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General Contracting your Home Build
Posted on 2/13/12 at 3:30 pm
Posted on 2/13/12 at 3:30 pm
My wife and I are in the begining stages of having plans drawn up for our new house. I am considering being my own GC and simply sub-ing out the work. Anyone have any pro or cons or experience with this method? I am told being your own GC can save approx 15% on total home cost.
8
Posted on 2/13/12 at 3:35 pm to TigerEye2
I found that I spent about the same, I was just able to get more bang for the buck...
Posted on 2/13/12 at 4:00 pm to TigerEye2
i did it, no prior experience
came out to $85/sqft not counting land.
3cm granite in kitchen, wood floors, job built showers, top line heating/ac, high end sinks/bathtubs, interior brick/arches, surround sound, alarm system, etc.
pretty fun/interesting all things considered
i'd definitely do it again
came out to $85/sqft not counting land.
3cm granite in kitchen, wood floors, job built showers, top line heating/ac, high end sinks/bathtubs, interior brick/arches, surround sound, alarm system, etc.
pretty fun/interesting all things considered
i'd definitely do it again
Posted on 2/13/12 at 5:03 pm to TigerEye2
The two biggest cons I can think of are:
1. The amount of time it would take. Unless you have a LOT of spare time, there is no way you could manage the jobsite, get bids, etc.
2. You have no recourse if anything major goes wrong (IE structural deficiencies). Since you are the GC, you'd have nobody to sue.
For example lets say your slab cracks and starts sinking in the ground, you could try to sue whoever poured your slab, but they would immediately say that the soil wasn't compacted properly and it wasn't their fault (and they'd be right). It would have been up to you to do a soil compaction test.
1. The amount of time it would take. Unless you have a LOT of spare time, there is no way you could manage the jobsite, get bids, etc.
2. You have no recourse if anything major goes wrong (IE structural deficiencies). Since you are the GC, you'd have nobody to sue.
For example lets say your slab cracks and starts sinking in the ground, you could try to sue whoever poured your slab, but they would immediately say that the soil wasn't compacted properly and it wasn't their fault (and they'd be right). It would have been up to you to do a soil compaction test.
Posted on 2/14/12 at 8:35 am to TigerEye2
Do you also cut your own hair?
If you do, does it come out as good as when the barber does it?
If you do, does it come out as good as when the barber does it?
Posted on 2/14/12 at 11:37 am to TigerEye2
Just GC our house in 2010. Would do it again if I needed to.
Pros:
Saved about $30000 on a 3400 sq ft house.
Pick your own subs. You do not get stuck with the builders "guy".
Put exactly what I wanted in house (ie flooring, granite, insulation, home audio)
I know what I put into house and quality of the work.
Cons:
Banks are going to give you more shite about $$$ if you do it yourself.
Its going to take you longer. Subs will blow you off, plus you are going to mess up the schedule at some point.
Better know what you are doing or trust your subs.
Very time consuming. I was at the house almost every morning and every evening and alot of lunch hours. Plus plenty of times you get calls that a sub needs you at the house ASAP.
I now have an awesome house with alot of bells and whistles and I know exactly how it was built for way less than a builder would do it. But I had to work for it.
Pros:
Saved about $30000 on a 3400 sq ft house.
Pick your own subs. You do not get stuck with the builders "guy".
Put exactly what I wanted in house (ie flooring, granite, insulation, home audio)
I know what I put into house and quality of the work.
Cons:
Banks are going to give you more shite about $$$ if you do it yourself.
Its going to take you longer. Subs will blow you off, plus you are going to mess up the schedule at some point.
Better know what you are doing or trust your subs.
Very time consuming. I was at the house almost every morning and every evening and alot of lunch hours. Plus plenty of times you get calls that a sub needs you at the house ASAP.
I now have an awesome house with alot of bells and whistles and I know exactly how it was built for way less than a builder would do it. But I had to work for it.
Posted on 2/14/12 at 1:31 pm to TigerEye2
You are better off building it yourself. If your house is not built properly, or anything is wrong with it after the GC is finished. Sure you can sue, or whatever you want, but all the GC will do is Close the company down, and reopen under a new name, and you will never see any assistance.
My dad oversee's houses for people, he isn't a GC, but he knows more about any home construction than any GC in this area. e build all of our own houses, and apartment complexes. Sure it is time consuming, but the equity left over is worth every bit of time invested.
My dad oversee's houses for people, he isn't a GC, but he knows more about any home construction than any GC in this area. e build all of our own houses, and apartment complexes. Sure it is time consuming, but the equity left over is worth every bit of time invested.
Posted on 2/14/12 at 1:47 pm to TigerEye2
quote:
Anyone have any pro or cons or experience with this method?
I would never recommend it for anyone unless they have experience. If you have no experience and insist on doing the work you better be damn sure to have a great set of plans. A good contractor is worth every penny and so is an home designer/architect.
what to expect as a self contractor....
- you will pay the sub more than the contractor would pay (a decent contractor could build the house for about the same that it would cost you and he would still make money)
- the subs will do shittier work for you knowing that you can't dangle the next job over their head.
- every sub will try to convince you that something "isn't my job" or it is an extra. I've had HVAC guys try to get out of venting a dryer. I've had plumbers try to get out of installing dishwashers. It's amazing what someone will try to do if they don't think you know what you are doing.
- you will spend a few grand (if not more) on things you never budgeted for just at home depot & lowes'
- you usually (but not always) get what you pay for
Posted on 2/14/12 at 4:44 pm to TigerEye2
I recently built my house and was the GC with very liitle knowledge about building a house. The construction was an amazing success.
You can do it depending on a few things. I had a couple of friends and a coworker that were enormous help by having done it themselves and they were more helpful than anyone. Having someone you can call for solid advice throughout the process is invaluable.
Also, I work shift work which allowed me a lot of opportunities to be around the jobsite during the day and keep an eye on things. If you work and M-F job with business hours, that will make things more difficult.
As far as subcontractors. Try to use only ones that come highly recommended from peronal friend references. I did not always select the cheapest bid if it was from someone with no references or I didn't know much about them. The only problems I had with subs during the construction was from the ones that I found on my own instead of the ones recommended by my friends.
Good luck.
You can do it depending on a few things. I had a couple of friends and a coworker that were enormous help by having done it themselves and they were more helpful than anyone. Having someone you can call for solid advice throughout the process is invaluable.
Also, I work shift work which allowed me a lot of opportunities to be around the jobsite during the day and keep an eye on things. If you work and M-F job with business hours, that will make things more difficult.
As far as subcontractors. Try to use only ones that come highly recommended from peronal friend references. I did not always select the cheapest bid if it was from someone with no references or I didn't know much about them. The only problems I had with subs during the construction was from the ones that I found on my own instead of the ones recommended by my friends.
Good luck.
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