Contractors make a couple bux on the products that are provided and that is usually enough to cover some overhead expense etc... you will have a hard time at this point finding a contractor that will want to work for you because their total profit is exposed. In these situations a contractor would charge as if they are supplying to make it worth while and probably will not provide any kind of warranty because you are now the GC providing your own warranty for the job.

Todd Stull
Enola, PA

It's definitely do-able but it takes some really good organizational skills and time. You will need to have a really good understanding of ALL of the steps involved so you can hire subcontractors in the correct order and make sure everything is done properly before moving on to the next step. I've done this on total DIY projects as well as projects involving subcontractors, and you will definitely save money. As Todd said, you're also taking much of the responsibility on yourself, so you should know a lot about all aspects of the project. You will also need to take care of all the permitting and scheduling inspections yourself.

There are some books and web sites around that can help walk you through all the little details you'll need to be aware of.

No, you do not need one. I first remodeled a hall bath. I was the GC. Never did anything like that before and I was a woman and 64 at the time. Small bath, but I replaced everything and turned the bath tub into a nice large shower. Then with the help of this web site, I did a major remodel of our kitchen. Again, everything.....Right now I'm working on a half bath. When I was getting ready to do the kitchen, I called in a GC for a estimate and was told $8,000 for his services and I felt I had no real say in who was going to be hired and what the fee's were going to be.
So far, it's worked out well for us.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Msgreatdeals, one of my concerns is the lack of control over subs. I have a tile guy, an electrician and a plumber, plus a guy who will custom build the cabinet. So really we just need to demo and do some framing in ourselves, I think.

I do understand the warranty issue, Todd, but honestly, we've had so many things go wrong since we bought this house, it's one of the reasons I wanted to control the subs.

I'll do some more reading, stacyneil. Appreciate the feedback everyone!

probably the biggest pitfall to acting as your own GC is finding subs that do good work, show up when they say they will and finish.

I'm acting as my GC with my brother in law on my whole house remodel. he's done construction, I know a lot, but not 100% hands on like he has.

bar none, the biggest problem is getting my plumber to do his work, get him to show up, period, and finish what he starts. I've heard every story in the book from him.
He has GCs that I'm sure he thinks are more important than I am, and will drop everything he's doing to deal with them and doesn't bother to communicate with us at all about it.

he is by far the worst. everyone else has been good. the key is to find people who know what they are doing, and are good at it. the biggest problem is, as a homeowner, you may or may not know if they are doing a good job, or if what they are saying is accruate.

We have acted as our own GC many times building houses from scratch. We made the huge mistake of hiring a builder ONCE. It takes time and organization, but I don't find the work load any more than when we hired the builder. Much less aggravation too.

We have had absolutely no problem whatsoever finding excellent craftsmen to do the work we can't handle ourselves. Ask around. You will eventually find the cream of the crop. We did. there are good local people who specailize in foundations, those that do cabinets, and those that do tile...you get the picture. It saves thousands and onec we have selected someone to do the work we have had no issues with quality, ethics, or the job getting done properly and on time.

In contrast, the builder we had that one time picked some of the worst people to save a buck. Some showed up after they had been drinking. Some showed up without proper tools. Some never showed up. Some stole things. Some broke things.Some did poor quality work. Some did O.K. work. The drywall guy actually said that he had seen some poor trusses go in and that no one cared, so neither did he. This was a supposed "high end" builder, building a lovely custom home for us. Never again. Warranty work? Some are good about it. Ours wasn't.

We are still good friends with all the people who have done work for us, that we found ourselves.
There hasn't been one to this day I wouldn't trust with a key to my house.

Sandy

Good Post Sandy!!! It's truly about finding the right people whether it's a subcontractor, contractor, builder etc...
Good luck with your project, Hope!

Todd Stull
Enola, PA

The biggest barriers to self GCing are the extra time needed in the schedule and the fact that you are the one doing quality control on the job. That means you need to know and understand construction techniques and code issues. If you could DIY the whole job yourself, but don't have the time, then you might have enough knowledge for the job. However, if you don't have the time to DIY, you probably won't have the time to self GC. It's a full time job, and if you can't give it your full time attention, then you aren't going to be able to stay on top of things.