We are 5 months into our 7 month home renovation. Yes, we're ready and anxious to get back into our own house. We're pleased with how things are going and happy to be on schedule and mostly on budget.
It is pretty amazing how many different people and companies it takes to build a house. We counted up all the people and companies who have worked on the house over the last five months. We stopped counting at 250. No wonder every time I go over there I find a dozen people working, most of whom don't even seem to know each other! Just consider the people working on the outside of the house. You have the general contractor's crew doing the framing, you have the siding folks, the stone folks, the soffit folks, the rain gutter folks, the roofers, the electricians, the painters, the concrete dudes, the window makers/installers, the front door makers/installers, and the garage door makers/installers. Inside is even more complex. No wonder it costs so much money! Look how many people we're providing work for!
Be Your Own GC? Are You Kidding?
Having been through most of this project, I am flabbergasted that anybody ever chooses to be their own general contractor. We are overwhelmed just picking out door handles and faucets and choosing siding patterns and light switch placements. I cannot possibly imagine having to coordinate this 250 piece orchestra at all, much less while holding down a job or two and trying to raise some kids. Imagine how much better someone who has done it dozens of times is going to do it than you are. Imagine how much mistakes from your ignorance will cost you in time and money! Imagine how much more willing subcontractors are to provide a discount, do the little extras, complete the task properly, and prioritize your project over their other jobs when their work is being checked by a competent general contractor who is likely to bring them large quantities of additional future work.
The Critical Pathway
Our contractor likes to talk about “the critical pathway.” This pathway includes all the essential items that must be hit in the right order to stay on schedule. Think of it like the rate-limiting step from your days in chemistry lab. Some things simply have to be completed before other things can be done, and when you are coordinating the work schedules of 250 other people, staying on the pathway is very important if you ever want to finish. The framing must be done before the wiring and HVAC ducting and gas, water, and sewer lines. The windows and insulation have to be put in before you turn on the heat so the concrete cures properly. Speakers and can lights before drywall. Chandeliers after drywall. The drywall has to be done before you can paint. Cabinets must be built and installed before countertops are put in. Doors have to be put in before door handles are installed. You want to install appliances before the new front door so it doesn't get scratched up. Tile and hardwood before paint and paint before carpet. You have to cover the hardwood and tile once installed to prevent damage to it from the other work. Tubs before tile before cabinets, before toilets before sinks before faucets. Now our project is obviously a large one, but I didn't even know what the proper order would be for the remodel of a single room.
All at Once, or Piece by Piece?
Selling a home renovation to somebody has got to be a pretty funny job. What tips someone into finally buying it varies by the person. My contractor claims it was the fire pole that finally tipped me into getting Katie the kitchen she wants. Maybe he's right. My biggest hesitation to doing the job wasn't even the money (although it took a few months to get over the sticker shock). It was the hassle of either living through it or moving out and then back in. It would have been impossible to get everything done that we wanted done in the time frame we wanted it done in if we had stayed in the house. Luckily, we had a neighbor who rented a nearby house to us at a very fair price. This helped us to minimize the disruption to the lives of our children and allowed us to stay close by to observe what was going on. I suspect most people would not have that option.
So how do you decide whether to do a big project all at once or piece by piece? Let's say you want to remodel your kitchen and bathrooms and build on an addition. You can either do the project bit by bit while living in the house, or you can move out and pound it all out at once. Let's go over the Pros/Cons of both approaches.
Pros of the Piece by Piece Model
- Easier to pay cash as you go, delaying each step until you have the money
- You can get started sooner
- You learn from the prior projects and avoid making the same mistakes
- Easier to personally contribute to or manage a smaller project
- You get to enjoy the experience of something new in the house multiple times
- You save the money you would spend moving and renting if you moved out
- You save the time and hassle of moving and setting up a new household
- You only pay utilities for one location
- Less decision fatigue
Pros of the All at Once Model
- The total project is done sooner
- If borrowing to pay for it, you only need to get one loan
- You don't have to live through the noise, temperature variations, and smells of construction
- Less risk of getting hurt while living in a construction zone
- Less risk of theft from workers (none of your stuff is in the house while they're working)
- Less risk of theft from non-workers (harder to secure a house well with walls, doors, and windows missing)
- Less moving stuff from room to room
- No cooking all summer using only the microwave in the garage and the grill out back
- No trips to the laundromat
- More privacy
- You gain efficiencies and cost savings (less time and money to drywall or carpet three rooms at once than one room at a time three times over years)
- You don't have to redo anything or remove something that was already done
- You don't bang up walls or floors or doors or paint from the first project while doing the second one
- More uniform finished look
- Better contractors and subcontractors who preferentially take larger jobs for their own efficiency
Overall, we're definitely glad we went for the all at once model and are looking forward to getting back home soon.
What do you think? What was your renovation like? Have you tried to be your own GC? What happened? Have you lived through a big renovation? Did you wish you had moved out? Comment below!
I like the picture with the view. Keep them coming. I like the “rate limiting step” analogy, I have not heard that term in a while. Regarding the kitchen, I am amazed how contentious that can be among couples. One contractor told me he hears the same story every time. A spouse passes away (usually a husband), and then he gets the call. The first thing we are doing is the kitchen renovation!
