Without experience, it is possible to successfully GC a bathroom remodel; however one has to do sufficient research and acquaint oneself of all the stesp in the remodel. It is not rocket science, however, it is a complex project and cannot be under-estimated. If you are not changing any plumbing or electrical wiring, keeping the bath layout essentially the same and only changing the skins, (e.g. faucets, tiles, tubs, etc.) it is not very hard to do. Also, if going as self-GC, try to keep some allowance for change orders, since due to lack of experience, you might make a few judgement mistakes. We are currently our bath remodel in a semi-GC fashion(semi-gc because our main guy is a jack of all trades and knows a lot about it, thus we do not need to constantly micro-manage him). We designed it entirely, I researched extensively using GW forums. Since I always knew what I wanted, look-wise, I used the forum's expertise to learn the technicalities and materials, and for hearing the experiences of the folks here with various parts/materials that we used. Also, we visited local bath remodel stores. We tried to talk to the people in the stores extensively, asked them gazillion questions. When they said "your contractor would know that", I always replied, "of course he might; however as a homeowner I want to learn about the process too". Some were clearly not interested in talking, in which case I moved on and talked to their competitor. For each type of vendor (e.g window company, mirror etc) there would be at least one of three who would be willing to educate you, and the one who left me wiser got my business (at times even though their quote was not the lowest, but within a ballpark). Besides, people who were genuinely helpful were not necessarily the most expensive. It needs a tremendous amount of time invested, patience and inclination to learn, however. You need to ask yourself whether you are interested in learning even a little, OR are you in it only to save money. If the latter, then chances are that you would end up feeling exhausted. For me, I was really passionate about learning the ropes, and I am VERY happy by the experience. I emerged much more knowledgeable and cannot wait to do my next remodel! Hope this long reply helps you.

I'm afraid I have to agree with most of the negatives. Watch them like hawks every inch of the way. When they pack, when they load, when they unload, and if you have them unpack (which I would never do.) We have moved (corporate and individually) long distance eight times since 1980, the last was three years ago California to Texas. As trailrunner said, each time was a new invention of us being wronged or cheated. I think sometimes it is just plain ignorance or not caring, but mostly cheating. Last move they were not careful packers at all and some beautiful leather books were just put in any which way so they got damaged, other things broken. I thought I had found such a good mover because he advertised himself as a "Christian" moving company, but Christian is as Christian does and he wasn't. Another company took all my obsessively-organized garage bins and mini-drawers full of everything from various sized nails, to all sorts of garage things, and to save space dumped them all into one big box, then stacked the boxes etc. on top of them. It took me a full time week to put them back in order. Be aware that you must insure for 100% replacement value or you will get very little for anything they break or lose. Be aware also that the loading end will likely be much different than the destination end. We have had a few moves where I loved the crew that packed and loaded. However, if it is more than a few hours away, they are going to hire a crew locally at the destination. That can be a disaster, as with our last move. I cannot even begin to tell you. They must have picked them up off the street, they were so inept, and frankly I began to be concerned that they were going to sue us because they started complaining about how heavy things were. I have also had individual members of the crew on both ends be rude and disrespectful and downright threatening to me (who am usually handling them alone while DH is at work). I think the best you can do is interview a lot of people and really grill them. Pick the one you feel the most comfortable with (and get reviews from other customers), then grill them again about WHO will be on the other end? Then call the other end and see if you feel comfortable with them. I'm convinced that a quick call to the company on the Texas end of our most recent move would have told me to stay away from the company I was about to use. Having said all that, we've survived all the bad experiences with ourselves intact, and the bad taste fades -- until someone asks your opinion about moving companies, LOL! :-)

