Anyone done this?
List positive and negatives and thing you would do differently if you did it again.
I gave very serious consideration on doing it. In the end the cons convinced me that it wasn’t for me.
Pros:
complete control of materials and workmanship
cost savings are possible but have to be weighed against time investment
I have some experience and very experienced family member which would have allowed to have done a lot of finish work myself on flooring, painting, cabinet installation, etc.
The cons from my perspective:
huge time investment, if you are going to do it right it almost has to be a full time job during certain parts of construction
getting quality subs and getting them to show up when you need them - this was a big concern for me, for you the subs get one job, for a regular builder they get lots of jobs, your one job is by necessity a lower priority, which makes scheduling a bear when they don’t show up for two weeks
financing - if you don’t have experience you may run into issues but there are companies that will provide low cost consulting and help get around this
if things went south or there were issues it would all be on me - when they started building my house a change to the house drawing did not make it to the foundation drawing, after they poured the footer and started the basement walls they discovered the foundation was two feet small. If that had been me doing the general contracting there would have been big additional costs and scheduling to deal with
Pro-
You save the General Contractors fee
Sense of accomplishment
Make all the changes you want whenever you want. You da man!
Can specify that subs use cheap supplies you find on closeout, and home depot, online, etc. Many builders won’t do it.
You can do whatever work you want to yourself. Many builders don’t allow sweat equity.
Con-
No professional management of the project
You don’t get the same pricing as the general so you don’t really save his whole fee
You go from a high priority job (sub derives a big portion of his yearly income from a general) to a low priority job (you are just one job)
Your time managing the project is time away from work/family/fun
You have no personal history with Subs so don’t know good from bad
No quality control (other than that provided by the subs themselves)
It will take longer to build
Costly errors won’t be caught by the general before they occur
Building/remodeling a house is stressful
If you pay the HVAC guy and he doesn’t pay his supplier for the furnace you get your house leaned.
Foundation guy says excavator messed up the dig and he is going to bill you an additional $1000 for the fix he did. Now what? Was the dig bad? Is $1000 fair? You don’t know.
You don’t have anyone with experience to to suggest better/cheaper alternatives to what is drawn on the plan
In addition to the things already mentioned, there is the building and code inspectors. They tend to have a special kind of hate for do-it-yourselfers.
In addition to the things already mentioned, there is the building and code inspectors. They tend to have a special kind of hate for do-it-yourselfers.
True, but in the case of a homeowner acting as a General, they really are the only ones assuring the quality of the build.
I’ve personally seen an inspector tag a foundation before it was poured because the foundation was undersized. What if he hadn’t been there?
I was a general contractor for 10 years prior to getting into manufacturing. That was 20+ years ago. My wife and I just finished building a new home. We contracted it ourselves and did about 75% of the work.
It is possible to save some $$$ by contracting it yourself, but not that much unless you are doing a lot of the work yourself. As someone else mentioned, subs tend not to give you a good price since this will be the only job they ever do for you. It can also be VERY expensive to correct mistakes that you might make due to lack of knowledge.
ETA: you will also have trouble getting some subs to do warranty work once they cash their check
When I built my home 10 years ago I paid a contractor a set fee (12,000 in 4 easy payments ) to oversee my house. I wrote all the checks and had the option of hiring whomever I wanted. It worked out well, but I’ve known the builder for most of my life and trusted him completely. If I wanted to do some of the jobs myself - I did, and saved money.
Things I did -
Painting (about 80% but not the finish work)
Flooring (pergo, ceramic tile)
Installed cabinets and countertops
It worked out very well, and I would do it again.
Hiring a contractor will save a lot of time because he knows who to call, and when to line them up. If you do it yourself, you may find yourself waiting because you didn’t have someone lined up and ready to go when they were needed.
If you live in a state that is controlled by democrats, make sure you understand workers comp, immigration laws, progress billing, liability insurance, OSHA regulations, more workers comp, laws about sustainable building materials, the ADA and locally enforced building codes that comply with the ADA.
