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.

Hello I believe her question was to see if they should get estimates from architects or contractors. Of coarse an architect can provide you an estimate but most of the time it is completely off in left field. I can't tell you how many times we speak with homeowners and they show us their plans. The architect designs a $500k alteration when the homeowners budget is in the $300k range. Contact some reputable contractors. Get as many bids as you feel are necessary but 3-5 should be suffice. Contractors like myself have in house architects and will include the plans as part of the package. You can also contact an architect. More times than not, his plans will cost more than it would if you went with the contractor. You can read more on our blogs if you like: Here is a link that might be useful: Bergen County Contractors

jannicone, You are correct and reminded me of a situation I encountered. We were doing a large addition to our home. A lien was placed on our home by the concrete supplier used by our concrete contractor. While I had a GC on that project, I raised holy hell about it. I was on the phone with the supplier. I ate him a new one. I told him that we would happily pay COD for the concrete it that was what he needed. Just let us know. But, to slap a lien on the property before the bill was even generated was pretty much ridiculous. I was sending my GC over right then with a check and a release of lien form and he better sign it. Did he want my check, certified check or cash? I remember how pissed I was about the whole thing. My GC was terribly embarrassed about it. I didn't hold it against him. He didn't do anything wrong. Neither did the concrete contractor. I also understood the position of the concrete supplier. He wanted to be paid. My position was he should be up front about it, demand payment and we can work it out. I was pissed about the supplier's business practices. It wasn't like the concrete was going anywhere and I didn't expect credit. That's a lesson of how you can end up with a lien through no fault of your own. The lien was cleared. I checked that at the Courthouse.

The GC told us to go to the showroom where we picked out the tile with the salesperson. The showroom has it's own full-time installers who did the labor. So, I suppose the supplier as the subcontractor "picked up and inspected" the tile. We never saw the tile before it was installed. We did not pick up (installer did), inspect (installer did), nor pay for the tile (GC paid the subcontractor). We complained about this to the GC immediately and said we weren't ready to pay for what we felt was a faulty product after install. He inspected it himself, twice, as did the installer, and they both basically shrugged it off and said it was cheap tile that "likes dirt" (this is not the case). Despite our complaints, the GC paid the subcontractor for the product and install. The tile that was installed was not the tile we picked out. It took over a year of us working directly with the subcontractor with no help from the GC to get the tile in front of a rep from the manufacturer who confirmed that the tile was faulty and should not have been installed. As the GC, I feel that he did not do what we have already paid him to do which was to facilitate the project and manage the renovations to ensure everything was completely properly in a timely fashion. We have paid him for all other subcontractor expenses as well as for his services and profit as the GC. We only withheld payment for this one item, which we knew was not completed properly.