Acting as your own contractor.

Will this save you money? Yes and no, depends. Being a contractor is a job, it takes time to line up materials and subs and things come up to complicate the process.

The reality is, a contractor does charge to manage your project and you could do his job and cut out all the management fees, this could be a lot of money. Contractors bill around 25% of a jobs total selling price to overhead and other costs. But they do earn this money. Insurance, phones, the funds to come back if there is a warranty issue all comes out of this percentage. Add the fact this is a full time job and you begin to see where the money goes. It ain’t buying a diamond collar for his poodle.

Acting as your own general contractor saves money, but it comes with full responsibility for properly finishing your job. Warranty work is on you, subs will charge you for delays, give you a higher price than a contractor who uses them often and you won’t get discounts on materials because your a retail customer. Plus you warranty all material you buy yourself.

I’m not saying don’t do it, but I am saying be realistic on what you might save. You will save money, but you will earn every cent.

Paul Lesieur/ Silvertree Construction