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.

if you have subs that you know and have worked with before, or can get some good recommendations, you probably can do without a GC. you'll have to source your own materials, of course, but that's easily done with the internet these days. the timeline is determined by just thinking it through. in most cases, it's pretty self-evident. you do all your rough-ins of electrical and plumbing right after you gut the room. then repair the walls and start doing floors, cabinets, etc... there are lots of folks in here that can answer these questions for you. in the case of something 'coming up', you can always call someone in to help you, if need be.

It's all resolved now. The GC was great actually. The weird thing were these swirls in the counter top (quartz) that looked like dirt. It was actually embedded into the counter. I think it was just defective and the fabricator didn't catch it. It was most noticeable when the lights were off and you view the counter from an angle. And the fabricator/installer just had no pride in their work. They left a mess in my sink, didn't even clean off the counter top after they installed it and they left my back door unlocked. They were seriously unprofessional.

3+/ I believe that insurance should cover all risks of loss of funds, money or damage to materials. You will protect yourself from the fact that something may not go according to your plan. That's exactly how it was for me. I started working with my house, but it took too much money. I was upset. I realized that I needed to hire a contractor. In the end, I turned to these guys https://alsharqa.net/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%82%D9%87-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7/. They did their job very well. I was satisfied with all the finishing work done! And what would you say about turning to someone for professional help?