DIY General Contractor Home Build Questions

[Biggs]

Gents,

For you that have GC'd your own home build, I have some questions...

-What were the main issues you encountered with contractors?

-Were you ever taken/shafted by any of the contractors? How?

-Do you have examples of contracts you used?

-Ever give down payments for any reason?

-Ever include Liquidated Damages in your contract for taking too long?

-What is an acceptable lead time or heads up should be given to each trade before they're expected to start?

-Best examples of how you saved money? (IE TexasTaxi ordering the batch concrete himself!)

-Did you handle purchasing materials for contractors and stage on site?

-Any problems with theft for build site? How did you control access?

-Any hints/tips/tricks/advice you can give a guy with general construction experience that has never taken on a project of this magnitude?

thanks!

[Copanocruisin]

My Daughter in-law took several project management classes and took on the builder duties with their new house in the heights a few years ago. Their house come out great, although she said she would not ever do it again! They only got took to the cleaners by who she ordered their cabinet from the first time. Be ready for many more headaches than you might anticipate. Good luck......cC

[ken800]

Gents,

For you that have GC'd your own home build, I have some questions...

thanks!

-What were the main issues you encountered with contractors?

All of the major issues. People no-showed. People weren't qualified. They did poor quality work. The weren't often on time.

-Were you ever taken/shafted by any of the contractors? How?

I was only taken once on a job where I paid some up front and paid most of the balance before it was done. They didn't come back and finish and what they did do was of poor quality. I've never paid a deposit since. Ever. If they aren't willing to do the work without money up front, move on. You can guard against this by buying materials up front and stage at the site. If the contractor is handling materials and needs funds for those, stage the job. I had to do this on my metal barn with the company that did it. It was $40K and we agreed that I would pay him in 4 installments. First was when the foundation was complete. Second was when the materials for the building were dropped. Third was once the iron frame was complete. Fourth was completion. At least I knew that if he balied, I could always get the next stage picked up and carried forward and I got my money's worth out of the contractors.

-Do you have examples of contracts you used?

Sorry, I just googled what I needed but people don't seem to pay attention to the finer details. Keep them short and to the point. You need to make sure it has at least: detailed description of what is being done including specific materials, tooling, processes, time to complete, payment process, inspection time/window, expectation of completing to local or national code whichever applies, and simple arbitration if their is a disagreement but no payment until after arbitration. Also make sure it states that said worker(s) carry their own insurance and under no circumstances are you responsible for any injuries sustained while on the job site regardless of who is at fault. Lastly make sure that any contract states that payment is between you and the contractor only and you are not responsible for payment to people hired by contractors. I had a plumber do a horrendous job on a section of bathroom that was a sub-hire. His boss fired him and cancelled payment on a check to him. The plumber came to my house to service a notice of a lien on my property and I handed him a copy of our contract that had this language, told him good luck, then told the contractor about the plumber's visit. He took care of it.

-Ever give down payments for any reason?

No. The way you solve this is you buy the materials and you are paying them for the labor. If they still insist on being paid for something they have not yet completed (to your satisfaction I might add), move on.

-Ever include Liquidated Damages in your contract for taking too long?

No but I think you should... Perhaps what I should have done in the past is have a scheduled delivery date and if they don't meet it, the payment is discounted some percent per day. That would probably have kept people on task.

-What is an acceptable lead time or heads up should be given to each trade before they're expected to start?

Depending on where you are the market will dictate. I'm up in Leander and the construction business is booming so lead times are well in excess of a month. If you have a bunch of workers ready to start at a moments notice either they aren't very good (why they are available) or your market is very slow. 30 Days is probably a good window.

-Best examples of how you saved money? (IE TexasTaxi ordering the batch concrete himself!)

I bought and scheduled almost all my own materials. Cement is a good example, but I got all of my lumber from BMC materials and had it delivered. This took away the "I need money up front" excuse from contractors.

-Did you handle purchasing materials for contractors and stage on site?

See above - yes.

-Any problems with theft for build site? How did you control access?

I didn't but there were people close by. I did get a 40' shipping container with a very robust lock and anything of value went inside. As soon as we got dried in, I put heavy construction doors on and locked them. I put a "video surveillance" sign on the front and back door. At this point in construction I had nothing left in the open.

