| Why pay a contractor? - Build your own home | | | | different parts of the country and different climates. |
| You've heard the stories before... | | | | The contractor must understand the ever-changing |
| - The contractor made 100 grand on the job and I | | | | building codes and regulations. He also needs to |
| never saw him! | | | | maintain a safe job site and insure all sub contractors |
| - The job took a year longer than planned... | | | | follow the same practices. |
| - The job cost twice as much as the original | | | | Certainly building a home is not brain surgery, but just |
| budget...Where are my sub contractors? | | | | like every other profession, it looks easier than it is. |
| Why not cut out the contractor and keep all the | | | | If you want to take on building your own home |
| money for yourself? Good idea but can you handle | | | | there are many good books available to help you get |
| the truth | | | | started. In addition, research other ways to build such |
| One of the primary jobs of the general contractor | | | | as getting the assistance of a builder as a consultant |
| (GC) or homebuilder is to manage the sub | | | | or hiring an experienced building supervisor. Whichever |
| contractors. A sub contractor (see partial list below) | | | | way you go - learn what you can ahead of time. |
| is defined as someone who contracts with the GC - | | | | Even if you hire a contractor, you will still be heavily |
| like a plumber - while the general contractor | | | | involved and making 1,000's of decisions to get the |
| contracts with the owner. Therefore, the GC's | | | | custom home you want. |
| contract with the owner is the main contract and the | | | | Good luck! |
| GC's contract with the plumber is a "sub" contract. A | | | | Partial List of Sub Contractors |
| typical custom home can easily have over 100 sub | | | | |
| contractors, and one of the primary jobs of a | | | | 1. Alarm |
| contractor is to oversee all of these independent | | | | 2. Archeologist |
| businesses. | | | | 3. Asbestos Abatement |
| So what makes a good homebuilder? | | | | 4. Backhoe and Bobcat |
| Relationships | | | | 5. Bee's Nest Removal |
| A good homebuilder has strong relationships with sub | | | | 6. Cabinets |
| contractors and suppliers that may have evolved | | | | 7. Carpet |
| over many years. That relationship involves a level of | | | | 8. Chimney Sweep |
| trust, understanding and expectation. Have you ever | | | | 9. Concrete |
| hired someone for any kind of work? It takes a | | | | 10. Concrete Resurfacing |
| while to figure out that person's strengths and | | | | 11. Concrete Coring |
| weaknesses. The same is true for homebuilders. | | | | 12. Concrete Pilings |
| Managing multiple sub contractors means coordinating | | | | 13. Concrete Retaining Walls |
| the schedule, overseeing the proper materials and | | | | 14. Decking |
| installation, contracting, and paying each sub | | | | 15. Drainage |
| contractor. | | | | 16. Drywall |
| Expertise | | | | 17. Electricians |
| Sure, a "non-professional" can hire sub contractors | | | | 18. Engineers |
| and buy materials but it's going to be harder for | | | | 19. Excavation |
| someone to comprehend all the aspects of the | | | | 20. Framing Carpentry |
| construction process the same way a professional | | | | 21. Fencing |
| does. | | | | 22. Finish Carpentry |
| I could probably learn how to do brain surgery too! | | | | 23. Fireplace Masonry |
| But I'm not sure you would want to be my first | | | | 24. Fire Sprinkler |
| patient!!! | | | | 25. Garage Doors |
| According to Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, a Conradi | | | | 26. Geologist |
| Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at | | | | 27. Grading |
| Florida State University who is widely recognized as | | | | 28. Handyman - Repair |
| one of the world's leading theoretical and | | | | 29. Hardwood Flooring |
| experimental researchers on expertise, it takes about | | | | 30. HVAC - Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning |
