I was kicking around the idea of building a house. It would not need to be built immediately but I was thinking within a years time. In an attempt to save money I was thinking I can be the general contractor and hire out all the individual trades.

Am I over my head? Would this be best left to a home builder who does this daily? Would I really save any money?

Do you have residential construction experience? You can definitely save money, but are you prepared for potential headaches? It's a full time job. You'd be responsible for everything done correctly and in the right order. It'll cost you time/money to correct sub contractors errors.

I general contracted (on paper only) our former masonry home which took 6 months/$85k for the complete remodel of the back of the house, adding a sun room, two bedrooms, new 400sf covered patio, new roof and a 1100sf masonry detached shop. My actual job was more of the general daily cleanup of the job site, installing insulation and interior painting. That saved us a lot of money.

We used a highly recommended contractor who didn't have a contractors license. He built custom homes in CO, but didn't want to jump through hoops that AZ required. He was recommended by the architect. If you use an unlicensed contractor there are obvious considerations. He had a list of sub contractors that he dealt with regularly. He didn't get paid his draw until each phase of construction was completed and passed inspection. If it had not been completed and passed inspection, we wouldn't pay him and since he was not licensed, he had no civil recourse.

One of the sub contractors (plumber) always had excuses why he couldn't be there. That delayed the project and other sub contractors. Our contractor Al, tried to deal with the issue, but they ignored him. I threatened to fire them which got their attention. Then I used two big Rottweilers to keep them in the detached shop until they completed installing the hot water heater. A friend of mine did all the masonry work which was a challenge because of his personality clash with Al.

He treated our money like it was his own to get the best bids. In the end we were very satisfied with the project. However, watching what he went through on a daily basis was eye opening. He had to be very detail oriented, highly organized, know construction codes for all trades, obtain permits, schedule inspections, schedule every sub contractor in the right order, deal with construction delays, be onsite everyday 0600-1600 and actually doing all of the framing.

In my opinion the time and research required to make it so that you arent in over your head would negate the cost savings.

For a remodel, sure, that is more straightforward especially if nothing structural is involved.

I did that once and will say I don't think I'd do it again. I had a difficult time getting subcontractors because they tend to take care of their repeat contractors first, only working for people like me if and when they had a lull in work.

I'm having a shop built now and just selected a contractor (whom I'm familiar with that does quality work) do the job turn key.

If you're thinking of eliminating the GC at least consider hiring a construction manager. When I built a small apartment building I hired a construction manager paying him 5% of the gross construction cost. He helped with the city permits, bid out to the various subs which he had successfully worked with in the past, negotiated material purchases as well as getting me contractors discounts. I feel he caught a few problems I probably wouldn't have, and his bidding out along with discounts he obtained saved me every bit of the $65K I paid him.

That's a good cost effective idea.

I would not recommend it if you don’t have construction experience. I am in the Construction industry and acted as the GC on our house 15 years ago and is was still a pain.

It helped that I used a lot of people that I’ve worked with but there are still trades that you will have no control over and getting people on site is a bear.

It is I portantto know:
* How to shedule the different trades to be on site when needed.

* contracting and billing and associated waivers the bank will need with the progress Billings.

* knowledge of the local building department to get permits and inspections done

* decisions on material finishes, toilet selections, flooring, where to put carpet, wood, tile, etc.

We were engaged when we built our house and had to bring in a n arbitrator to settle on the master bathroom finishes. If we didn’t, we’d likely of gotten a divorce before we got married.

* if you build during the winter, you will be responsible to get all the propaine heaters/tanks/concrete blankets, tarps, etc to protect the work from freezing.

* be there in the morning to unlock the house and lock it at night.

* be available at all time during the day to address problems that arise when things don’t fit.

It will put a strain on your real job if you have one while trying to build the house.

Yes!you can save some good money! Especially if you self perform a lot of the work, but be sure to look at Hom much time it will take out of your regular day. Sometimes hiring a builder is money well spent.

So far it sounds like in over my head lol.

A lot of people do this. My brother did it for 4 homes. He was an Idaho state cop, and ran the construction of a new home every time he got transferred.

Not all that difficult if you are somewhat familiar with local restrictions, requirements, etc. One good thing to consider is that if you are buying the materials, you can usually negotiate decent deals for lumber, etc.

You would want to have time to inspect the work as it progresses, too.

I would have no problem doing it if we were in the market for a new house.

quote:

Am I over my head? Would this be best left to a home builder who does this daily? Would I really save any money?

Yes you are over your head. If you do it, please write a book because it will be entertaining.

General contractors are professionals, just like doctors and lawyers. I will admit though that some are sketchy. LOL

I built my own house 22 yrs ago now.
The biggest problem I had being my own general is getting a construction loan.
My dad, uncle, and brother were all union carpenters and I in the plumbing trades and had done HVAC.
I had bought 2.5 acres and had it pretty well paid for when I was looing around for a willing lender for the house.
None of the banks would lend money for a "self-build".
I finally found a savings & loan who's agents husband was a mason contractor and she OKed the loan.
Being your own general can be stressful especially in todays work force being hard as heck to find decent subs.
Get contracts and make sure you get proof of liability insurance and MAKE EVERY CONTRACTOR SIGN LIEN WAVERS!!!!!

