Hire a general contractor or be my own GC?

[UCGal]

[quote=XBoxBoy]sdduuuude,

What has been your experience dealing with inspectors without a GC? Is that much of an issue? Inquiring minds want to know….

thanks,

XboxBoy[/quote]

Not sdduuuude – but I’ll chime in.

We’ve done several smaller projects as owner builder – and one time critical piece after our first GC walked… Our experience was pretty straightforward for inspections. Call the city for inspection. They give a window of time they’ll be out w/in 48 hours. They inspect. If someone is there, they talk over the issues. If not – they write it up.

Our experience with both GCs was they weren’t even around for the inspection – my husband or I would talk to the inspector. So no value add, in our experience, when it comes to GCs and city inspectors.

For our smaller projects with no GC (but with permits) – the inspectors added good value – telling us exactly where the short fall was and helping brainstorm solutions.

FYI – this was city of San Diego, development services.

[no_such_reality]

I’d do those all direct with sub-contractors. Your biggest item is the cabinet and countertops which I’m assuming is all kitchen.

If your cabinets are really high quality, refacing may be a good way to go, if not, some of the mid-range modular systems may not cost much, if any, more with a side benefit of being able to leverage the whole thing at one supplier.

[njtosd]

One more advantage of using a GC is that the subs want his/her return business. I would assume subs are more interested in keeping the GCs happy than individuals who might never have another job for them.

[sdduuuude]

[quote=XBoxBoy]sdduuuude,

What has been your experience dealing with inspectors without a GC? Is that much of an issue? Inquiring minds want to know….

thanks,

XboxBoy[/quote]

It varies, but playing dumb and being friendly goes a long way. I would always be there for the inspection so I could hear exactly what was needed to pass.

Every once in a while I would call for an inspection even though I knew I wasn’t ready just so I could get some guidance.

I could see the GCs having an advantage here just because they know what to expect, although every sub complains about inconsistency between inspectors.

Most inspectors have the personality of the old lady monster in Monsters Inc. so it is hard to be friendly. But, in the end, I could get them all to take pity on me and be helpful if I was there asking questions while they inspected.

I always counted on two visits per sign-off, too and never scheduled the next sub contractor until the inspection was signed off.

[CA renter]

[quote=njtosd]One more advantage of using a GC is that the subs want his/her return business. I would assume subs are more interested in keeping the GCs happy than individuals who might never have another job for them.[/quote]

Most definitely.

When we did our addition and major remodel, our awesome GC had subs who’d worked with him for many years, even decades. These were the old-school guys who knew what they were doing and wanted repeat work with the GC. IMHO, it made a really big difference vs. some of the subs we’ve hired directly.

Also, our GC’s superintendent (also a licensed contractor, I believe) was there for the inspections.

The key is finding a GOOD general contractor. Another Pigg recommended our GC to us, and we could not have been happier. We even think we might have paid less than if we had done it ourselves. We were very fortunate with our GC.

For big jobs, I would highly recommend using a GOOD GC; but for small jobs, it’s less of an issue, especially if you know good subs and/or are pretty handy, yourselves.

[zzz]

CAr, who is your GC? Could you pls share the details? Thx

[zzz]

dupe

[earlyretirement]

I agree nothing is structural and even if you don’t have much experience, there are enough Piggs on this board that have used quality people that I think you can just do it yourself.

It’s fairly easy as long as you are using good people. You can save quite a bit of money yourself. I’ve done several renovations on my house and even for the materials, I’ve often times ordered the parts myself on Amazon.com (sinks, faucet fixtures, etc).

You can go to places like Surfaces USA on Miramar Road and pick out your own granite or marble and pay for it with no mark up and the contractor can go pick it up directly.

Renovations that aren’t structural aren’t too difficult. I do agree a GC is a good idea when it’s a bigger job.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]CAr, who is your GC? Could you pls share the details? Thx[/quote]

We used Brooks Worthing.

http://www.baworthinginc.com/

He’s in North County, so not sure where you live, or if he works throughout the county. Even if he’s not available in your area (don’t know/remember which area you live in), ask if he can refer you to someone.

Brooks is not “cheap,” but I think that he is well worth the money, especially if you’re dealing with a larger project with multiple subs. He’s also not as high as some other contractors, so somewhere in the middle, IMO.

Good luck!

[earlyretirement]

Here are my gems:

Cam’s Floor Covering Specialists
CA License #833448
Carlos Mercado
Phone: 619-884-9697

Hardwood flooring specialists. Several stores actually subcontract out to Carlos. It’s probably cheaper just going through him directly once you pick out your wood. His guys are GREAT and he actually did Philip River’s house as well.

Carpeting/custom rugs: Phillips Abbey Carpet in Oceanside. I dealt with Ken who was FANTASTIC. I actually went through them to get my hardwood flooring and he contracted the job out to Carlos listed above.

Quite honestly, my experience was so good with Ken and Phillips Abbey Carpet that I probably would just use them. I’m not sure how much they mark it up but he is a true pro. They made several custom rugs and he wasn’t happy with the quality so he re did them.

4001 AVENIDA DE LA PLATASTE 101
OCEANSIDE CA 92056
(760) 757-5033
(760) 721-9145 (fax)
http://www.phillipsabbeycarpet.com

Electrician: GREAT electrician is Heron Moriarty at Confort Air and Electric. I’ve used him many times for several things and he is a very honest guy with good prices. (619) 929-8297

Bathroom renovations: I renovated several bathrooms with Kerry Taylor at Taylor Pro. He has his own guys that he uses and he kind of manages the projects but he was so dependable and reliable and the bathrooms turned out GREAT!

I actually went over to Surfaces USA on Miramar road and bought several slabs of Carrera Marble myself and his guys picked it up and installed it. He didn’t care that I bought all my own fixtures/sinks/etc. myself from Amazon.com and he installed them. He doesn’t mark up the fixtures so he didn’t care where I got them.

Beware many contractors mark up the prices on the items so it typically is better you buy them yourself if you can.

Kerry W Taylor
(858) 997-4615
http://www.taylorprohs.com

Custom made shades or curtains or black out blinds: I used Smith Shade out of Lemon Grove and dealt with the owner, Ralph Smith who did a GREAT job making custom black out blinds for several of our rooms along with custom covers to hide the shade when they are rolled up. 619-299-2228 http://www.smithshade.com

Home Theatre and networking the house stuff: American Home Entertainment. I deal with Kjell Osness who is really great. 858-430-1701. http://www.aheav.com

Custom made closets: I went with California Closets and was really pleased with the custom closets. It’s amazing the computerized software they have. They will come out and give you a free estimate. He will just take the measurements and then give you all these options to choose from or you tell him what you want and they will design it for you.

We did 6 closets with them including a walk in his and hers closet and my wife LOVES her walk in closet they did.

There are others but these are the terrific guys I can think of off the top of my head. They really did a great job.

[Author]

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