| 10,000 hours of practice to reach the level of expert. | | | | 31. Hot Tubs |
| - Expert - 10,000 hours - that means 250 weeks @ | | | | 32. Interior Design |
| 40 hours or 5 years. | | | | 33. Insulation |
| - Technician - 5,000 hours to be very accomplished | | | | 34. Fiberglass |
| - Advanced - 2,000 hours you become pretty good | | | | 35. Spray Foam |
| - Layperson - has little or no practice in a field | | | | 36. Kitchen Design |
| And we are not just talking about expertise in | | | | 37. Lab Testing - Mold Testing |
| hundreds of different construction trades and | | | | 38. Landscaping |
| techniques, but also the Building Code, local rules and | | | | 39. Landscape Maintenance |
| regulations, human relations, management, legal | | | | 40. Landscape - Tree Service |
| issues, safety, and political savvy. | | | | 41. Lumber Supplier |
| Flow of work | | | | 42. Low Voltage |
| Ever hear of a construction job that took longer than | | | | 43. Computer |
| it was supposed to?? Unfortunately it seems to be | | | | 44. Phone |
| the practice not the exception.. Did you see the | | | | 45. Audio Visual |
| movie "The Money Pit" (a must see if you haven't!)? | | | | 46. Alarm |
| "Two weeks" is the answer to every question about | | | | 47. House Control Systems |
| how long it will take. Obviously, some smarmy | | | | 48. Masonry |
| contractors are at fault here. However, the client also | | | | 49. Moving and Storage |
| has a responsibility to bear. The number one reason | | | | 50. Native American Monitor |
| jobs slow down (assuming an attentive and | | | | 51. Oil Tanks |
| professional builder is running them) is lack of | | | | 52. Painting |
| appropriate information. The plans aren't specified | | | | 53. Painting - Decorative |
| properly. The owner hasn't finalized a decision. | | | | 54. Pest Removal |
| When the flow of work is mismanaged or changed, it | | | | 55. Plumbing |
| can have a devastating effect on a job. The longer a | | | | 56. Pools |
| job takes the more it costs - interest cost, overhead | | | | 57. Radon Gas |
| and rental costs to name a few. A well run job | | | | 58. Railings |
| requires a good "helmsman" steering the way. | | | | 59. Retaining Walls |
| Changes are inevitable in a custom home but the | | | | 60. Roofing |
| fewer the better. Good planning helps a huge | | | | 61. Roof Trusses |
| amount, but when there is a change, the contractor | | | | 62. Screening |
| needs to steer the appropriate change through | | | | 63. Sealants |
| design, permitting (if necessary), pricing, scheduling | | | | 64. Seismic Retrofitting |
| and execution to get the job back on track. | | | | 65. Sewer |
| Sub contractors work differently than general | | | | 66. Sheet Metal |
| contractors and it is important to understand this | | | | 67. Siding |
| relationship. A sub may have 5, 10 or 20 jobs going | | | | 68. Specialty Items |
| on at a time and if a job changes or isn't ready when | | | | 69. Sauna |
| the sub is told to be there, it wastes time (time is | | | | 70. Secret Rooms |
| money) for the sub. Inexperienced contractors fall | | | | 71. Wine Cellars |
| into the trap of not having the job prepared or the | | | | 72. Sprinklers |
| appropriate specifications or materials available. | | | | 73. Solar Electric |
| Quality | | | | 74. Solar Thermal |
| In addition to overseeing the flow of work, a good | | | | 75. Stone Fabricators |
| contractor has a solid understanding of all phases of | | | | 76. Stucco |
| construction and (hopefully) design. The contractor | | | | 77. Surveyors |
| needs to know everything from what makes a good | | | | 78. Trash and Hauling |
| foundation installation - items such as clearance to | | | | 79. Tile |
| rebar - to the particular type and quality of a piece | | | | 80. Installation |
| of wood - quarter sawn, rift cut, hard or soft. What | | | | 81. Supply |
| makes a quality tile installation or retaining wall | | | | 82. Waterproofing |
| waterproofing system. The practices change in | | | | 83. |