I second that motion.

Your theory is nice warm pile of bull puckey. Who do you think is keeping all of these subcontractors busy? It isn’t a homeowner with a one off project. You’d get scheduled into next June, and then they would blow you off for one of the GC’s who have been keeping them busy. Also, if any trade shows up and has to step on top of another to get a job done? They’ll just pack up and leave until you are ready for them. And charge more. Both. That right there shows that you have no concept of order of operations as appropriate scheduling. Much less insight into the contractor mind.

The amount of finger-pointing will amaze you. Every single misunderstanding or small hiccup will always be the fault of one of the other conrractors.

I'd let the GC do it all. They have a magical way of making subcontractors become available. They know what to say to building inspectors. And they actually WANT to get it done as fast as you do.

A good GC will let you do some stuff if you want to and will also let you know when it is a bad idea. Talk to them.

I'm seeing a consensus here ;-)

It would be interesting to hear what the OP thinks....

Thanks for the great responses! To be clear, I'm not talking about working with individual subcontractors (electrician, plumber, etc.). I'm talking about working with multiple contracting/specialty companies. For example, I could have a GC handle removing load bearing walls, and remodeling a kitchen and bathroom, including the electrical and plumbing issues. Separately, I'd use a window company to handle the windows, a flooring company to handle installing new flooring, a deck company to build a deck, and an exterior painter. These are all specialties where there are firms that just do those specific things. A big reason for separating these out would be to move things faster - my thought is that I could have windows being replaced and a deck being built while the interior work is being done.

We understood that. The answer is NO. The only aspect to be "outsourced"? Exterior painting. when the GC is gone and has taken his dumpster with him. Ignore the advice, at your peril.

One GC, one "meaty" project. Your proposed method will be nothing short of a trip to hell, and no return from that hell. Nothing will be faster, nothing will be cheaper, and there are no "deals". There are just well thought out plans, logical processes, and well manged projects. They come with a budget, a price tag. quality pro's. Or try it your way, and RUE the day.

BIG, FAT, NO.

If you do this, the upside is that you can write a book later, a tragicomedy that will enlighten those who are considering similar projects.

If you do these projects at separate times and they do not overlap, sure. Because you're right, you don't need a GC to redo your floors. You need a floor contractor. And a lot of floor people do work directly with homeowners. But if you're talking about the floor of the kitchen that's being remodeled, it's not a good idea because you won't be able to schedule that so it doesn't interfere with whatever is going on in the kitchen. You'll have to deal with dumpster ownership and portapotty use and who scratched what and...

We are doing a full gut remodel right now and using one GC... they know what order and who to sub out to, when get permits, etc. I couldn't imagine handling several different specialty companies on our own. Maybe if you do one thing at a time but not all at once.

This is all great advice, thanks! Great to hear from both homeowners and contractors. I think we'll go with a GC for all.