Hello all, I've been gathering ideas from here for a couple of months now. Everyone seems to be very helpful and very knowledgeable and all of your designs are awesome. How would you recommend finding all the contractors you need for a bathroom remodel? I don't even know how to approach it besides yelp and google. Nobody I know had any kind of remodeling done recently, therefore I can't get any personal references. We need a plumber to reroute some pipes and a tiler to do the floors and showers. I know a handy man who can do dry wall and paint, and we don't need any electrical work besides replacing old light fixtures. We have a good idea of what we want and we just need someone to do it (so no designer needed). We will also be getting all the permits ourselves. We live in Orange county, CA. If anyone can suggest a good contractor who can help us with the remodel, or if you know of any companies or showrooms that would be good to check out, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance and have a weekend day everyone

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.

Welcome to GardenWeb, Shazlaur! This isn't the wrong forum to ask this question, but the chances are low that there is another poster here who lives in your area who has had that type of work done. But you never know. . . You might benefit from joining Angie's List, if there is one in your area. Here is a link that might be useful: Angie's list

Beachem I would tell him what lyfia said. I just double-checked a painting estimate I have from reputable company that does a ton of work around here, I know they are not the cheapest. $7,000 to paint my main and lower levels, all trim and ceilings. My home is 2900 sq. ft. I live in an area that often gets overpriced as contractors assume by living here, people have a lot of money. I have had to do that in my own home remodel. We moved from out of state to a new area to a house needing major remodel. We got a recommended GC (my husband's boss used him extensively). I didn't get other pricing because he was highly recommended by my realtor and DH boss, and was told he was priced mid-range comparatively. We gave him our budget, and we started moving forward. After getting things priced for our downstairs, he said we won't have enough money to do anything else we want (and we have a large budget). Well I can't live in a half finished house! I did get other pricing, and had to tell him as much as I wanted to work with him, he was simply out of our budget. In fact, he was one of the highest priced of all. He also cost me on the few things he did start on. One, we wanted our children's rooms finished so they could have a room right away (carpet, trim painted, ceiling fan installed). Well looking back now he knew we were replacing all the windows, why did he let me get the trim painted? It's all ripped off sitting in a corner right now. Also, to help us 'save money' he put trim on and painted our cheap flat panel hollow core doors. Only as of this month did I see hollow core doors were only 30-$40. I think I actually paid more having him trim out and paint them all. Really gets me upset, I could've used the money spent to upgrade to solid doors. In the end we are going the route of GCing it ourselves, and using one contractor who works alone, but has a wide skill set, so he is doing many projects for us. I guess like a handyman, however he is very professional and knowledgable. I did vet him with seeing his previous work (bathrooms, floors, cabinetry) and calling references. It's not ideal because I really wish I had the advice of a true general contractor (the guy I have is able to advise in some areas but not all), but I've learned that either way you go you need to educate yourself on the nature of the work going on in your home.