I’ve acted as GC on my last few renovation projects, one which involved three bathroom gut remodels and a brand new kitchen with all new appliances and cabinets, new hardwood floors, doors, and moving walls. Subs I had: (1) paint/general construction/drywall, (2) plumber, (3) tile, (4) floor guy. I did the bulk of this in about a month and a half, with just little aesthetic touch ups later. I saved both money and time. Time, because I found that GCs will schedule one thing after another, not wanting people to work around each other, but because I was on a really tight timeframe that my son and I wouldn’t have a place to live, I scheduled a lot of folks to work at the same time around each other. They grumbled a bit more, but I was there every day to smooth things over, help, and just be a charming friendly person who brought cookies and snacks :). That said, to echo a lot of what folks said, it’s important to (1) be there on site every day to catch things early that are not aesthetically what you’d like, before it becomes more difficult to fix later, (2) have great people skills to motivate folks and work through issues, (3) have great organizational and project management skills (4) make decisions quickly and easily (being willing to do your own research) (5) be efficient about ordering supplies and materials on your own, which really saves time and money. And maybe most importantly (6) have the energy to deal with this all — it takes a lot of energy. I was exhausted. The reason I undertook it is that some GCs I talked to gave me a 4 month estimate on the work, and I just didn’t have that kind of time. All the sub folks were referred by my broker, so they were really responsive and professional and above par. I’ve continued to use them on other renovation projects, and they’ve always been really responsive and great. I may be lucky, because I’ve heard of nightmare stories as well, but it’s just to say that if you get good referrals, I‘ve found it’s not always the case that you can’t get subs to show up or have leverage compared to a GC. In fact, on a current project I have, all my same subs agreed to take on the work for me, right away, when my GC couldn’t get his subs for weeks out. I respectfully don’t agree with the comment that if you can’t tell about running an electrical line you can’t be a GC. If you trust your subs to be good at what they do, they’ll guide you through everything and help you make the best decisions. That’s what they’re there for. I‘ve done several remodels now, and haven’t had any issues later on (I lived in that particular house for 5 years). Anyway, I know it’s been 6 years since this post, but since I always get value from older comments and advice, I thought I’d still share my own experiences for others with this same question.

Good luck finding a reputable contractor. We've lived in the same house for 26 years and in that time we've done many projects - new roof, new siding, a 1000 sq. addition, finished the basement, remodeled 3 bathrooms, added a screened in porch,installed a mahogany deck, a swimming pool, replaced brick walk with custom cut bluestone, remodeled the kitchen twice and had major landscaping done 3 times. We probably worked with 12 different general contractors and unfortunately only 2 of them would I ever work with again or refer to others. Even though we went through all the recommended steps in selecting our contractor calamities still happened - may of them directly caused by the GC trying to save time, money or appease one of his subs or another customer. You don't need to hear my horror stories I'm sure you've heard many. If you have the knowledge, the time and the fortitude to be your own GC then go for it. Just make sure you have all the insurance you need and an attorney to review all contracts. The last contractor we worked with was highly recommended by many people that I knew personally and whose work I had inspected. But he lost his foreman to an injury one week after my kitchen was demolished and everything went downhill rapidly after that. So even if you do everything right - there's still a good chance that things will go wrong.

FYI, my dropped ceiling also contained heating ducts, which required a specialist and $700 to fix. I remodeled my kitchen from scratch without a GC. I had no other remodel experience, and we are not good DYI'ers. I did have project management experience (in computers), and a lot of time and did a lot of research. Demo is easy and kind of fun. I hired a drywall guy to replace the ceiling. I hired electricians to come in while the ceiling was gone and put in fixtures. The electricians came in again after to put up the finishing touches after the wallboard was up. Hiring a gas plumber is a simple stand alone task that doesn't sound like it requires someone to help you do it. I think a GC only adds cost to a project like that. If you can live with a missing ceiling and soffits for a while, I'd do something like that without a GC as well. For me, the trick with managing it was to break it into small sub projects that don't have any dependencies on each other, and then make friends with the workers I hired and supervise them closely enough to learn from them.

1)That could be a problem, or it could not. It would definitely need a more in-depth analysis. 2)Yes, that is correct--- although I have had to fight local inspectors on more than one occasion about the 9sf. 3) I do not know of any, this sounds like a custom carpentry job to me. 4) Are you trying to cut down on heat gain or take advantage of it for the colder months? That would dictate the type of glass package that would be best for you. A professional would be able to assess what would be most beneficial in this regard based on the unique circumstances of your home. 5) In my opinion a window specialist that also is knowledgeable and experienced in custom carpentry would be the best bet. Windows on Washington is a tremendous company, I would definitely consult with them to see if they would be a good fit.