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you have to be able to schedule the whole choreography days/weeks in advance
you might actually be better off hiring a general contractor and having him pencil you in to the project with the skill sets you have as they are needed.
unless this is not a time constrained project and you can solicit mudders/tilers/flooring guys as needed and as you are ready. Some of these guys can't always just pencil somebody in.
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I've done this both ways with the house the wife and I have been in now for about 12 years.
Me as GC:
Did a complete demo of circa 1955 kitchen and attached hearth room/den -- down to studs. Also replaced subflooring and put in new [sheet] rock. Demo was easy. Also took out a wall to open up these 2 rooms (wall wasn't load bearing -- yes, always check with someone who knows their stuff here). Ended up needing to patch ceiling in a few places after we removed that wall. No biggie.
Rock was harder -- a lot of detail in mudding/sanding to get it looking good. Very dusty/dirty job, don't know if I'd want to do it again. A SKILLED buddy helped me (I'm about like you, but maybe a 6-7 on a Handy scale of 10; buddy was probably a 9) It all turned out fine. There is some detail wood work I did in the "wall" (beneath counter) of our kitchen bar that would've been better done by a pro but it doesn't bother my wife or me and unless you look very close at it, you cannot tell it isn't quite perfect.
Trim was not hard, again just detailed. I also laid tile floor mostly by myself and we get a lot of compliments on it. Tile saws and such can be bought or rented. There are also clinics at local home big boxes. Again, it is a detail job so if you're not a detail person, I'd hire it out. My buddy was good at plumbing and I learned a lot there to the point where I can do a fair amount of stuff myself now. Wiring is easy peasy for just adding an outlet or switch...make sure you read up / watch some youtube on that first though.
Don't mess with high voltage or gas. I always hire pros for that stuff.
I did pay my buddy a few grand to do all this...we did it in off hours over several months. But it saved me probably about 10-15k, maybe more.
We ordered cabs and counters and had counters installed via Lowe's which was a surprisingly good experience on all fronts, labor and materials - Kraft Maid cabs have held up very well, no issues. Installed cabs ourselves, and dishwasher. Sink was installed by a sink contractor.
Again, a lot of it is fairly easy stuff but you do need to either work with someone who's handy if you haven't done xyz before, or else I might recommend hiring it out. Hanging cabs properly is a little more involved than basic home wiring imho. There are tricks that pros/experienced people know that you simply won't.
We also installed 4 new windows. That I'd hire out if doing again. They are functional and all that, but i think a pro would've done a better job. Then again, a pro did our basement windows which I'm not overly happy with. Actually it was some guys from the window company who do side work...they were probably no more skilled than my buddy and me.
I hired the hardwood floor refinishing out. Went with cheapest outfit. Looking back, I'm pretty sure they were meth heads. They did an okay job, but not great. Spending 500-700 more would've yielded much better results I'm fairly certain. I was young, about 33 then. Live and learn.
Hiring a GC
I hired a remodeling company to do our 2 bathrooms and add a linen closet about 6 years ago. They hired out cabinetry and plumbing -- the latter involved moving a stack so was quite technical and not cheap. They did a good job overall and I'd likely hire them again; luckily I work at home and was around to ask questions and also in a few places make them do a better job than what I was seeing...there was an angled wall that involved some detail sanding/mudding and the contractor phoned it in...I got on him to do it right. He did the second time, and was good about it...it just took a little encouragement. I don't think he was a detail guy and again, rock is not easy to do right.
So that is the kind of stuff you might run into. Or if you're very lucky -- you won't. We had granite tops installed in both baths...this is a '50s house so they're small and we were able to get remnants for a lot cheaper than full slabs, so shop remnants if possible. Contractor (remodeling owner) measured wrong in mbr by 1/2 inch...so they had to "float" a wall out. Not the end of the world but not uncommon I guess.
They hired out the tile work which is extensive in both baths. These guys you have to watch over also...the guy used the wrong color grout in the tile above our hall shower and it was done before we noticed...he was kind of a dick about it too. It wasn't the end of the world, and we were kind of worn down by that point (this was about 7 weeks into it), so we let it go; we shouldn't have. We paid good money for him to use what we had selected, and he didn't. Lessons learned.
Which is better to do -- be your own GC or hire it out? Depends what you have time/money/skill for, really. I know these guys did a really nice job on the bathrooms, certainly a lot better than I would've done as that stuff is pretty technical...we had a shower with glass walls installed, blew out a wall, moved stack, new toilets/sinks, and custom cabs, I don't tackle those kinds of jobs. So hiring a company to do that for us was well worth it.
I will say that the custom cabs are nice, but we don't think they were worth the upcharge vs. the Kraft Maid kitchen cabs we have. That part we would do change if we were to do it over. The rest: all good.
Happy remodeling!
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So in essence you want "us" the MRF community to be your general contractor (tu)
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pRICE,
Based on how you asked the question, my advice is to hire a reputable general contractor and guide him/her as to what you exactly want when it comes to the renovations. The contractor will know the current codes, permit requirements and a slew of other things that can have a _huge_ impact on your project(s). Think expertise in several areas including project management, workflow, proper licensing, insurance, workman's comp, cleanup after demolition, you name it. If something goes wrong with the project, it's on the contractor, not you.
Key to _any_ work is making sure you're available and/or on hand for the job. People who tell the contractor what he/she wants and doesn't keep an eye on what's going on tend to have less positive results. They might come home to find dust in every part of the house because the contractor didn't close off areas properly prior to prepping a room for painting or refinishing floors. 'course, a reputable, good contractor won't let things like that happen but you don't want to chance it.
I've done the "be my own contractor" thing. I'd do it again only for a small job, i.e. refinishing a floor. Anything more than that, I'd definitely go with a general contractor and I'd make sure to do my homework about him/her. That and I'd also educate myself about the job, so when the contractor speaks, I won't be clueless about what he/she is saying to me.
Robert
