My husband and I want to build a house and we are not handy. Who would I need to hire and in what order would the projects need to be done? First, I assume we would have to dig out the basement and create the foundation. Then what?Please only answer if you have had experience building homes, don't just guess!
The perils of home renovation and building are legend. Every job estimate seems to double in the end for both cost and time; endless delays and surprise, money-sucking mistakes prove that. Then there are the surly contractors, the mixed-up lumber order, the mistaken measurements -- in short, anything that can go wrong probably will. So it can be tempting to have the final say in a project. To be the one who hires the right people, inspects the materials personally, checks and double-checks figures and costs, and -- perhaps most importantly -- both makes the rules of the project and enforces them. If that appeals to you, than you might be considering acting as your own general contractor. But should you?
Being your own contractor is a big pain. I've been building for seven years and am one of the right hand men to the boss who is the general contractor to several new and remodel homes a year. If you have blue prints picked or made, get several copies made to distribute to potential hired companies. Figuring out your elevation of your site and structual needs for the home need to come first, Usually a concrete company can tell you what you need or direct you to there recomended people. We use a concrete basement maker to do our basements in concrete. There is a foam clock you can use for the walls of a basement that you wire together ang fill with concrete. They provide good walls and insulation. I know theres video teachings on it if you wish to do it your self. They need to be built on an 18 by18 concrete footing with rebar.Depths and size depend on ground stability. If your in city limits you need an inspector to tell you the specs for that area and what all you can do your self. You also need to talk to the plumber and electrician before you start with all this, because there could be pipe or sleeves they would need to put in while the other things are going on. Blue print copies are handy for all this. The list of things to do is too large for this area to describe all things out. If you can, find a contractor who will do the detailed work, but let you be incharge of the desighn and the people you use. We allow most of the people to do the things they want and just guide them as they need it. It costs you less and you get to do alot of your own contracting ponygirls husband 7years carpentry and remodeling
I built my own home without a lot of experience in building though I was reasonably handy. I acted as GC, sub-trade and labourer. I hired a local carpenter who was willing to work with a newbie like me. I would have been lost without him, and in practical terms it was the carpenter who was GC. I was there every day working with him as a labourer. I was lucky. He was patient enough, and able to explain things to me. Not everyone would be. If you really don't know one end of a hammer from another, I don't think you should do this. There's a lot more to building a house than you could possibly imagine if you haven't done it. You would be far better off to find a GC who's willing to have you help where possible, and willing to tell you how to do things(you'd better be willing to listen, too). Maybe all you can do is help with site clean-up, hold the dumb end of things, do runs to pick up supplies or make phone calls, but if you're really not handy what you might mostly be doing is getting in the way of people who really do know what they're doing. Believe me, there will be lots for you to do even if you never pick up any tools. I found there were decisions to make almost every day and I'm glad I was able to spend so much time on site. Even though it was me and the carpenter who were there by ourselves for most of the time, and we did concrete forms, all the framing, and I did the plumbing and electrical work, at the end of the project I made a list of all those who had been involved in it. It ran to 40 names or more, for everything from the guy who cleared the trees and prepped the site, to the guys who put the shingles on. We hired other people when we didn't have the experience, tools, or manpower to do things with the two of us. It takes a lot of knowledge to co-ordinate all those people and jobs. A good GC knows how to do that efficiently, and also knows who's worth hiring and who isn't, and also knows how and where to get good deals on materials..
Last year I was where you are now - wanting to be my own GC. I quickly found that there is a lot to know to be a GC and if you go in with zero experience and no help you're in for a long miserable learning experience. I don't say that to discourage you - go for it. However, I found that in the name of getting the job done and getting the quality I wanted that I would need some help (more than YA could provide ;) I fortunately have a friend that's a GC and I talked him into holding my hand through the project. That made a world of difference. I really learned a lot and would feel confident in tacking one by myself now. You'll be shocked at all a GC does. There are permits, fees, codes, inspections, city/county/state regulations, scheduling, quoting materials, besides the obvious tasks of grading, forming, pouring, framing, etc. etc. If this is really your first time - go for it but get some help.