-Any hints/tips/tricks/advice you can give a guy with general construction experience that has never taken on a project of this magnitude?

Don't listen to BS. Ask for and give clear instructions. Get it in writing. Be polite, professional, but firm. If people don't do what they are supposed to, push back firmly, but professionally. If they don't meet their end, fire them and move on. Make sure the price is agreed to on every job. If you don't they'll come up with something that wasn't considered and send you a bill. Also I would highly suggest you get an umbrella policy for your property in case someone does something stupid and decides to sue you. Note that people can sue for any reason, right or not. They can file a lien if they feel they got screwed. Again, right or not. As mentioned above you are going to experience stupidity on a grand scale. The best you can do is prepare and handle each one professionally.

[Pthomas]

It is a bad idea any money you think you are saving by not paying a gc you will lose. Once the sub’s now that you are doing it yourself the price goes up a lot.

[Biggs]

It is a bad idea any money you think you are saving by not paying a gc you will lose. Once the sub’s now that you are doing it yourself the price goes up a lot.

Do you have any experience or examples to support your statement? I ask because there are several members on here that have successfully GC’d their own build at tremendous savings.

[Cookiemonster1]

You here about the successes as they are excited about their product and the fact they they saved a lot of money. You don't hear about the disasters and there are many. Also a lot of the savings you see are due to hard work and sweat poured into it by the owner. If you have knowledge and time go for it as you will almost always save money because you are not relying on a GC and aren't paying his fee. You will actually spend more on the actual build unless you choose to do some of the work yourself due to the fact that you wont be able to get the same pricing as the GC usually.

[JHT]

Do you have any experience or examples to support your statement? I ask because there are several members on here that have successfully GC’d their own build at tremendous savings.

Hablas Espanol?

There have been a plenty of awesome DIY builds here. It can be done.
There have been plenty of contractor disaster stories here as well.

[buzzbait]

We did it. Saved a lot of money. Built for $68 sq ft versus $140 sq ft. Our painter sucked. Wanted $ before he finished. We bought the supplies. Payed them once the job was finished.


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[Cookiemonster1]

$68ft is incredible if it was in the last few years and you didn't do any of the work.

[Cookiemonster1]

Also if the sqft was calculated heated and cooled footage and not total slab.

[Take Dead Aim]

We did it. Saved a lot of money. Built for $68 sq ft versus $140 sq ft. Our painter sucked. Wanted $ before he finished. We bought the supplies. Payed them once the job was finished.


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$68 a foot doesn't say much. What kind of finishes are we talking. Flooring, roof, exterior, appliances, etc. I have no doube you saved I'm just trying to figure out what you got for $68 a foot.

[Cookiemonster1]

I have seen even builders try to use garage when calculating sqft so it looks like they are giving the client a good deal. Not good

[panhandlehunter]

Look to save 30% easily. Sure some people have problems, they have problems with builders too. It’s a house, you’re not building the space station. Lol. Most the naysayers here are home builders so you won’t get an honest reply from them. If you’re paying a home builder to build, you’re paying the owner and all his overhead. Subs like to work for cash money. Good luck. It’s not rocket science.

[Take Dead Aim]

Look to save 30% easily. Sure some people have problems, they have problems with builders too. It’s a house, you’re not building the space station. Lol. Most the naysayers here are home builders so you won’t get an honest reply from them. If you’re paying a home builder to build, you’re paying the owner and all his overhead. Subs like to work for cash money. Good luck. It’s not rocket science.

Not a home builder. I do work in commercial construction though and just finished my own home. No its not rocket science but it is not a cakewalk either. It's a full time job if you are going to get it done efficiently. I spent 90% of my time weekly on site making sure things were moving in the right direction. Did I save money on house? Yes. Did it cost me money at my business? Yes. Did I come out ahead? Probably not with the exception of getting it done faster than had I left it with someone else.

If you're building a simple 2000 sqft house with basic finishes I think you should be okay. Highly doubt any builders are at 30% margins. They wouldn't be getting any work. Just not that much meat on the bone in construction.

[panhandlehunter]

Builder isn’t making 30%. But you factor in him, his PM, secretaries, insurance, sales guys, etc. there’s a lot of meat on the bone for a guy that GC’s it himself. It’s not near as big of a deal as some people make it out to be.