Should I use a General Contractor or Specialist?
Answers:
I'd presonally say that you're better off to hire a general contractor and pay them the extra money.
If you put it out on individual contracts you open yourself up to a headache. Coordination of trades becomes your problem and if someone isn't on time and it holds someone else up they can make a claim against you for causing them a lost day.
Also as the others have said by selecting individual contractors you run the risk of getting someone that's bad. An experienced general contractor is going to select subs that do the job right, do it for the right price, and do it when it's supposed to be done.
Since most of the work looks like it could be performed by a general contractor you're better off with a single prime contractor instead of multiple prime contractors. If the only work being performed were specialized then i'd suggest going straight to the subs and saving the money but with the extensive nature of the remodel let the pros handle the headache.
Other answers:
depends on the building sode laws in the country you live. A GOOD general contractor should have a selection of specialists (electrician, plumbers, carpenters etc) that are used regular and trusted by the contractor. Whereas if you select your own you may chose a bad one!
depends on the building sode laws in the country you live. A GOOD general contractor should have a selection of specialists (electrician, plumbers, carpenters etc) that are used regular and trusted by the contractor. Whereas if you select your own you may chose a bad one!
I prefer working with a general contractor. It gives you a single place to go if there are issues.
I think the only possible negative is the fee you will be paying him to take on the work. If it is a fixed price deal then in addition to his fee there will be some contingency.
The up side is he should have access to the better sub contractors, know how to schedule and manage them and get the best job. His experience can also keep the home owner out of trouble if they don't know much about home construction. He knows the best techniques, materials and can keep you from doing something that you will regret later like removing a bearing wall without knowing it.
When we built our house, I considered being the general contractor but instead hired a contractor to act as the general. We paid him a flat fee to get bids for materials and sub-contracts and manage the job. We paid the actual cost for the materials and subcontracts but we didn't start the work until all bids were in and we had firm costs for most things. It work out very well and we probably save 15 to 25% on the cost of the house.
Remember you are probably going to see the sub-contractors for this one job. Your general contractor will be looking for subs for his next job and they know it. They don't want to screw up and loose future work.
From first hand experience, I like hiring the individual subcontractors directly myself instead of going through a general contractor. This assumes your somewhat knowledgeable about home construction issues for all of the trade labor types that are involved. Also it assumes you've got the interest and time to get familiar with the reputable trades people doing business in your neighborhood. The most important thing here is to take your time and talk to homeowners like yourself who've gotten work done in the past few years on the same projects like roofing, plumbing, electrical and finish work. Even if you elect to go with a general contractor, who of course is going to make at least 20% profit on the deal, I would ask him what subcontractors he intends to use for each of the trades, and then see what I could find out about the quality of work done by them. I'd also check company names with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and make sure they were fully licensed and insured to do business in your locality. But the very best references come from talking to the people who just had the work done by the tradesman that's going to do the work on your house.
Your risk of getting a poor job and being grossly overcharged increases with the more people that are between you and the actual tradesperson that holds the wrench, saw, trowel, hammer or screwdriver. Remember, a contract is only as good as the reputation and honesty of the people that sign them. The last thing you want to be drawn into is some sort of legal hassle over why the work didn't get done after all your money has been spent! You lose no matter what that way, especially considering the time and anquish you'll end up spending with a contractor that never planned on giving you a good job at a fair cost in the first place.
If you have the time, I recommend that you start out slowly and patiently doing one job at a time, starting with the most important, which may be the roof work. After the roof is done successfully, then you'll have one good job under your belt and you can go on to the next one. Good Luck
PS, You may ask the trades people themselves sometimes who they know that does work in such and such a specialty, but as with other info you get, take it with a grain of salt and check it out real well.
Specialist -
* YOU need to schedule the jobs so that each can get the work done.
* YOU have to get things done in the right order - Which goes first - Paint or Roof? (turns out the correct answer is "roof" - who knew?!?!)
* YOU get to hunt down missing workers - and deal with the guys who are standing around waiting on them.
* YOU have to know enough about each job to know if proposal is reasonable or a rip-off.
* YOU get to try and get 6 different contractors to clean up behind themselves (Yeah, right!!)
* YOU get to be available at any time to answer questions and supervise the work - nevermind if you have a full time job that expects you to be working. Can require large amounts of time onsite (ie not at your job)
* easy to claim that a problem was caused by one of the other guys.
* endless summer (or longer) of one project after another followed by another.
General Contractor
* one person for you to deal with
* someone besides you can handle the onsite - day to day issues
* one (long) project - when it's done, it's DONE
* you are paying to have him/her do all of the stuff listed under Specialist
No question in my mind - General contractor.