Have any of you done this as your own general contractor? If so, how'd it go? Were you over or under budget? Did many things go wrong? Did work get completed when you expected it to? Would you ever in your life do this again? It is pretty much certain we will have to move out of this county. Obviously, unless you buy a mansion, there aren't many 8 bedrooms around in our price range--LOL. We've also heard this can be very, very cost effective doing it on your own. We have friends who've done this but there budget was way greater than ours ever will be. In addition, they made changes constantly and it ended up costing them alot. My sister in-law has also built her own home so we have much insight there. I'm just trying to get as many opinions as I can. Hers...never ever would she do this again. Trying to see if the consensus is the same. We could not build at the same time we sell. Don't feel comfortable doing that. We'd have to sell first. Did you all rent while your built your own homw or live on the property? Thanks a bunch. stephanie--mom to 7
We were not our own Gen contractor (but I know some on here have done it themselves with great success) but what I have done is to get my allotments for each thing like light fixtures, bathroom fixtures (even down to toilets, sinks etc) and then did my own shopping and saved money. We made a deal up front that any money we saved we would get towards other upgrades. I was able to see his model homes to see what type of things he used (construction grade junk mostly) and I was able to get MUCH better quality items for LESS than he was going to pay. So if you have the time and the energy and the know how I think you could do it and save LOTS of money. I just didn't feel like I was knowledgeable enough about what was needed. We did learn some expensive lessons... like just because it is sold on line in the US doesn't mean it is UL rated and therefor will not pass inspection. Big oops. Remember light fixtures don't come with bulbs, that was another $500 we DIDNT budget in... Not all faucets are the same diameter, (had to drill out some sinks) Let's see... colors are NOT always true on line (so if anyone comes over and wonders why I have awful colored mini blinds you will understand) LOL If you buy a lot of things online, always contact the vendor, we got some great deals by saying we needed X number of light fixtures, or Faucets and who ever gave us the best deal got our business. We really didn't pay shipping on anything. Be careful counting on rebates, if instillation gets delayed, you may not have the item in time to file. (our washer and dryer are still at Sears from Nov) Anyway, I will shut up now, but if we can help let us know. This has taken up the past 5 months of our life, but I have, for the most part enjoyed it.
You CAN be your own GC You WILL be overbudget :lol: There are so many *details* that people forget about that cost money to build a house it's insane. If you are looking for a GC let me know.:mrgreen:
We were our own GC! We saved ~ 15-25% BUT it took about 1 year.... we had the time to get who we wanted at the PRICE we wanted. We knew UP FRONT that it would be slower, we also knew what we wanted and DH & I did loads of stuff ourselves. PM me for more info.
