Funny, those were the exact words that went through my mind!

My GC was orginally a framer, that is the only part of the job he did not sub out I feel a jack of all trades will be trouble .

Check their construction licenses. And insist that all subs who will work on the job be identified by name, address, and speciality license number in your contract before you sign. Learn as much as you can about your state laws for construction before signing a contract.

I learned the hard way. My kitchen "GC" was a "jack of all trades" who had a license to drive a truck.

The GC for my bathroom remodel was a licensed GC, but brought in unlicensed sub's. Unfortunately, even with city permits, the local city inspector did not catch all their mistakes.

Great tip-I checked the licenses of the ones I talked to but it never crossed my mind to check subs-thanks!

Who is doing the design work for the job? How have you gotten “bids” that are on any way meaningful or comparable without giving them a set of design plans with specifications?

Your bids and conversations are worth exactly nothing at this point. You’ve done this in the wrong order. You don’t hire s contractor and then design the bathroom. You design the bathroom 99% and then the co tractor can bid on what was designed.

As in, what type of waterproofing are you specifying for the project? Has either of the guys even talked to you about the technical aspects of waterproofing? Of the logistics of plumbing choices and water delivery?

Design the space first.

You failed to make a smart hiring decision on your kitchen and hopefully not A decision of Wanting too much and shopping for a Contractor deal.

Do not repeat it here, question if you yourself are qualified to decide and maybe start reaching out to friends and family that have a successful record of remodeling with the QUALITY in detailed results you are hoping for.

Ok--then how does one go about getting a designer - every construction company I have talked to has their own designer on staff--how does one get a design before hiring the construction company? No one I talked to seemed eager to work up the design and have me take it elsewhere to be constructed.

Perhaps somethings flawed in your approach in conversation. Many times I pass on projects when people are caught up in their past bad experiences on account of decisions theyve made and things they are telling me in the conversation.

Are you being open and candid about your budget right away and is it realistic for your market and desired details

Right out of the gate on the first phone call i can tell if I even want to spend an hour on you.

Hire an independent Kitchen and Bath Designer. Look under Find a Pro. If you don’t have one local, plenty do it online. Cook’s Kitchen does I know. And several others that post regularly on the Forums.

jckgmk, I am also starting the process of redoing my master bath. My inclination would also be to have subs for specific areas of expertise. I think the "jack of all trades" appeals to those who are focused more on their budget than "getting everything just right." Either approach is ok -- you have to go with what is most important to you.

In my experience, it is hard to find remodelers who will do a design for you at no charge. I understand that. So you can hire a designer, as Sophie suggested, and then find a contractor to build that design. Probably many designers have firms they regularly work with. Or you can go with a design/build firm, which is what I'll probably do. It's not the cheapest option, for sure, but I only want to do this once. I look online at work that I like and start with that. One contractor came and talked to me for a couple of hours, gave me his ideas, and a rough budget. Another firm required a small "visit" charge, which is applied to your job if you contract with them. He shared his ideas, gave me an estimate, and some references. His references have been great, I hope to go see one of them, and I suspect I'll go with him. He will then charge me a larger, but reasonable, retainer fee to do a detailed design and budget. If I like what he comes up with, then I'll sign a contract.

I was lucky to find a General Contractor for my first kitchen remodel who is qualified to do all of the basic trades. He is a perfectionist. He knows his limits and will tell me that I need to hire someone to do something he cannot handle. He has moved walls, put in a skylight, added electrical circuits, wired new cooktop and downdraft fan that he installed, removed soffitts, added a soffitt elsewhere, moved a load-bearing opening, installed bath fan where none had been, including adding the roof vent for it, installed front door systems and patio door, designed and installed front ramp, installed flooring, kitchen cabinets, kitchen appliances, interior doors, designed and created a six-step stairway, and created a dog-washing station based on my design. Since I met Jim in 2003, he has done almost all of the work I have needed done in the two houses I have owned. He is licensed and insured.

I realize that I was lucky to find someone who is qualified to do so many different kinds of work. Not many are like this. But they do exist. Jim works mostly on his own, though he hires assistants when he needs them. On occasion, he hires his kids when they are not in school. Once, when he was doing my first backsplash, and I was using a glass tile as the secondary tile in a pinwheel pattern, I assisted by back-buttering the glass tiles and handing them to him to be placed. Jim sweeps up his work area at the end of each day. His van has built-in storage for all of his tools and he can easily find anything that he needs. "Meticulous" may be his middle name!

I knew I had the right guy to work with me when I was interviewing him and he listened to my ideas for my first kitchen and pulled out his tape rule to measure and said, "Yeah, I think that will work here." He added his own ideas, told me "no" when I needed to hear it, and simply talked to me like a person instead of giving me that condescending treatment that so many men give to women when talking about technical or mechanical things. I knew I could work with him from the first interview. I was referred to him by asking for recommendations at the contractor's desk at the local lumber supplier. I was looking at kitchen cabinets there, so went to the desk and asked for some recommendations of contractors who seemed to know what they were doing.

Jim has been working on a commercial building for the past three years. He says that he hated the boring work, but that he could not turn down the good pay. I have been waiting for him to be free to do my bathroom gut and remodel. I won't have anybody else if I can have Jim by waiting!

I just finished a total gut and remodel of a bathroom and my experience was exactly the same as Nancyinmich's. I had one guy who did it all, and did it all perfectly. He listened to what I wanted and told me when something was a bad idea. I wouldn't use anyone else for my master bath which is coming up next.

But. I had great references for him. He has worked for various friends and neighbors for years, and I saw his work firsthand. I think that's the only way I would use a one man operation to do the work.

I'm a general contractor who does projects both large and small, subcontracting substantially on the larger jobs (e.g., additions), but minimally on the smaller ones (like bathrooms).

Having been in the business for a number of years, I have long felt that there is a paradox in the home renovation universe - and this is it: the larger the firm, the slower the job. That's because larger firms have to run multiple projects simultaneously and shuttle trades and crews between them on an ongoing basis.

So want a bathroom renovated quickly and efficiently - by which I mean about two weeks, start to finish, to gut and renovate the average small bathroom with fixtures staying in their current locations? Find one competent individual who can do it all or with minimal subcontracted assistance (as did nancyinmich and grannysmith18). And do your own design work (we are typically talking just tub, toilet, vanity and tile work; it's not rocket surgery).

Unless your project is very large and complex, stay away from firms with in-house designers and a host of on-staff trades. Firms like that have to have a bundle of projects running at the same time to keep all those mouths fed - as a consequence of which your own project is bound to suffer delay and neglect.