I was the GC for my remodel. I had a very trusted friend doing all my work. I planned and bought everything, he did the heavy lifting. My kitchen was originally a porch and from what we discovered, likely transformed into the kitchen in 1950. You must have people you trust and know what kind of work they do. I live in a rural area so everyone knows everyone. I would imagine I saved money by not paying someone else to do what I easily did. My friend will do the bathroom remodel this summer. I had hesitated hiring a friend to do the work, you know how that sometimes goes but he's done so many old houses I knew he could cope with the things we were likely to run into. I enjoy destruction and conctruction. Not everyone does.

I was (am) the GC for our kitchen -and basically whole-house- remodel.

Has it been easy? No way. It has been incredibly stressful (more later.)

Would I do it again? Probably... after all I have the lessons learned from this time now under my belt.

Yes, it definitely saved us money. However, it also ate into time when I would have been otherwise working. I am self-employed freelancer, so it's difficult to calculate how much I might have earned if I hadn't been working as the GC. Some weeks it was more than a 40-hour job; others more like 10 hours.

One of the plusses is that YOU get to really thoroughly research everything and make the choices that are best for you... rather than hoping you've communicated properly to your GC and he understands your wishes, and then hoping he tried hard enough to source the right thing rather than simply offering you a choice of A or B that are easiest for him to source and provide the best mark-up for him...

On the other hand, mistakes are YOUR fault and yours alone. For instance: we hired a carpenter to demo and rebuild some exterior walls for us. He and his brother own their own company and do full GC jobs, but we hired them as carpenters only, time and materials. The brother who's the "brains" didnt' show up, just the other one, and during the rebuild one day he told me he wanted to re-install the windows in a certain configuration. he explained why and although it didn't seem "right" and I didn't like it, he needed an answer right then and there and told me it was the only way, so I said OK. The next day I realized it easily could have been installed differently and in a much more pleasing manner. If I had not been so overwhelmed with everything else (I was trying to demo the kitchen for them to start work there the next day) I might have been able to catch that before it was built. OR if I was a more experienced GC I might have said, well, stop work on that until I can research it. But they were pressuring me to choose right then. That window bugs me to this day!

Which brings up another issue... sometimes male subcontractors have a really hard time taking direction from a female homeowner. There were a couple of times I had to ask my husband to come home and speak with them, since they'd just argue with me.

Another lesson learned: don't assume that the experts you hire know best and are looking out for your best interests at all times. Don't be afraid to be bossy, or to question something that they're doing that doesn't look right. it's a lot easier to stop work and change something when its just started than when its complete. For example, our new floor spec'd rigid insulation installed and caulked between the floor joists, with fiberglass batt on top. The "brains" brother, who's priced the job, understood that. But the brother who actually did the work simply laid the rigid insulation sheets on the concrete slab below the joists!!! By the time I saw that and questioned it, they were already intalling the subfloor. And he assured me that was a perfectly proper way to do it, in a manner that made it clear he wasn't changing it. Stupidly, I said nothing. Again- I regret that to this day. There are a few more issues like that... even with really good, kind, and knowledgeable contractors.... times when I saw something being done that just didn't seem right, but kept my mouth shut, only to regret it later.

Walls that were installed just enough out of plumb that doors don't hand straight.
Windows installed without enough shimming so the frames bow and the screens gap.
Walls and steps framed without precision so that trimming later requires major surgery to framing and drywall in order to lie flat.
Translucent tile installed on dark thinset so the color is changed.

So I guess the lesson there is to try to think the way you'd want a really good GC to think. That guy, presumably, would be keeping his clients ultimate satisfaction in mind (over keeping his subs happy, or whatever) and would- hopefully- catch the sorts of issues I described and insist they be redone properly.

And then don't be afraid to question something you see that doesn't look exactly right. It's hard.... because you want to believe that the guys you're hiring are the experts, and you feel stupid questioning them on things... but in the long run I think everyone's happier if you do.

Ultimately, I'd say it WAS worth the effort for us. We simply didn't have the budget to hire a GC, and we had enough reno and small-business management experience to feel we could do it. I expect we will build our next house and this is very valuable experience. But it was/is very stressful.

