other people who have already done it.
Watch: When Mom Needs a Home | The ADU Solution
What Did We Design for Shannon's Mother?
The ADU is 518 square feet with one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. It's attached to the main house by a breezeway that also serves as the new front entrance for both homes. When Shannon's mom closes her front door, she's in her own self-contained private home. When she opens it, she's only a few steps away from her daughter.
Every design decision was built around one person. Shannon's mother is on the shorter side, so instead of standard upper cabinets, we put open shelving she could actually reach and added three extra storage cabinets at her request. She chose a barn door for the bathroom to save the space of a normal swinging door. She kept the kitchen simple: a two-burner induction cooktop, a drawer-mounted microwave and convection oven, and a compact washer-dryer unit. She didn't want a dishwasher.
We design ADUs for the person who is going to live in them, not for a spec sheet. In Shannon's mother's case, that meant a five-foot walk-in shower with a built-in seat and plenty of space for a wheelchair or walker if she ever needs one. We designed the bathroom so that Shannon's mom can live her life out in that ADU. We made that decision early in the design process, because retrofitting a bathroom for accessibility after the fact costs three to four times more than building it in from the start. When we know the ADU is for an aging parent, we design for the next 20 years, not just move-in day.
The unit is heated and cooled by a ducted heat pump system. We chose ducted over wall-mounted mini-splits because it really just looks nicer. All you can see are the vents, and the system is quiet enough that Shannon's mother doesn't even hear it. For a 518-square-foot unit, that system handles both heating and cooling year round very efficiently.
What Happened During Construction?
The build took approximately 95 to 100 days. On day 95, we were finishing up some items on the list and then Shannon's mother moved in on day 100. In that time we installed a new septic system for both the ADU and the existing house, re-sided the entire main house to match the new unit, installed five new windows on the main house, and ran new electrical service.
Shannon was shocked at how fast it all happened. There was never a dull moment. One kind of work finished and straight away the next one got started. The framers worked late when they needed to and Tom, the project manager, kept everything on schedule and kept Shannon in the loop via email. When Shannon had a question, she texted or called and Tom always answered. When we needed to discuss something about the design, we hopped on a Zoom call, even if it was a Sunday morning.
Shannon mentioned something that some people probably wouldn't think about. She has two large dogs and no fence. Every subcontractor, every crew member, every delivery driver was great with her dogs and never complained. Nobody lost them or gave Shannon a hard time about it. That kind of thing doesn't show in a contract, but it tells you everything about how a company's people treat your home.
