Guide to Being Your Own General Contractor
In the last few weeks as Ben and I were finishing up the renovation of our own house as self-GCs, my clients would tell me that they would also like to self-GC their house, and I immediately asked them if they were into self-inflicted torture? Since then, the horror of self-GCing has worn off and I’m very glad we had the experience of creating our forever home, even if it meant sacrificing 6-12 months of our lives to the art of building, scratching our heads and then getting it right on the second try. I think there’s a word for that!
When clients asked about self-GCing before we began last July, I would recommend reading this blog post and answering the questions (click here), and I still do! But there’s nothing like your own personal journey to really test what you thought you knew about the process. We learned a lot, but probably the most important thing was this:
There is some work that amateurs can take on and there is some work that is better left for the professionals.
Much has changed since I wrote that post and I needed to follow up with my experience. With my newly obtained insider’s perspective, here are my suggestions on what to take on yourself and what you should contract out to our many local talented tradesmen and tradeswomen.
Process photo of painting the exterior. Our house was primer white for the five years we lived in it prior to renovating.
Photo of the front of our house after painting
Before getting into the Guide, here are a few facts:
Fact 1: Every budget will be made up of two different sections: LABOR + MATERIALS
Outside of those categories, there’s also less tangible items like overhead, taxes, permit fees, etc., but let’s put those aside for now. Today is all about Labor and Materials.
Fact 2: Much of what the OWNER can and does control is MATERIAL cost
Forget about Labor for a second, Materials include everything physical that it takes to build a building or house as well as the tools to do so. When I say “The Owner can and does control Material costs” I am referring to tile, flooring, countertops, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures and cabinets. If you are eager to control the costs going into a project, control the material selections. Get organized and get creative!
Going into a traditional ‘bid-build’ relationship with a General Contractor, material cost will either be priced out by the vendors/suppliers/distributors with a specific shopping list or priced out as an allowance. This is why many contractor cannot give accurate estimates with just a single floor plan. A single floor plan does not describe the quality of the materials. The higher the quality, the higher the estimate.
Some of the more fun activities include dry laying out tile to create fun patterns
It’s really exciting to see sheetrock being installed! I felt like we were in the “stud-stage” way too long.
Fact 3: “Allowances” can be a dirty word in the construction industry.
Why? An Allowance is an assumption of value of materials, and we all know what people say happens when we assume. If materials have not been selected prior to bidding, contractors will generally make an assumption on the allowances, deflecting cost overruns on the owner if/when the materials come in higher than what is allowed for.
So, what I recommend…control your own material cost. Make SOME materials “OFCI” “Owner-Furnish, Contractor-Install” and work with your contractor to have these items ordered and delivered prior to the install.
Which items work best for OFCI? Refer to my guide below
What Labor can I take on myself? Refer to my guide below
Guide to Self-Inflicted Pain by Trade
(If at any point the below bold words cause confusion, quit reading and hire a General Contractor!)
DEMOLITION: This one always seems easy because people assume no experience or skill is required, but demolition isn’t always easy. For my house renovation project, we chose not to DIY - DEMO because there was a fair amount of structural work that needed to be addressed (removing ceiling joists and re-framing the roof). Even without the structural work, we did not want to DIY- DEMO due to the large amount of hauling of trash. The crew comes with a dumpster (usually included in their fee) and handles the removal for you. So for the smaller ‘non-structural’ projects where you can take the building scraps out to the street and they will be hauled away next day, sure DIY - DEMO all your heart desires.
CONCRETE/FOUNDATION:
Labor: No thanks! Have you ever poured concrete before? If you’re comfortable with it, non-critical concrete like paving, walkways or landscape elements could be game, but footings or slabs that have to support the structure is absolutely not the best item to take on with little experience.
Materials: Same as above.
WOOD FRAMING:
Labor: Unlikely, particularly it involves critical exterior walls or roof structure. Filling in a wall or adding an infill partition, sure.
Materials: Possibly, though the framer is likely to get a better deal.
ROOFING:
Labor: No thanks. You can’t supply any warranty to yourself.
Materials: Possibly. You can supply your roof finish (shingles, tiles, etc) but make sure the roofer is comfortable with it and has the many accessories (underlayment, flashings, edges, venting, etc.) covered on his end. Once again, the roofer does this for a living and may be able to get a better deal.
MECHANICAL:
Labor: No thanks.
Materials: No thanks.
PLUMBING:
Labor: No thanks! Not for me.
Materials: Yes to “fixtures such as faucets, tubs, sinks”, No to “valves, piping, accessories”
ELECTRICAL:
Labor: Nope. Plus, of all the options, NOT something to take a chance on.
Materials: Yes to “light fixtures, such as recessed cans”, No to “wires, panels, etc.”
INSULATION:
Labor: Depends on the type - batts are easy to install, especially if a sealed envelope isn’t a priority. Spray foams involve a lot of proprietary equipment, so, no. Rigid board ought to be by the same people doing any siding work since they need to integrate closely.
Materials: See above.
SHEETROCK:
Labor: Contract this out, for the love of God, this is not as easy as you think!
Materials: Possibly (once again, don’t forget all the accessories! corner beads, edge beads and compound, to name a few)
PAINTING:
Labor: Yes. But remember the painting the pretty color part is maybe 15-20% of the whole process. Prep work, prep work, prep work.
Materials: Yes.
TILE:
Labor: This one is little tricky - I’m going to say “No” to showers but “Yes” to tub alcoves and backsplashes. We had someone else do the backerboard and waterproofing install, but this is doable particularly in non-critical areas (showers, saunas). Be warned, this work is MESSY.
Materials: Yes. I selected to purchase all of the tile myself. That meant not just purchasing (making sure the quantities were correct) but also hauling and loading the tile from the distribution warehouse to my bathroom. My tile guy asked us to purchase the grout and edge trim.
WOOD FLOORING:
Labor: Depends what kind. I laid a floating, locking vinyl wood-look plank floor with my husband. It wasn’t too hard, but we opted not to install our solid wood flooring ourselves.
Materials: Yes, don’t forget the sealers. Ask your floor guy about the differences in water-based sealers and poly-based sealers.
CABINETS & VANITIES:
Labor: Possibly, I did assemble every single Ikea cabinet box in my kitchen, including installing the hardware, drawers and door panels. I have a whole blog series on it. It was not easy, but also, If I could do it….then maybe you can do it too!
Materials: Yes, purchasing cabinets directly from the supplier is consumer-friendly process. You need to have a floor plan (dimensions of the room), some elevations are helpful, and an idea of your design intent. The sales representative can help coordinate the details. Tip: ask for things like soft-close hardware or trash pull inserts for a better user experience.
COUNTERTOPS:
Labor: No. The install usually comes with the countertop and is usually not a big cost driver.
Material: Yes, stone counter material is 90% always an “owner-furnished, contractor-installed” item. This is because of the big variation of slab costs between granite, quartz and marble.
Did I mention that we have a one-year old? Yes, gut renovating our house with a baby- we like challenges!! LOL!
This looks like fun, right? Designers are quick to call out misplaced rough electrical boxes.
Understanding the role of Labor and Materials, their impact on costs, and the extent to which you can control them is a big pain point of self-GCing a project, but not the only one! Check back soon when we’ll share other challenges to expect and how to overcome them, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!