I think it really depends on personalities and expectations. If you're the sort of person who doesn't want to research every little thing, who isn't super detail-oriented, isn't super organized, or who can't bear confrontation... and you will be pretty happy with an ooutcome that's basically what you requested... then hire a GC. But if you're going to research everything anyway, are a detail-oriented person who tends to micromanage anyway (yeah, I am describing myself!) and you have really specific ideas of exactly how you want it done and won't be happy with something different... then maybe it makes sense to be your own GC.

I am a very hands on girl so it didn't occur to me to hire a GC for our kitchen remodel. I left things pretty much where they were except added a prep sink. Here is my take on it.

You need to have a real knowledge of the remodel process and the correct sequence of steps. You also need to have a some good subs in place. I had a great finish carpenter and electrician so I just needed to find a plumber. You will also need to purchase the materials and have them there for the subs when they need it.

You will also need to account for the project taking more time than a GC since sometimes you are waiting on subs. If one sub doesn't show up, then the whole sequence of events can get out of whack. For instance, my counter template was delayed because the guy didn't show to put in my new counter height window, I had to reschedule the template which moved the counter install. So the plumber had to be pushed back. You get the gist. My remodel took 2 months once the cabinets were delivered. My friends with GCs tend to have a complete kitchen in 3 weeks.

When you GC a project yourself, you can do work yourself to save money without getting in the way of the GC. I demoed, sheetrocked partial walls, unwrapped and placed the cabinets, painted and installed most appliances. When I couldn't do something, I called the carpenter guy back in.

I did save a TON of money. My remodel was $68k. Only $6k of that was labor. This allowed me to spend more on higher end materials.

Staceyneil sums it up perfectly in her last paragraph "I think it really depends on personalities and expectations. If you're the sort of person who doesn't want to research every little thing, who isn't super detail-oriented, isn't super organized, or who can't bear confrontation... and you will be pretty happy with an outcome that's basically what you requested... then hire a GC. But if you're going to research everything anyway, are a detail-oriented person who tends to micromanage anyway (yeah, I am describing myself!) and you have really specific ideas of exactly how you want it done and won't be happy with something different... then maybe it makes sense to be your own GC."

We're doing a major renovation on an 1825 house (convert 2 family into a single family, kitchen gut - plus bump out, add mudroom, add half bath, 2 bath guts, move major staircase, rewire and replumb the whole house, plus a few other things). I was a high tech PM for 15+ years and now manage our properties and a stay at home mom. I hired a contractor that brought along his electrician and plumber. I love him and he does wonderful work (actually my 1st round of interviews I dropped him because he was not "polished" but my architect told me to give him another chance). I have to buy everything - like valves for the shower, toilets, sink, lights, cabinets, etc. I have to make sure everything gets to the house on time. My contractor's price was almost half the highest price of the full GC firm. I brought in my own contractors for new heating system, roof, home automation, flooring, granite, windows, etc. My contractor brought in a plasterer, cement company, blown in insulation company and a guy to do some brick work. It really helps that I'm home all the time but it took a lot of my time - easily 40+ hours of work (a lot of it doing research and getting the best prices on line). It's definely not for everyone. Also, some contractors don't like to take directions from women - none on this job but I have run into that in the past.

I think the project may take a bit longer because you have to coordinate all the jobs/tasks. When everyone works for one guy they get his undivided attention. When you're pulling everyone in for "one" job, you're lower on the totem pole.

You job is much simplier than mine. I believe you can do it with your background but it would help to have/do the following:
1. One of the most important things for me was having a contractor/carpenter I trust and is looking out for me. My contractor pointed out some other people's questionable work. I would probably not picked up on it.
2. be home for the critical points. When they were framing doors and windows I could move them.
3. before closing up walls inspect everything - like old joists, plumbing work, etc. Now is the time to fix things. I didn't realize that ALL the wiring in the walls was the originaly knob and tube - we ended up rewiring the whole house.