I was the general on my log home, I was there full time, except for a week when I went up to MN to move my belongings down to the garage. My sister was there keeping an eye on things, the plumber was roughing in my basement. So the basement floor could be poured. This was all going to happen while I was gone. My sister noticed the plumber was putting sewer pipe in a wrong place. Told plumber it was wrong he said it wasn’t. She called me took a picture of the work sent it to me. I called the plumber said he had mirrored the he plans. Had to put a hold on the flatwork. That was scheduled two days later. If my sister would not have been there I would have had an issue. The floor would have been poured with the plumbing mirrored.
There is a lot of prep, getting bids signing contracts, getting copies of proof of insurance liability and workers comp. you should know building codes, so you can spot work being done that is not to code. Here is my point, you have to be there every day checking on work done, calling subs that were scheduled but did not show. You have to know what the order each construction process is done in residential construction. Scheduling subs getting bids paying subs, getting lean waivers when you pay them. Firing subs if they are not doing the job correctly or in a timely mannor finding new subs to replace them. Scheduling inspectors, sewer inspectors, building inspectors. Getting building permits......I can go on and on.

Would I do it again, yes but I am retired I have the time I can do a lot of tasks needed while on site. You have to decide on your own.

It sounds great on paper but it's a major hassle dealing with the individual contractors and the timing of things. You also don't do it every day so you don't really know exactly what each thing should cost. The individual contractors also know that and you will not get any deals what so ever. They know they will only deal with you one time so they could care less about you as compared to a contractor that they want future work from.

I had a house built 3 years ago and every single item had a price and description down to a T which is why I chose the builder. At any point in the process I could let him know ahead of time if I was going to contract something out or do it myself and every single time I thought I could get something done cheaper none of the bids ever came in cheaper that what I already had in front of me.

Not only that but these guys will quit a job halfway through if a contractor with a big job gives them a call because they know that the two more days they owe doesn't matter if they can line up a month or two of guaranteed work. Then the planning starts all over again.

I'd suggest not. Unless of course you have many years in the home remodeling and construction business; are unemployed; and have extensive contacts with contactors plus backup ones in your rolodex for when one flakes out and you need a last minute replacement.

I have never heard of anyone who is not retired being their own GC and having it work out. Good luck to you, hope you end up being the first.

Our neighbor did it for MAJOR remodel of their home. It turned out great. The time he spent managing the project vs paying a general contractor worked out to less than minimum wage. It was also very high risk. He would never do it again. YMMV.

We did this after a very poor experience with first GC. Owning this was less of a headache and made th process more certain while saving us money and making sure done right. My wife became an expert at permits, inspections and working with the city and I hired and only worked with licensed subs. We learned the city inspectors hated our job (other side of story) because GC was disorganized and fought with them. Once we took over, they became a great help and were very clear about what needed to be done and helped us clean up his mess. Don’t fight with City Hall.

FL has lousy construction laws and too many subs brought in are unlicensed and GCs trying to save margin by cheating out. If you can organize, interview, and hold accountable/ won’t roll over then yes this can be the right route. I’m sure a good GC is worth it - we could not find one.

A buddy did exactly what you’re contemplating. He retired young and had plenty of time to oversee the job.

I know he was stunned at the amount of time it took and the number of decisions he was responsible for making. Door knobs, outlet covers, outlets themselves, trim stain, trim style, plumbing materials.

“Every gott damn thing in this house” I have to check off on, was a lament I remember. Lot of things going on. He is a fairly particular person and might have complicated things more than necessary.

Nicest quality house I’ve ever been around. Nothing was contractor grade, nothing.

If you are borrowing money your lending institution may not give you the choice. We just completed our house 18 months ago. Our lender required a licensed contractor and a contract. If you don't need to finance and have residential construction knowledge it's doable. Keep in mind what others have said, it's almost a full time job for the construction period. You need to be onsite every day, sometimes multiple times per day.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040613/

As a GC and one who has bailed out several people who thought “How hard can it be?” I would say a resounding no.

Let me ask you...

- Do you think you will pay the same for concrete or lumber that we do?

- Do you think your subcontractor (fill in specific trade here) will give you the same price
as someone who gives them hundreds of thousand of dollars in repeat business each year?

- would you even know the difference?

The answer to all three questions is a big NO...

It has been my experience that people who do this tend to hire the cheapest guys they can and most of those are not qualified to tie their shoes let alone build a home that I would want to live in...

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I did that once and will say I don't think I'd do it again. I had a difficult time getting subcontractors because they tend to take care of their repeat contractors first, only working for people like me if and when they had a lull in work.

Among many things I did, I worked for a homebuilder while I was in college. I had direct involvement, working closely with the contractor, on the fist two homes I built. I subcontracted my current home myself. It turned out very well, but I wouldn't do it again for the following reasons:

-As ridewv said, you are one-time customer for the subs. They are going to take care of the GCs they work for first, every time. If they tell you they are going to start on Monday morning on your job, you may finally get them there on Wednesday at noon.

-They are likely to pad their price to you, knowing that you are a one-time customer. So, while you will save money if you stay on top of the job, you will not save nearly as much as you think.

-The upside of my contracting my own house is that I knew the construction business well in this city. I knew which subs were the good ones and which ones to avoid. This is crucial to having a good experience

I am glad I experienced the subcontracting myself, but it took far too much of my time and it didn't save me nearly as much I expected.



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