Managing a major home remodel

[HardDrive]

The wife and I are in the very early stages of planning a major remodel, almost a rebuild. We will be adding a second floor, new kitchen, garage.....its major.

Is there any money to be saved by managing the project ourselves? In other words, instead of hiring a firm to handle it end to end, we bid out the jobs, and hire the individual contractors.

We live in an affluent area, and anytime you get an estimate for anything, its twice as much as the same job 10 miles away. Pisses us off. We figured that by managing the project ourselves, and bidding out the jobs individually we could avoid the 'premium' that the design/build firms charge.

Any thoughts on this?

We have done several remodels ourselves, including projects with subcontractors. We are familiar with the nightmares that can crop up.....

[StevoRocket]

If you have done it before why hesitate?

You know the risks and the benefits - time to manage is important.

Sounds like a nobrainer to me - what are your doubts?

[HardDrive]

Originally posted by StevoRocket
If you have done it before why hesitate?

You know the risks and the benefits - time to manage is important.

Sounds like a nobrainer to me - what are your doubts?

Its the scope of it thats freaking me out. I have never handled a project that has required such extensive permitting and zoning issues.

[stormcrow]

Here's a little bit of how it works:

You will need to get a General Contractors Permit to have the work done - that's required for framing, rough in and final inspection on the structure.

The plumber, electrician and HVAC contractor will need permits for their work.

All in all, if you undersand the construction side of home building you shouldn't have a problem.

My wife and I bought a house about three years ago. I spent a year and a half doing the remodling myself. Installed new hardwood flooring, new tile flooring, new shower, new closets.

Pretty much went through the whole house to upgrade it. Didn't do any addition though.

Oh, we weren't living in it while I did the work. But in the end, the job was done professionally. No regrets, just a lot of "after work hours" invested.

Probably saved about $20,000 in labor doing it myself.

Steve

[charleskieffner]

been there done this...............alot! first IF i ever did it again .................i would move out! your life will be disrupted BIG TIME! ie. drywall in your oatmeal etc.

i would never undertake a remodel with customer in the house........too much hassle.

if you do it yourself plan on contractors not showing when most needed. it is an art to get everyone in line and on time. if you are red tagged by city state county everything comes to a halt. we had framers electricians plumbers and then played hell getting drywallers.

the advantage you have with hiring general is he uses his subs all the time and his work is their bread and butter. ie. they show up the day they are needed.

by doing it yourself you will let your fingers do the walking and sometimes thats not good. check ROC(registrar of contractors) for complaints. they will ALL have complaints against them. some more than others and you should avoid those. roofers are the worst of the bunch. flat roof roofers are a whole different breed of cat. peaked roofers about a hair above. good luck and if they tell you it will be done in 6 weeks...............plan on 9 and you should be safe!!!! good luck.

p.s. be sure of your plans and intentions. CHANGE WORK ORDERS ARE BIG TICKET! ie. we want bar 10 ft long instead of 7 feet.

[LakeCleElum]

HD - I'm doing that right now on a retirement home I'm building in Cle Elum. The difference is that the codes and permits are more time consuming and expensive if you're doing this in Seattle. This is my 2nd such project.

I hired out the everything until the exterior doors/windows were in and the roof was on. I'm friends with a few contactors who pointed me toward the good subs to use. One this project, I did the: siding, finish electrical, finish plumbing, installed cabinets, all interior trim and doors and a hundred odds and ends. I saved 70 to 80K over having a contractor do it all and ended up with better quality cabinets, interior doors and granite counters. Give it a whirl.......

[azasadny]

We added 1200sq ft onto our 1200 sq ft home two years ago and it took us 18 months because our next-door neighbor was our general contractor/architect/plumber/carpenter/electrician, etc... I did all of the demolition and installed hardwood floors, insulation, painted, etc... By doing all of the work myself that I possibly could, we saved about $60,000 but the house was torn up for the entire time. We got lucky because our next-door neighbor is a genius, craftsman and a friend and he did a fantastic job! Just don't do your own drywall unless you've done it before and are skilled at it. Running electrical wiring, insulation, flooring, etc... are all money-saving efforts well worth your time.

[azasadny]

Also, consider moving all of your household contents into a "Pod" and living elsewhere during the project as it's a huge mess! Buy a high-efficiency shop-vac to clean up drywall dust as it will destroy regular vacuum cleaners! I bought a 20gal Sears shopvac with high efficiency filters and that thing paid for itself several times over!

[Hetmann]

It depends on whether you can get the critical subs or not. Around here it seems like the best subs all work for a GC and are not available to a homeowner. You are picking from the second tier. I've remodeled 4 homes and done a lot of work myself, but have always gotten a GC when an addtion was involved just so I knew the project would keep moving forward. I've had resistance from contractors that didn't want me to do any of the work.

With the scope of the project you are describing, I think I would look for a GC to get the structural done to the point where you can get a CO and then do the finish work myself.

[madmmac]

We did almost exactly to our house which you are planning. Added a second story, completely redid the kitchen, blew out walls to reconfigure the downstairs house plan to our liking. When it was complete, the house was totally new on the inside, floor surfaces, surface tops, cabinets, lights, paint, appliances, door handles, hinges.....everything.

I built my first house and know what it takes to manage the project and subs. If you have the time and the patience and dilignece then go for it. If you are married, be prepared for some very rough times and questions about your intelligence.

On my remodel, I went with an architect that we met and liked at the Seattle home show and a contractor that was recommended to us and is listed in the Master Builders Association. I can highly recommend both to you. Send a PM if you would like names and numbers.

Good luck,

[JeremyD]

What's the labor market like in your area? What was critical for us was hiring a general contractor that already had the crews lined up. The house across the street from us has taken twice as long because of delays in getting crews on site (tight labor market here)

20,000 in savings can get eaten away pretty rapidly if you add another 6-8 months to your project.

[stormcrow]

The labor market in the Atlanta area is tight - lots of construction going on. Trying to find a capable contractor with capable workers is the biggest problem.

There are a lot of people who call themselves professional but have never learned their profession in a journeyman like fashion.

Lots of people out there want top dollar for the work they do, but can't do the job professionally. That's why I did all the work myself.

And that's not to say there are not professionals out there, it's just that they get themselves in trouble by taking on too many jobs and cannot complete them as promised.

Steve