Being my GC saved us over $100,000. It was worth it. If you have a stressful job that takes up lots of time this will only add to your stress and less sleep. It can be done and it helps if you have a flexible job. Your contractors are going to want to meet you during the day.

Finally, if you don't fully trust your subs you can hire an independent home inspector to come out a few times to verify everything is being done correctly. Technically your town's inspectors should be doing it but not every town is that thorough.

Good luck!

Oh that new lead paint law is for the whole US - not just CA. My contractor said it would have added $20,000 - $40,000 to my job and we would have had to move out during the renovation.

We acted as our own GC. We wanted to hire one but our kitchen (ca. 1914) was so screwed up no one wanted to touch it. It was basically a hallway with four doorways, three different ceiling heights, several inches of flooring with an unidentified hump in the middle and lets not forget that bizarre "extra" roof we found when we ripped out the ceiling! In the end we moved the kitchen to a different room and moved four windows so it was a total redo. We also did some additional upgrades to other parts of the house because it was easier to get at things once the walls and ceilings were out.

We've been renovating older properties for several decades (much of it DIY) so we had an extensive knowledge of building practices and what to expect with an older home once you start tearing into it. THat is one reason we wanted to hire it out. You just get tired of it after a while.

We did have a KD that was a godsend. She was very detailed oriented and the design was flawless - planned down to the 1/8 inch. She supplied the layout plans that everone used and was on site for key days like electical placement and she brought her own cabinet installer in (we got the cabinets from her).

I would say that if you cannot be onsite everyday I would advise you to stick with a GC. All of our subs were great - we even had crews willing to come out on weekends to help keep us on schedule. The only problem we had was the plumber had to move the shut off valve for the fridge after he didn't follow directions (I wasn't there when he put it in!). But workers will make their own decisions if no one is there to clarify and their choice is not necessarily your preference.

I did not have a problem with men taking direction from me. We had done a lot of trouble shooting ahead of time which earned the respect of most of the workers and we had realistic expectations of what can and can't be done with an older property. One guy even told me that we knew so much about so many building issues that we could go into business as GC's. When I worked "real" jobs I always worked in male dominated environments so maybe I'm just used to it.

No matter if you hire out or not you should get familiar with the construction process. Read this and several other forums hear and research, research, research. WE subscribe to everything from Old House Journal to Family Handiman. When you get quotes from the trades listen to what each says and pick their brains for their opinions. They won't all match up but you'll start to get a feel for what is real and what is BS.

Since you live in CA. I think you need to find out the permit process in your area. My understanding that there is an art to getting your stuff approved in some municipalities there and you might need a GC just to deal with the red tape. My city can be a little stinky with inspections but on some of our trickier problems we worked with the city ahead of time so everything went thru with flying colors.

I have no idea how much or if we saved money being our own GC but we are extremely happy with the results

The one thing to keep in mind depending on your area is the availability of good quality subs who have the time to work with you. As most construction markets are relatively soft right now, it may not be an issue for you, but many of the best subs are kept pretty busy with their regular GC, so you have to be incredibly flexible on time (which will of course effect your timeline) or settle for lower tier subs. But as I said, right now most areas have ALOT of capacity, so it may not be relevant

I have never hired a GC and think that would cause me stress. Its funny but I have been renovating homes since 1986 and even gutted a fewÂlearned lots of things the hard way and it never dawned on me to hire a GC. I think if you are not comfortable delegating, firing people or if you do not have good communication skills dealing with the trade or do not want to put in the time knowing what you need to knowÂwell maybe itÂs not for you. I would never consider being my own GC if I had a full time job though, I would not feel comfortable being off site. I pretty much have the attitude that people will get away with just as much as you let them, there are exceptions of course but when you are a woman you need to stand your ground and keep an eye on everything.

There is nothing worse than hiring a GC and then finding that you have to manage the subs, tweak the schedule, order materials, etc. For my first major renovation, I hired "the best" firm in town. They had just won some prize and greedily took on more jobs than they should have. My PM had 9 houses he was managing. Oh...wait a minute...it was only 8...because I was managing my own job!

