When adding a room onto your home, what are the steps you follow, from beginning to end, as your own general contractor?
I’ve read the processes for being your own general contractor for building an entire house, but what steps can be excluded when you are just adding a room? What are the steps?
In my state, permits are required for additions and inspections are required at every rough-in. I have been working on my price list for all materials, and I have drawn up the plans in a CAD program – so the plans and materials are taken care of for the most part. [Well, the materials haven’t been bought, but they’ve been priced.]
The additional room will be two-story [two-story is allowed in this neighborhood], it will need plumbing for a tub, shower, two toilets, and three sinks; electrical; radiant flooring; and ductwork.
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I would at least have an architect review your plans before you submit them for permits. You probably need electrical drawings, framing drawings, foundation drawings, plumbing(if there is any) and roofing drawings. (maybe more, that’s what the architect does.)
Then you need to hire the subs. Foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, finish carpenter and painting.
You need to have all the materials on the job-site before that sub shows up. ou will probably want to check with each sub to make sure you are in sync about the materials list.
Now may be a good time as people who never would have considered working with a homeowner before are getting hungry enough to do it now.
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And keep a large supply of Valium on hand. My brother-in-law, with lots of experience building houses for others, was his own general contractor. It was not a pretty experience. Once he had transferred anger (or apoplexy) over too much mayonnaise on his ham sandwich.
My Dad was a general contractor, and I learned a lot from him. I don’t believe there are any steps that you want to leave out whether building a whole house, or a room addition. Every step is important or even required. If you hire help to do the work, make sure they have all the required licenses and experience. Don’t go for cheap, it will cost in the long run.
It depends on how much of the construction you will be doing hands on.
I built a 10×20 room onto my house, but I took four years to do it.
The first year, I put a 10X20 deck down. It did not involve any plumbing or electrical, just needed to change a window to a door. The second year, I put a roof (freestanding from the house) over the deck. The third year, I ran plumbing and electricity for an outdoor kitchen. The fourth year I tied the deck roof in to the house roof (this was the tricky part, so I subbed it out), and put walls tied in to the house (with windows and a door), put down a real floor, and enclosed the “crawl space”. I’ve been familiar with construction for most of my life. Most importantly, pull the correct permits, or make sure your subs do so. While lack of permits may make the job go a little more quickly, not having the permits might bite you in the butt big time when it comes time to sell, or if you want to make further modifications in the future.
If I were to consider being my own general contractor again, I think I would just ask someone to put me out of my misery.
The permit process in our town is a major pain in the butt, as is living in a half finished domicile for months on end.
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