Stax, I guess so (my current posting date says "last month")! However, I'm now adding a new thread asking for help/advice on my current move. As I said in my earlier post (5 posts up), my earlier move was done by myself using a rental truck. For my current move, in progress, I couldn't find a rental truck from any local rental companies (U-Haul, Penske, etc. My last one was Ryder, which no longer rents to individuals). So I decided to use a local moving company which advertises local and long distance moves. First mistake - I didn't read any reviews then and when I did yesterday, they were horrible! Anyway, like Dianne47, my move is fairly complex, from a house on Long Island to a new house in the wilderness of Northern NY. I wanted to avoid the movers reloading my stuff between trucks, so I specified a one-truck move, which they agreed to. I also have a piano which I am concerned about. They were very good on meeting their pickup time, but I was appalled that they came in a 24 foot Penske rental truck. There were three men, the driver (Ron) and two helpers. We had boxed most stuff into 24 boxes, mostly paintings (my wife is an artist). The first thing they loaded was the piano and, as they lifted it up, one leg fell off (not their fault). So they put the piano in the front of the truck, along with the leg. They carefully wrapped all the furniture and skillfully placed the pieces, along with the boxes in the truck and stabilized them with straps. The truck was 3/4 full. They said that they would deliver the next day. I agreed to pay them 1/2 then and the other 1/2 upon delivery. We drove up to our new house (a 6-hour drive), somewhat concerned that they would get there before we did, but that didn't happen. We waited the rest of the day and, so far, no show (yet - I am writing this the morning of the third day). When I called that afternoon, the company manager said they were in a meeting and would call me back. Several complications: 1. Google has my address mis-located, so I explained to the driver exactly where we lived and he said he understood. 2. For the final 30 miles of the trip, there is no cell service, except for in my town, where there is only Verizon, so I confirmed with the driver that he had Verizon, which he did. 3. They only accept payment via cash, certified check, or one of two phone payment apps which I don't use. So I paid the first half in cash and have enough for the final payment. 4. I have two entrances to my house, the piano and several other pieces of heavy furniture go into my basement - fortunately I have a walk-out basement with two rather large doors, reachable by a dirt driveway. The rest go on the main floor, which has a porch which can be driven up to via a different driveway. The paintings all go up to a loft, reachable by a ladder from the main floor. All of this was explained to the driver who said that it would be no problem. THIS IS WHY I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE SAME DRIVER (AND TRUCK) MADE IT ALL THE WAY! Since the piano was the first in, it would be the last out, so the first unloading should be to the main floor and loft and the second around the back of the house to the basement entrance. So, I am sitting here waiting....

I've done corporate moves a couple of times, including two to Alaska. Having the movers pack is generally worth while, but if you have any VERY expensive items, that you can't live without, you want to pack them and take them yourself to the location. For me that was the venetian glass. The glassware is too delicate for it to be quickly rolled up in layers of paper (which is how they wrap items). In general I highly advise a pack, but NEVER NEVER NEVER an unpack. WHat they do with an unpack is just unpack. They don't put things away. A dear friend of mine came in after a 12 hour flight with her family to a home literally filled (every square inch of the floor) with "Stuff" including dishes, china, pots and pans, candles, toilet paper, their old trash, spread all over the counters and floors because the movers don't unpack into cupboards. It was a nightmare! Packing up a small kitchen like that is probably half a days work. It's easy stuff for them, really. I always have them do all the china, and the only stuff I hold back is the venetian glass, the christopher radko's and any jewelry. I also advise that you pack one months worth of cloths and mail them to yourself, independant of the move and add anything you can't live without for a few weeks. I then ship this fed ex (it costs a few hundred but it's worth it). These boxes I have delivered to the new address to coincide with my arrival, so I only have a couple of big boxes to unpack right away, and enough to make life worth living in the new place. Then you can take your time unpacking the rest of it. Some moves cost thousands. My entire move to Alaska from Washington cost thirty grand, but that included a car and several crates of antiques and housing for two months (I only know because I paid taxes on the corporate move). But the move from Texas to here was only $5,000, but not much furniture, which was a huge difference (they crate individually any antiques if they're a good moving company). I never move myself anymore. I do pack myself for short moves...I'm a pro at that, but for any decent move, I let the packers do their work. They're faster than me, and more organized, and as stated earlier...if they break it...they buy it :)