I probably don't have quite the technical expertise to be a GC, but I do trust my own instinct to hire competent people and to ask (most) of the right questions. I don't think I would ever NOT be my own GC again.

You may run into some problems with certain contractors because you are a woman. But, I think that will become evident during the bidding process. If not, you fire them! :-)

My hubby is the primary carpenter, electrician, etc. Together we are the GC.

We have no one but ourselves to blame for things. Sometimes I would just love to be able to pick up the phone and gripe to someone about how things are going, but I can't. Because I sleep with both labor and management, I have to work at being pleasant, uncritical, supportive, etc. Very hard. Especially when I am feeling unpleasant, critical, and ready to commit some kind of violence. Currently there are some things we need to hash out, but he doesn't have the time. Not sure when we'll talk--probably at too short a time and in a rush, as usual.

We can't sue anyone--we're at fault when there's a fault. Our successes are a real high, but our problems are a personal blow.

23 years ago we acted as our own GC when we purchased and renovated our first house. No kids, lesser stress jobs.

We've had GC's for a couple projects since and haven't been terribly impressed. Renovated our current house without one.

I'm taking on the kitchen with a trusted family friend/handyman who helped us with the house renovation. It's probably the most ambitious, but other than taking out a non-load bearing wall and enlarging the passthru window, isn't that much more involved (well, that's my current thinking). DH travels much, so this is falling on my shoulders.

In a month or so, I'll be able to better answer whether it was a good idea or not, but I feel confident that I can handle it.

I was GC for our bathroom renovation and swore when I did the kitchen I would hire a GC. Well, it didn't work out with the GC I hired, so I ended up doing it myself again for the kitchen.

If I could do it over again... I think I would spend the time finding another GC, or at least a good KD. The thing that saved us is that I had already interviewed a ton of subs for the bathroom, so used largely the same team for the kitchen. If I hadn't done that already, it would have been difficult to get everything together, since the kitchen was a larger and more complex process. Luckily I got to see how they all worked together in the bathroom, so felt pretty comfortable with the same team for the kitchen.

I am a relatively new transplant to Portland, so don't know many people. I didn't have an extensive network of friends who had renovated before, so it was harder to find good sub recommendations so it just took longer with a lot more research.

The thing that surprised me was how many details and decisions there were, and how much time I spent on the phone while trying to do my actual job as well. I don't have quite as much experience as you, but I spent several years as a project manager for scientific research, so am quite organized and detail oriented. This background definitely helped... I had crazy spreadsheets, gantt charts, and other PM tools help me track every step of the project.

I would say that you should be prepared for things to take a bit longer if you are GC... one of the major frustrations that I've found along the way is that many building supply stores only open contractor hours -- 7am to 4pm, with very limited hours on the weekends. It's really hard for me to get out to see or order windows, tile, counters, etc etc because I work all week and by the time I've visited one building supply center, lumber yard, or tile/stone warehouse on the weekend the rest are all closed for the day. During the week, I always bike, so it's hard to get out to a lumber yard at 7am on my bike. So I could visit 1-2 per week, stretching out the amount of time I needed to make decisions. We will be ready for the backsplash next week and there are still 4 tile places I need to visit that I just didn't have the time to do. If I had a GC, they would at least pick up samples during work hours that I could look at.

In regards to being a woman and serving as GC -- I did come across a few subs that seemed to have a problem taking directions from me. I interviewed one plumber who insisted on calling my husband to discuss the project and his bid instead of me, like I asked. Since I am financing the entire renovation, I make all of the final decisions. I had explained that to the plumber very explicitly, but he still refused to call me, and would only interact with my husband. Even when my husband would answer the phone and tell him he needed to call me, the plumber would still only call my husband. Obviously I didn't hire him. But it is annoying that I had to disqualify some subs who were probably quite competent and good at what they do because they had an attitude about taking orders from a woman. This happened a few times, and it ended up wasting my time interviewing people who turned out to be jerks. I needed to build a team that could work together and with *me*, and it likely would not have been an issue had I been male.

I found it extremely difficult. We were living in the house, my daughter was 3 at the time and my husband travels out-of-town regularly. We had no kitchen or laundry and the only rooms that weren't gutted were the bedrooms and bathroom.