First off, that is an incredible view so kudos on building something to take advantage of it.
I personally never was a general contractor but my ex wife took over the reigns as one when she built a guest house on our property for her parents (fortunately the money she wasted was not mine and it came from my former in-laws).
We started out with a general contractor but about 1/3 of the way through she decided to fire him and take over thinking it would save her money. She had never done anything like this before and certainly not in this scale (she renovated a 1 bedroom condo for rental I bought).
The project to complete the guest house lasted years when it probably could have been done in 8 months or less. She also used day laborers to do a lot of the projects instead of specialized crews. Again to save money. That decision cost me in the back end when I finally rented it out after the divorce and there were so many things found to be installed wrong (hot and cold faucets in wrong orientation etc).
During divorce they tried to get me to pay half of the costs of the guest house and produced receipts that totaled over $300k. It was incredible because the 2 story house was only 1 bedroom with a loft and about 1400 sq feet. I had an assessor formally asses the property for the court and he came back that the building was worth about $60k and the land value was about 30k (estimated would need 2 acres subdivided off my 7.67 acre property due to where home was located). So I ended up having to pay $45k from court order. Her in laws had a financial blood bath because of their daughters incompetence in building the house.
Sounds like quite a story. The last part may end up being the juiciest part. I’m sure the best part for you is to be done with that whole mess.
The view is definitely the best part of the lot, but we had that view before. The new part is the canyon view from the office that we didn’t have before.
The most important thing we have learned is to do the renovation as soon as possible rather than wait, as it seems like renovation often happens just before the house is sold and then we have had no chance to enjoy the improvements. That’s one of the advantages of the piecemeal approach; we get to enjoy the new kitchen while the basement is being redone.
Totally agree with that. We’ve made that mistake twice before.
I bought a train wreck of a house in a great neighborhood. I had it throughly inspected so I new the foundation and side walls were ok and the rest was not so good. The roof had a small leak in the bathroom. I had a plant – not mold but a full fledged plant growing from my ceiling. When it got dry it would wild but perked up every rain. You get the idea.
Well I lived there for a year to figure out what I wanted to do. Interviewed 3 architects and 3 contractors. Also go a decorator involved early.
Finished on time and on budget largely be of a great contractor but I get a little credit since I made only 3 changes on a gut renovation. 10 years later I am still in love with my house and my contractor. He gets a no bid contract for anything I need. Getting mildly OCD involved let me understand what is involved when you say ‘why don’t we move that window over 6”’ after the framing and or dry wall.
I gained enough experience that I acted as a friends general contractor on a small kitchen renovation. Got the subs, people and products in order and on time. Friend was happy with the work.
I vote for the all at once if you can afford it and have a clear vision of your priorities in the final project.
Acquaintances who are contractors say that a major advantage they have over DIYers is that they know which subs to hire to get things done correctly and on time. Good subs are usually hard for DIY to hire because they are booked up by the contractors. The good subs rely on the contractors for steady work and don’t have to spend any time convincing customers to use them. Since the subs rely on the contractors they make sure to show up and work reliably when the contractor is paying them. Otherwise they will not be hired again.
The subs also have to charge higher prices for the intermittent piece work of dealing directly with customers since there are more changes, more problems when materials were ordered wrong or not on time, permits not pulled…
We have had small things that did not involve a mixture of skills done by one or two people and it worked out fine. For anything larger, far short of building a house or a major renovation, we go with contractors. The upfront price is higher but we don’t have any DIY nightmares either.
Being a contractor is real work and requires knowing what you are doing. They deserve to be paid for it.
I think that’s true.
My parents general contracted two homes (one 17 years ago and one 5 years ago). It was ridiculous. We (their kids) still haven’t quite forgiven them for it. They even did a significant chunk of the work themselves (wiring, checked by an electrician, painting, some tile). They did save a lot of money/made money on the sales. It also caused a huge amount of stress on our family. And some of the work was definitely crap.
The one bonus is I know more about construction than they average thirtysomething.
Gorgeous view WCI, congrats! It looks to me like a great location to take up hang gliding as the next adventurous WCI hobby!
I’ve seriously thought about paragliding over the years, but haven’t gotten around to it. Probably wouldn’t do it there though. I think I’m only a couple hundred feet above the houses below. Not much room for error.
My wife and I plan to do a home renovation soon, and while I will finance some with cash, we will also end up borrowing as well. What is your advice with regards to a loan…specifically, home equity loan (second mortgage) vs HELOC vs personal loan? Any recommendations with regards to which lender to choose…bank (such as Chase) vs lender like Sofi, etc? Thanks again for your ever outstanding advice. – Michael
We paid cash for ours, but I think it’s reasonable to borrow up to the amount that the renovation will improve the value of your home. That’s typically in the 50-67% range of the cost of the project. I might work it into a refinance, but a second or HELOC or even a personal loan if the rate is good would be fine. I’d shop around just like I did the original mortgage. No reason to prefer a bank or a non-bank lender, just compare rate, fees, terms, service etc.
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/principles-to-consider-when-doing-home-renovations/