If you feel confident in your skills and management abilities, you can act as your own contractor and save yourself some bucks. Be patient. I've never seen a project go smoothly. (trades late, materials on back order, etc) It will take longer than you think, but will save you money. If this was a major add-on or big changes in the layout/foot print, I'd say hire a GC. But, since it's pretty much just "cosmetic" changes, you probably can handle it yourselves.

You are undertaking a large, stressful, dusty project. It's one thing to be the homeowner, and further complicated by being the GC as well. I would hire an experienced professional that does this every day.

I've coordinated six figure landscape projects but for redoing my home? I'm hiring a GC. At the end of the day it's not just about dollars and cents, it's about having someone involved who knows more than you do, It's the rare homeowner who GCs their project and gets a pro result.

How skilled are you at managing people? Subs need to get along and coordinate.

We also knew and trusted the people who would do the work (had done work for us before), and we also knew what we wanted, and - well -- I was basically the general contractor. I do work from home, so I was able to be here-- because questions do come up, and you often have to see what they're talking about in order to make a quick decision.

The only time we used a general contractor was when we had a studio built (from an existing detached garage and potting shed). Total re-build-- and that was way beyond our scope. And, really, while the guy and his subs did a wonderful job-- I can't tell you how much I love it-- I had to be here most of the time for that, too. Otherwise, they would consistently march ahead with something that I didn't want.

So, my answer is -- if you know what you want, know good tradespeople, the job isn't huge (relatively speaking, kitchen and baths) -- and you can be on site most of the time (or be there at a moment's notice) and don't mind coordinating times, scheduling-- go ahead. I also found that most of the people we hired knew each other, so they would often coordinate times among themselves, which helped me a lot. You know-- electrics go in before plumbing; plumbing goes in before . . .

I'd certainly do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't find it that stressful at all.

We are doing a major reno (total gut job, including structural work with permit). We don't have a GC. If you have the time, lots of patience, you're a good planner, and can commit to completing the job, you should be fine. It quite a list of prerequisites, but you know trades, you're lucky there. So far our reno as gone well and we saved money being our own GC. Our positive experience has also been credited to our really good trades. We're close to finishing up in two weeks. Excited to not living in what looks like a warehouse very soon.

When we did a major reno (gut of back of two story home, kitchen and 2 baths) I liked having a point person if we had any issues. I would not have wanted to deal with every little problem myself or be the bad guy so to speak.

Just out of curiosity, how much does a typical GC cost? I realize they don't really expense it out exactly like that but does anyone have a ballpark figure or percentage?

Hiring a professional will take all the stress off you.

GC cost depends on the type and scale of the project.

You can contact a design & build firm for an estimate and consultation. Most gives free estimates and consultation on the first meeting.

I think the standard (at least when we used a GC) was 10% overhead.

Again, in our experience, I found having a GC to be more stressful-- for many reasons. We only used one when the job was really beyond our scope. I think if you don't know any tradespeople, and you're starting from scratch (not the case with this OP), then a GC is probably the way to go. Otherwise, it's too difficult to find good people if you haven't built up those connections already.

intown123: I so loved being the 'bad guy.' I kind of miss that.

You can always hire the GC and have your own subcontractors utilized for the project (depending on the GC). There is a lot more involved in building than just "knowing the tradesmen". Of course I will say hire a GC because we are one. It can be very stressful for us during construction and we do it for a living. If you can dedicate your life to the project like you would a job (and include working weekends, coordinating subs, understanding design changes, permitting, inspections, billing, waivers, insurance, etc.), then maybe you can handle it...

Ah, much of the stress is deciding on the design! Granite or quartz? What color? Cabinets, flooring, tile, chrome or brushed nickel??? What type of backsplash or bathroom tile? What layout for the tile? Hire a designer (at least for design consultation and material selection). He/she may know good trades people too. :) The designer can "validate" your decision or give you great ideas you never considered. A lot less stressful. Making design decisions for yourself is harder than helping others decide. :)

Crown Construction: I suspect (at least, when I said it), 'knowing tradesmen,' means that you've worked with the people before; they know you, and you know them. As an example, my tiler is someone who I worked with 25 years ago. We've never renovated a kitchen or bath or sunroom (slate floor) or patio (slate floor) unless he did it. So we know him pretty well. He introduced us to an amazing carpenter, and we've hired him for some pretty complicated work. I now won't use anybody else but him for carpentry work. So . . . "knowing" them (for me) means having worked with them, seen their work, know their personalities, trust them explicitly.

I agree with you, though, about working and being there. Again, in my experience, many of our subs knew each other and coordinated with each other, too, in terms of scheduling, which was a huge help. But you do have to be there almost all the time. I found that to be true whether I was the GC, or hired a GC.

Agree totally with Darzy above. The biggest stress, really, is making choices from all the options out there, and then ensuring that those choices will actually work in your environment (not just aesthetically, but structurally, etc).

Speaking from my own experiences the design-build firms have kitchen and bath designers that will help you with design layouts, color selections, advise you on material choices to help you make the best selections. In conjunction with coordinating dates, tradesmens (their own guys and/or subs), staying on top of permits/inspections, alternate places to call when items are on backorder, etc. and this is all apart of their job description. So, I think that would be something to consider.

Hire a GC you will be protected by law from fraud.

Hire a pro. Kitchens and Baths are the two most complicated and expensive rooms in any home. Contact the NARI (National Association for the Remodeling Industry) office in your area. Or, go to the national web site NARI National. If you are in the Greater Chicago area NARI Chicago.

What is your time worth? A GC spends many hours working with architects homeowners, and sub-contractors to insure your project comes out perfect. In many cases GC's can foresee some potential problems and correct them before it cost you big $.

...hmmm the OP has never come back...I guess that answers that question.