If it weren't for my daughter, the stress would have been MUCH less, but I was trying to keep her life as normal as possible and all of the stress fell on my shoulders.

I spent most of my day on the phone and meeting with contractors and researching and making decisions. Some of my contractors respected me and treated me well, others did not. By the end, my cabinet maker would only speak to my husband.

We undoubtedly saved some money, but I don't think I would do it again. We will eventually do an addition to our home and I will likely find a general for the project.

I like the idea of one person having the ultimate responsibility for the project. When managing subs, they often point the finger at each other when a problem arises. A GC has the responsibility of making sure the kids all play nice together. ;)

Also, one of the issues that also caused some difficulty being GC was scheduling all of the inspections. We did everything legally (permits, etc) and there always had to be someone at the job site to let the inspector in and show them where the work was being done. Since we had both the bathroom and the kitchen going on, but in different stages, it wasn't always obvious what part of the house the inspector was being called for.

These inspections all happened during regular business hours, and they don't tell you when they will be coming. So you have to have someone available to sit around and babysit your job site waiting for the inspector. At least a GC is being paid to be available, while I had to be at my real job. It was a serious pain to schedule all of the inspections -- one of the steps of renovating that you have almost no control over.

Key attribute needed to function as the GC:
--- Time, to check and double check.
--- 3-D spatial thinking
--- Ability to get a sense when to stop asking more and more detailed questions. At a certain point it just doesn't matter any more, but almost no-one will say that to you in a discussion forum like this one, as it's hard to say it just right, and besides, maybe you really want to know, or maybe this detail actually is significant in your particular case... so writing and reading can go on into an infinite series of evermore fine grained details.

Did you save any money by being one and ultimately was it worth the effort: Yes and yes. Once you are able to communicate, with a "guy with tools" you will have gotten for yourself is a team that saves money and makes the work interesting for that guy with tools since he will have his eyes opened to a lot of new things, small things but still worth his while to know. He will know a lot about tools, bolts and screws, cutting blades and other such stuff. Each person in the team needs the other.

Would you do it again: Yes. It still takes time to consider options and to try things out before making final decisions, but it would be a bit faster the second time, and a bit cheaper since materials not needed would be less likely to be purchased and stored.

Lessons learned: Go slowly through each step if you are new to this. Post questions. Buy little in advance.

I'm doing for $20k a kitchen that would cost 3-5 times that if I had had to hire an architect, a designer and a GC. Also, I would have had to let them down often by telling them to undo something in order to do it a different way. Slightly differently. These professionals do get rigid in their thinking too, just like tradespeople, and they want to advance while they are charging you full price. They don't like charging you for redoing things. I can redo anything I want to without much guilt in my mind.

It's not my first project. I did several bathrooms in the last five years. The first time I did not know how to use forums well, what to take with a grain of salt, and when to stand my ground. There is groupthink in any forum that has a cohesive bunch of seniors who want you to show respect, and you might find that, in one forum, a bunch of people all pooh-pooh something and think you are right to do one thing only and it sounds serious. Then, in another forum it is the opposite opinion or no opinion at all that prevails as the suddenly-now-prescribed thing to do. So, to be free, remember to stop asking questions and just build or have built what you want to have, that pleases you.

hth
-d

I forgot to mention a very important aspect of being your own GC that I did not note above. If some of the work is being done by your husband and you do not work well together on projects you really need to consider if this will be good for you and your relationship. I have married friends who cant even agree on yard maintenance and work together and would never survive all the ins and outs of kitchen detail stress. For me the hard part is getting husband to commit to the project but after that is sorted out we work together really well. I usually research the details and have references on hand in the computers "favorite section", I also have the tools and work space areas ready and have the products needed on hand. If husband wants help from there Im available but if he doesnt I know when to step back. Husband knows if he doesnt do it right I will ask for a re-do and he is usually ok with that. After you do over 50% of the work you have to be ok with husband getting all the credit for all your planning and design because he put up a cabinet or applied a knob (ok that does bother me a bit) but I can deal with it.