Most of the time, if you get a loan to do the remodel, the bank or mortgage company will REQUIRE that you use a GC. Your homeowners insurance has a worker's comp rider to cover 3-4 workers, usually, which covers any worker in your home that you personally hire (housekeepers, handyman, etc.), but not the workers employed by the subs. When we built our house, we went the route of hiring a GC by the hour and using vendors under our own credit, paying the invoices as they came in. Our bank construction loan converted automatically to a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage, with only one closing charge. We had a total dollar amount for the construction loan, which we drew from to pay the bills each month, and only paid interest on what we drew off each month compounded from the start of the loan. I was on site every day, but not every hour the workers were there. Some decisions had to made as we went along, based upon recommendations from the GC AND the builder. Most of those decisions required spending more money (I think we used 5 LAM beams, which we hadn't planned on and are very expensive). There were also cost-saving recommendations as well.

How did you pick the current contractors for your project? Did you view any of their work? Talk to past customers? Recommendations from family or friends? Did you lay out the scope of work in advance through design documents so that you received accurate bids with no change orders needed down the road? I would second the recommendation for Da Vinci simply because of his online presence in many pro forums through the years. He's shown some great projects that he has accomplished. That recommendation doesn't absolve you from doing the same due diligence on him as you would with anyone you were handing a 40K check to. And as any contractor will do with their customers as well. Contractors will check property records to see if you are the owner of record and the last selling price of the home. Many more will check to see if you've been embroiled in a dispute with a contractor or HOA or anyone else before they will give you a bid. It's a two way street. And no one wants to get run over by the clown car on that street.

OTTAWA, Ontario - Electrical We just finished renovating our kitchen and we were very pleased with just about everything and everyone associated with this project, from demolition to end results. That being said, as is to be expected, some things went more smoothly than others and the electrical team and the work they did will stand out as being exceptional on every level. Thompson Electric Ottawa was recommended to us - Jeff Thompson and his A-team (Matt and Bob) were extremely professional, courteous and accommodating. Their work was beautifully done. We could not be more impressed and we will hire them for all future projects. Hope this helps someone in Ottawa!

I have no idea what the contracts between Houzz and the Pros are. I greatly appreciate the help that any Pro gives. I am coming from That Home Site from the Garden Web, though. Houzz acquired us a few years back. They have hidden our forums in the depths of their site. We were a thriving community in which homeowners and pros shared information, projects, and expertise. People had been on this site since the mid 1990s. Spike, who started the site, had strict rules against advertising businesses. It was a place where you could get information, share and form a community. To have people advertising on our forums is still disconcerting. Our old-time Pros continue to give us information to assist us in hiring Pros in our area or even to DIY a project correctly. They participate out of the goodness of their hearts. It is a completely different community than exists elsewhere in Houzz, and I do recognize that. It just rankles when you have been searching for the perfect product, you find it in a photo, and the person who posted that photo refuses to tell you the name of the product. Many - if not most - Pros on Houzz are kind enough to answer at least some questions. I would never expect anyone to print a plan of their work. I understand that their work has worth and they should charge for it. I think, though, that if a Pro does not want to interact with consumers, then they should simply buy ads and not come to forums. Talking to the hoi-polloi is the price you pay for getting our eyeballs on your stuff.