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.

Sorry I yelled, but I was shocked to see the OP thinking about giving beer to a sub on site. I'm a lawyer and a little cautious about liability. I would never provide alcohol to someone working at my house and wouldn't let someone bring their own. We used an excavation guy that is friends with DH (good enough friends that he was invited to our wedding) who is extremely talented (he can completely re-form a lot and make it look like God did it), but also a drunk (like every day). DH picked him up every day, went to get him lunch and Coca-Cola, and drove him home buying him a 12 pack on the way. No way would I allow him to crack one open when the giant Komatsu was in operation. Same thing with the framers. They fall off the second level and they forget real quick that you didn't funnel that beer down their throat. I always offered to get the guys sandwiches, water, Gatorade, whatever, when I was there. They almost always refused. They wouldn't use my fridge either, they used their cooler. I think they prefer to keep things "professional".

Why do you seem to assume that my GC disagreed with my assessment? "He admits he was unprofessional for awhile but seems to believe he is still capable of finishing the job.... This is the first week in this 5 month project that I am losing faith in the GC, and I think he is avoiding us, and his tone of voice sounds different. I told him we want to walk through everything and see what needs to be done and talk about it. He said he'd call about this weekend when we spoke Friday, and I haven't heard from him as of late Saturday." That sure doesn't sound like a meeting of the minds to me. there have been 5 areas during our build that my husband and I have disagreed with the subs on the way something should be installed (plumbing, electrical, exterior trim, roofing and masonry). In all cases, the end result was that we were right and the "professionals" were wrong. I don't doubt it. But if that's the case, why do you stick with your gc?? Or does he/she only follow your lead? Subs that delay, screw up and create their priorities are an unavoidable part of any build. On my latest project, I fired the siding company after two weeks of incomplete work, terminated the drywall company (and the drunken, drug-abusing taper he hired) and switched to a different railing company after the owner proved incompetent. As to firing a GC who found fault in the way I handled that situation, let's just say that if you had signed our contract, you would not want to be fired. What precisely does that mean? That you're paying an enormously high price? that you have a unilateral right to levy fees on the GC? Personally, if every time I turned around, the owner was second-guessing me I'd be happy to end the arrangement. Really, if you are so proficient in the art of building and have the time to be on site constantly, why aren't you gc ing the project yourself. Hiring a "gofer" might be a lot easier on you than sitting on the gc's shoulder. Best of luck!

I fell for that "have to pay bills bs" because since our job was behind schedule, they were behind being paid. Our contract read $10k for the last payment yet all we owe is $1800+. I bet if I still owed the $10k, I'd have had satisfaction by now. I work on commission and understand having to wait months to get paid because when I sell a house it can be months before I see a penny. I don't ever get paid before a house closes. I can sympathize but it is the field he chose to work in, and that is how it goes. I still think I'd post his info far and wide so that anyone googling him will find this thread. The internet is local even if we GWers are not.... As long as you are factual, I'd be certain to post reviews (as I did) and generally help potential customers to know what to expect. A friend of mine used the same gc 7 years ago. She mentioned that to me early on but nothing past that. I assumed she had been happy. She moved away, so maybe our communication was not great about it, but I know she knew we were going with them. Imagine my surprise a few days ago when she mentioned they did the same poor finish job at the end to her. Now, I can understand if I mentioned I had signed with them already, that she would feel funny saying how unhappy she had been, but, she could have warned me to watch out paying near the end and do not trust them to finish well on their honor alone. I am a bit ticked right now.... How could she have not spelled out the danger for a good friend? If you have the chance to warn other consumers, it is the right thing to do.... This is more than a bad meal or small transaction. Bad gcs can really wreak havoc.... Btw- we met with an atty, but it would cost $5k to hire him, which we would not get back. If the contract had stated that they were due compensation if we breached, then we could have put in for it from them. Sadly, it did not mention that so we'd be out the $5k and there is no guarantee what we'd recover. Since we owe the $1,800+, we'd have to recover quite a bit to be worthwhile and that won't happen. We will have to go through consumer affairs and/or small claims court. It will be stressful and laborious, but it should result in some money recovered. The atty made a great point in that people embark on projects for $100k and up and yet never think to have an atty read and edit the contract. The contractors have used legal advice to draw it up and it is not done to protect the consumer. If I had paid for an hour of the atty's time, I could have prevented a lot of the grief now. Food for thought for anyone thinking of a large renovation. Ours included an extension and renovation and was fairly large in scale. It would have made sense to go into it protected by someone, because we counted on the gc protecting us from others, and that did not come to pass.... then we needed protection from him!