Go for it. Just don’t put any Christian symbolism on your property…that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I live in Canada.
While I was running today I thought of my christmas decorations for next year. A nativity scene of the ice age characters with Charles Darwin as the shepard. It will be brilliant.
If you live in a state that is controlled by democrats, make sure you understand workers comp, immigration laws, progress billing, liability insurance, OSHA regulations, more workers comp, laws about sustainable building materials, the ADA and locally enforced building codes that comply with the ADA.
Go for it. Just don’t put any Christian symbolism on your property…that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
You should be aware of the points in the first paragraph regardless of what kind of state you live in. Your general, if you hired one, would have workman’s comp to cover everyone on the job in addition to a substantial general liability policy to shield you from a lawsuit in case of injury or death. You should make sure you are covered without him.
**I live in Canada. **
I knew there was a reason for me not liking you. I am unfriending you before I even know you.
Thank god.
Very true, thank you.
Are you sure about the GC having WC to cover everyone on the job? WC usually falls to the trades, at least in commerical work.
But insurance is a good point. What happens to the home owner acting as a GC if there is damage or an injury?
It was said before, but most subcontractors will give a GC a better price. They want to know that there is some though put into scheduling work, not that many GCs seem to do that anymore. Call backs are expensive.
Are you sure about the GC having WC to cover everyone on the job? WC usually falls to the trades, at least in commerical work.
But insurance is a good point. What happens to the home owner acting as a GC if there is damage or an injury?
It was said before, but most subcontractors will give a GC a better price. They want to know that there is some though put into scheduling work, not that many GCs seem to do that anymore. Call backs are expensive.
Work comp does fall to the trades. GC needs to verify subcontractor WC. If subcontractor WC is invalid at the time of the accident the Generals WC is held liable. If neither has WC then the injured worker sues the homeowner for damages.
Just my 2cents… don’t do it unless you have experience in that field.
I worked in residential construction for several years and GC’d 2 houses for myself. Unless you are doing a lot of the work yourself, you probably won’t save a ton of money and more often than not, you’ll run into some big headaches. I’ve seen homeowners with no experience in the trades at all try this and usually turns into a real mess. And if you are already working a full time job, you will probably be overwhelmed with the time it takes.
The 2 biggest negatives I see with it are… 1) Usually takes a lot longer and time is money especially if you’re using an interest only construction loan. Experienced GCs are better at timelines and scheduling contractors. Subs are also more likely to get in there when you need them if you’re a GC doing a lot of business in that area. You will be surprised how long it takes some people to come do the work and it backs everything else up. Related to this point is neg. #2) A GC that does a lot of business in your area has relationships with subs and they will give him better pricing, do better work, and come back to fix something if needed. They want to keep him happy so they get the next job he does. They know this is a one-time thing for you and have much less motivation to impress you.
I’m not saying it can’t be done. Just sayin’ if you don’t have experience it’ll be stressful and you may not save as much as you think.
Con-
Foundation guy says excavator messed up the dig and he is going to bill you an additional $1000 for the fix he did. Now what? Was the dig bad? Is $1000 fair? You don’t know.
This exact thing actually did happen to me once except I think it was $750 and he just did it and then I got the bill.
Con-
If you pay the HVAC guy and he doesn’t pay his supplier for the furnace you get your house leaned.
That sounds bad. Does the house eventually tip over then?
That sounds bad. Does the house eventually tip over then?
Haha. It does if the homeowner acts as the General. If there is an actual General he will install bracing. Again, never GC yourself.
Very funny on the nativity comment. Hahaha. A couple of questions.
Do you know what you are doing (have you built a house before)?
Are you confident that you have the ability to know when someone is BSing you regarding the build or prices?
How much time do you have?
Do you know any sub contractors personally?
Yeah who needs things like building codes. I’ll build those floors 48" on center. Don’t worry it will be fiiiine. Electrical? I can save a bit by having my buddy cletus do it? Which is the white wire again?