Do I need a general contractor to build a house?

[panamaguy]

1st off I do not know where you live and that might make a difference but as I get older I never miss not having a basement. Make the house a little bigger if you need one extra room for hobbies etc or make a small shop as a free standing side building if you need one. Going up stairs at 60 is way different than 75

 

[cholland]

This site has a decent discussion forum on owner/builder projects. Most of these are small homes or cabins and of course many are using the plans sold on the main page. Quite a few build threads that may further inspire you or warn you away from attempting.

CountryPlans Forum - Index

CountryPlans Forum - Index

countryplans.com

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Make "progress payments" a part of your contract. Pay only for what is completed. Saw twice this year where "contractors" took money up front (tens of thousands of dollars), didn't perform the work and left to other states.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

Make "progress payments" a part of your contract. Pay only for what is completed. Saw twice this year where "contractors" took money up front (tens of thousands of dollars), didn't perform the work and left to other states.

That is a good theory. In this day and age, be prepared to pay at least 50% deposits especially on specialty items or your order won’t be placed. We are paying for storage of materials to fight rising prices(and so we can hopefully order far enough in advance to get materials delivered when it’s time to install).

 

[newbury]

Great input from everyone.

It is a small area. I have all confidence that the skilled trade owners and building inspectors all share the same dinner table on Sunday.

I have the capability but lack the contacts. As others have said, I am a one-time customer and that is never a good position to be in.
Still hard to pay someone else mainly for the contacts when I will be doing most of the rest of it.

I may just hire a GC for the basement and be up front about that and tell him that the rest is subject to how the first phase goes. Not sure if anyone would buy into that but it seems logical from my end..

If you know you lack the contacts you've lost the battle. I had to have a lot of minor repair/upgrade work done - replace stairs, build dormers, etc.
Even though my wife was from the area (and we had close family that were doctors, lawyers, etc. and lived there) the subs treated us as a bunch of dumb northerners to be fleeced. One contractor would estimate the materials, buy the materials, give me the bill, then take part of the stuff back for refund thinking I wouldn't catch him.
I had carpenters being very wasteful, lots of dimensional lumber cut with them trying to carry the waste to the dump. Waste level dropped dramatically when I carried the "waste" (3 foot long 2x4's & 2x6's) to my shed. Turned out they were building dog houses with the "waste".

Good luck in finding an honest GC.

 

[Root Cause]

This site has a decent discussion forum on owner/builder projects. Most of these are small homes or cabins and of course many are using the plans sold on the main page. Quite a few build threads that may further inspire you or warn you away from attempting.

CountryPlans Forum - Index

CountryPlans Forum - Index

countryplans.com

That is great to know. I honestly didn't think to look but I should not be surprised that it is here. Lots of experience and good ideas here.
I am going to look through these links over the next couple of days to see what could use. Thanks for sharing.
With that, I am pretty well along in the design phase. Here is what I have drawn so far.
Nothing big. Its just us two now. Both levels are walk out level. I am sure we will end up in one level as time slows us down.

 

[Boss 302]

Sounds like you are more than qualified to oversee the project, trust your instincts/knowledge and also trust your county inspectors to do their jobs. It's up to the inspectors to ensure things are installed up to code.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

That is great to know. I honestly didn't think to look but I should not be surprised that it is here. Lots of experience and good ideas here.
I am going to look through these links over the next couple of days to see what could use. Thanks for sharing.
With that, I am pretty well along in the design phase. Here is what I have drawn so far.
Nothing big. Its just us two now. Both levels are walk out level. I am sure we will end up in one level as time slows us down.
View attachment 725856 View attachment 725857

If you stack two closets above each other the proper size, you can rough in for a residential elevator that can be installed later. It’s pretty simple to rough in for if you do it on the front end. Would definitely make smallest interior door 36” for good accessibility later.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Another two cents from a licensed General Contractor... NOTE: I have never built a house...we do highly specialized commercial projects from Maine to California; I know more building code than anyone, and guess what?, that doesn't matter, because it's what the local Inspector wants that counts. I am also a Union Carpenter, trained to build. Would I GC my own house? Yes. Why? Because I know what I don't know... Can anyone GC their own house? Yes, but... there are houses and then there are HOUSES. I've followed some of the builds on this forum; some are good, some are mediocre, and some should have hired a GC. Would I ever rain one someone's parade? Never... not for me to judge. However, this is not for everyone; and speaking of subs... We get the really good ones in commercial work, residential not so much. As I have stated before, I would hire Eddie in a heartbeat, because I know he knows what he is doing; you can not assume others do. Think long and hard on what you are getting into... Building is no different than mistakes in life; tearing down and starting over is painful and expensive...

 

[4570Man]

Also remember that “building to code” means doing the minimum to pass, kind of like getting a “D” in school.

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That might be true some places but the building inspectors here maintain a high quality standard.