We served as our own general contractor for updating our 20 year old house, because we are not experienced in these things and we have the time to do it because we're both retired. For each thing we wanted done -- for example, bathroom renovation (new tile floor, new vanity, new toilet, new mirror, new light fixtures, new exhaust fan, paint0 -- we did our homework, got bids from individual contractors, and selected the ones we thought were the best for us. We also had a new roof installed, new skylights, new gutters and downspouts, new central AC, new kitchen floor and new window sashes. The list goes on and on. We're not finished yet.

It's a lot less risky to select the individuals who will do the work than to trust the judgment of a general contractor whose interests and priorities are different from yours. One of the riskiest aspects of going with a general contractor is that you have to put everything in writing in detail before the work begins. If the contract terms are vaguely worded, you can bet that the contractor will take every possible opportunity to add to the cost. Unless you know exactly what you want done and how you want it done, what materials and labor are involved, etc., it's hard for a general contractor to come up with an accurate price. Some will give a low figure on purpose to encourage you to hire him/her, and then raise the cost as the work goes on. Others will try very hard to give an accurate estimate, but there's always the unexpected, for example, when you tear down a wall, or move something, and find that the job cannot be completed for the estimated price.

We have found that acting as our own general contractor and asking around for the best guy to to this. that, etc. has worked well for us. But it does take a lot of time and patience.

Why are you writing checks so frequently? Are these change orders? What sort of details(or lack of) were in the contract that needs constant additions in cost?
This next observation is for the people who might read this as it seems it's too late to really help your situation.
When you plan a remodeling job that requires the work of contractors, you need to know exactly what you want to have done, how you want it done and the specific products you want to use. The idea you want 8" tiles on the floor is not good enough, because the time frame to install these varies greatly with the type of tiles you want and how you want them laid.
More often than not I see homeowners who seem to be burdened by all these decisions and expect a remodeling job to be like ordering a pizza. They call, wait, and pay for the pizza when it gets there and they're done. Remodeling isn't like that. There might be a hundred choices you need to make before the job even starts. And maybe a hundred more as it progresses
This contractor might be complicit in the process. Sounds like he might be. Not informing the clients that what they pick and how they want it installed can differ substantially in the cost.
Bottom line is that the homeowner needs to do their homework prior to even speaking with these guys. They might have been able to weed this guy out of the running for the job if they knew what questions to ask and listen to what he said.
Ron

Have you tried having a conversation with your GC and speaking your concerns?

Does this help - look at the names of the 2 boats

Part of the responsibility of the homeowner is to know what you're getting in your contract. I'm not coming down on you, for part of the GC's responsibility is to also have realistic allowances.

Overages due to unrealistic allowances are the number one reason that budgets get blown.

Mongo

Posted by randymeyer (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 08 at 14:37

Does this help - look at the names of the 2 boats

The blonde is probably an upcharge, right?
Ron