Why I'm Building an Uber for Construction (and Why It Started with a Cottage)

If you read my last post, you know I’m in the middle of turning a thatched-roof cottage above Lake Balaton into a year-round retreat. Beautiful property, strong vision, detailed mood boards, interactive floor plans, the whole package ready to go.

Then I hit the wall. The kind where you spend weeks trying to find the right architect, the right builder, the right anyone, and realise the process is fundamentally broken.

The search

It started innocently. I posted in a few Facebook groups. I asked friends. I asked friends of friends. I messaged architects whose portfolios I liked on Instagram. I filled out contact forms on websites that hadn’t been updated since 2014.

Most messages went unanswered. The ones that did respond often hadn’t read what I sent. One architect quoted me for a full new build. Another asked if I needed help with “office interiors.” Someone offered to install a pool, which would be impressive given that the property sits on a hillside vineyard.

The part that really stung: we did find architects. Twice. Both through personal recommendations from people I trust. The kind of referral that’s supposed to be the gold standard.

We worked with the first one. The quality was terrible. Went back to the drawing board, found a second through another recommendation. Same story. Poor output, misaligned expectations, weeks of our time wasted each time.

I’m not a difficult client. I came with a detailed brief, professional-quality photos, floor plans, mood boards, a clear budget range, a timeline. If anything I made it too easy. And even when the recommendation system “worked”, the result was still disappointing. Twice.

The realisation

This isn’t a me problem. It’s a market problem. And it’s worse than I thought, because even the “solution” everyone tells you to use (ask someone you trust for a recommendation) doesn’t actually solve it.

Booking a ride: open an app, see who’s nearby, check the rating, tap a button. Finding a restaurant: search, read reviews, look at photos, book a table. Hiring someone to renovate your kitchen: ask your neighbour, scroll through a Facebook group, hope for the best. And even when you get a name from someone you trust, you have no way to verify whether that person is right for your project.

The information asymmetry is staggering. As a homeowner you have no idea what a fair price is, what a realistic timeline looks like, or whether the person you’re hiring has ever done anything like your project. As a professional you’re drowning in tire-kickers and poorly scoped requests, spending hours on site visits that go nowhere, competing on price because there’s no way to compete on quality.

Both sides suffer.

The other side of the table

I started talking to contractors. Plumbers, electricians, architects, project managers. Anyone who’d give me 20 minutes. The same story came back over and over:

“I get 50 messages a week. Maybe 5 are real projects. The rest want a free quote and ghost me.”

“I spend more time writing proposals than doing actual work.”

“By the time I’ve done a site visit, taken measurements, and written up a quote, the client has gone with someone cheaper who’ll cut corners.”

The good professionals, the ones you actually want working on your home, are buried under noise. They don’t need more leads, they need better leads. Projects that are well-documented, fairly budgeted, ready to go.

I had exactly that for my Balaton cottage. Fully documented, well-budgeted, ready-to-go. I still couldn’t connect with the right person efficiently.

So I started building something

I’m a developer. When I see a broken process, my instinct is to build a tool. So I did.

It’s called Baubiber, a mashup of “Bau” (German for construction) and “Biber” (beaver, nature’s most relentless builder). It’s a side project. Not a company, not a startup with a pitch deck and a funding round. Something I’m building because the problem is real and I think technology can help.

The idea is simple: make finding a construction professional as easy as calling an Uber. Instead of matching drivers to riders, you’re matching renovation projects to the right professionals, based on skills, location, availability, past work.

How it works:

You take photos of what needs fixing or renovating. The app uses AI to analyse the images. It identifies the type of work, estimates scope, generates a structured project brief. No more vague descriptions or forgetting to mention that the ceiling is 4 metres high. The AI captures what matters.

Baubiber then matches your project to professionals who actually do that kind of work, in your area, currently available. Not a list of 200 results to scroll through. A curated shortlist of people who are genuinely relevant.

The professionals see rich, well-documented projects: photos, AI analysis, scope, budget range. They decide in seconds whether it’s worth their time. When they’re interested, they submit a proper offer. You compare offers side by side. You pick the one that fits. Done.

What makes this different

There are platforms out there. MyHammer, Houzz, various local directories. I’ve used them. The issue is that most of them are lead-generation tools that blast your request to everyone and let the market sort it out. That’s how you end up with the pool guy quoting on your interior renovation.

Baubiber is different because the AI layer does the heavy lifting upfront. By the time a professional sees your project, it’s already been analysed, categorised, and matched. By the time you see an offer, the professional has already reviewed detailed documentation of your project.

More connections aren’t the goal. The right connection is.

The other thing I care about: transparency. The platform shows you what similar projects cost in your area. It shows professionals’ past work. It gives both sides enough information to make a confident decision without the usual three weeks of back-and-forth.

Where it stands

It’s early. The app is live, people are using it, and feedback has been surprisingly strong. Especially from professionals who are tired of the current lead-gen model. A few contractors told me this is the first platform that actually respects their time. That felt good.

I’m not trying to scale this into a unicorn. I’m trying to solve a problem I personally have, and it turns out a lot of other people have it too. Every time I mention it at a dinner party, someone says “oh god, I’ve been looking for a good electrician for months.” Every. Single. Time.

Full circle

The irony isn’t lost on me. I started building Baubiber because I couldn’t find an architect for my Balaton cottage. The cottage renovation, project Hegylakó as we call it, is now one of the first real projects on the platform. If this works the way I think it can, the next person standing on a hilltop with a vision and a stack of mood boards won’t have to go through what I went through.

They’ll take photos, let the AI do its thing, and have a shortlist of the right people by the time they finish their coffee.

That’s the dream. Right now it’s a side project, a lot of late nights, and a growing conviction that this problem (connecting homeowners with the right construction professionals) is solvable with the right technology.

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