General Contracting your own home build

[reelguy]

Anyone do the general contracting on their own home build? I have already talked to a few guys that have built there own homes and a majority of my wife's family are in the construction trades. I know most of the subs I would need and can do some of the grunt work myself, but looking for some advice from anyone who has done it.

Would you do it again?

How much do you think you actually saved?

Any suggestions before digging to much into this?

The main thing I am concerned about, and reason for trying to contract it myself, is cost. What am I looking at for cost per sq ft finished if we stay middle of the road as far as finish?

My schedule, for the most part, affords me time off during the week to work with the subs which I think will help as well.

Thanks in advance

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I don't know your level of construction knowledge, but I know a number of people personally who have done it, and I've been in a lot of self contracted homes. In almost all cases the quality and attention to detail is worse than even the worst builders. The guys I know personally didn't save near what they expected, and one who is doing theirs now is $30k over what a top notch custom builder bid the job at. It CAN be done, and you might be able to save money, but the subs are going to sharpen their pencil a whole lot more for the guy who gives them 30+ jobs per year. You also have no warranties which is not only a personal risk, it will cost you money on the resale end.

The best thing you can do is pay someone to draw you the house you want to build, along with a complete set of construction specs. Ask builders to bid the job, telling them full well they are competing for the job, and also seek bids on your own. When everything is said and done, the money you'd save probably won't be worth the headaches and risk.

[PurpleFloyd]

Having worked in the industry for a few decades I have worked on homeowner contracted projects that have been both good and bad.

Personally for the most part I preferred to work for the homeowner more than contractors because I had a direct line to them and didn;t have to worry about contractors being more interested in lining their own pockets than giving the homeowner what they want. If you know the subs you need and have family that can give you advise and guidance I see no reason not to do it yourself if you feel confident.

There are advantages to having a contractor when it comes to liability issues. permitting, planning, code inspections etc but nothing that can't be done by you if you have the time and knowledge. I would suspect you could save in the range of 20% as long as you have good subs that know their job and do it well.

[reddog]

I have self contracted 5 homes over 30 some years, but my day job was residential construction..

I have worked on some self contracted homes also, and it always amazes me what they will accept when they do it themselves as opposed to hiring it done. Most notably, interior painting, woodwork finishing, and finish carpentry.

You may not save as much as you think, because I doubt that the subs are going to give you the same price for a one off job, as they will for the contractor that builds 5-10-50 homes a year with them. Scheduling for a one off home, can be a nightmare also. If you are realistic, and schedule in advance, and are ready when they show, youll probably be alright. If your management abilities are always in crisis mode, youre gonna struggle after about the second sky is falling call..

[varmithtr]

Something to consider: A majority of lenders who provide construction loans will not allow a self build if the applicant is not a seasoned general contractor. There are some out there that will, but they tend to be more expensive with rates and fees.

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm an owner's rep for commercial construction, so while I don't have much residential experience, we essentially do what you are attempting to do...manage the project all on your own. Reddog is 100% on management skills. You need to know exactly what everybody should be doing, be good at coordinating it all, know when a sub is trying to pull one over on you, know how to effectively force subs to do the work (retention, lien waivers, etc), and plan appropriately for contingencies. These are things that you are paying the GC to do - get the best bang for your buck out of all the trades, coordinate it all in the most efficient way, and to the agreed-upon budget. It takes a lot more skill than people realize, even if you know all of the subs. That situation can make it worse when you get put on the I'll-get-to-it-when-we-can list by the subs, because they know you and can get away with more when another job requires their resources.

Most of our work in the commercial industry, is coming into the game late when projects are massively off budget and schedule because the owner thought they could manage the architects, GCs, and owner-coordinated scope. They end up paying a lot more than had they just hired us in the first place, but we stop the bleeding and still save them money. The point here is that if you know what you're doing...be your own GC. My two cents is that if you need to ask on a fishing forum, you'll probably be better off getting bids from GCs and finding one that you can trust. My intent isn't to give you a hard time, but to provide you with information to make your decision.

[reelguy]

Thanks for all the info so far guys. Skunked, funny you mention me asking about this in a fishing forum. It was kind of an after thought to ask here, but I figured it would be a way to reach a wide variety of people, that I don't know personally and can give honest information. Especially seeing how that's all I seem to see fishing in the winter is laid off construction type guys!

I don't mind managing people and keeping on schedule. My uncle is a retired developer, builder, surveyor, etc. so he has agreed to help me out along the way for barely pops at the cabin, so that seems like a good price. Meeting with an architect here in the next few days which will help figure out if it is even a realty. We will see!

[Down Deep]

I've done some easy flips and minor remodels all of which came out fine, but none were on the scale of a new build. One thing I have learned doing my own contracting is mistakes are costly and you better have the time to be on the job while the work is going on.

When I did a major remodel and addition on my own house I hired a general. The guy I hired brought the job from a plan to complete with quality construction, with few problems and most of all on budget. What I noticed most was how many times he had to kick some butt when the subs weren't doing the job right.

[Tom7227]

Lots of subs will kick up the price a lot for a job directly with the owner. A friend tried to do it and hard a tough time. End up hiring a general to finish.

[MuskieJunkie]

I have not done it personally but from people I've talked to, the subs can push you around on timing and price as opposed to a General that is always working with those subs will have a lot more incentive to get good work and prices out of them.

[Down2Earth]

Forget the general contractor most I've seen drive around in their truck just making sure work is getting done and don't lift a hand in the actual build. Huge waste of money. If you plan on hiring it done just find yourself a good carpenter who does his own general contracting you will be thousands of dollars a head.

[Surface Tension]

Forget the general contractor most I've seen drive around in their truck just making sure work is getting done and don't lift a hand in the actual build. Huge waste of money. If you plan on hiring it done just find yourself a good carpenter who does his own general contracting you will be thousands of dollars a head.

That is what I'd recommend.

A GC that is builder is one less link in the chain and on the job site.

Already has a working relationship with subs and IMO should be the one to conduct the orchestra.

I homeowner acting as GC, well this will be a learning experience for you and with that mistakes made. Mistakes that are costly, disrupt schedules, and are in general a pain in the but.

Electrician, plumbers, and HAVC have windows of opportunity to be at your project. Miss that window because the build wasn't ready and now you wait, everyone waits.

a GC that worked with these guys in the past and will work with them again in the future will make you project a bit more seamless then you could.

[Sandmannd]

We just had a home built through a builder. It was a huge headache working with them. I can't imagine having to work with all the subs on top of that. I'd go with a builder.

[gunner55]

I have to agree with Surface Tension as we just completed turning our place at the lake from seasonal to a year round place.Hired a builder from the area who had done a lot of work around the lake & he was the GC for ours.As he knew all the subs & had given them a lot of work in the past & even more in the future.When he called they listened.There was a few issues with sheet rockers(timing/holding everyone else up),painters(made them come back & repaint),& the plumbers(timing/getting the heat hooked up).We were on site for almost all the build but he got much better & faster results.In the end he did great job & the place turned out awesome.

[Walleyehooker]

The good GCs will have good quality subs that they keep busy and do quality work and should have weeded out the bad ones. They usually get the work done cheaper as they keep them busy and a steady paycheck. Don't be surprised if you end up paying more for an individual sub and the work isn't very good. Unless you really know what you are doing you can run into a long list of problems and headaches and not save a dime. Keep this in mind , a good subcontractor is always busy for a reason and the others aren't for other reasons. Its one thing to sub contract a garage but its a lot different with a house. You also need to find a good GC to as they are also like subs and not all are equal.