Serving as your own General Contractor (or GC, in the common parlance) can save you a fair bit of money and it lets you build things just the way you want them. But it also involves doing all the work that a GC would usually do for you, like contacting subcontractors to get bids, answering all their questions, and following up on them to be sure you get what you need. This is the part I have been least looking forward to.

Now I get to cheat a bit since half the subs on this house will be us. It means I actually _need_ only a handful of subs for the project. But to be sure I get a good price and have a few different options at my disposal I’ll want to get at least 3 bids per sub. And to get a complete package for the bank to make the loan, I need at least one valid bid even for the jobs we’re currently intending to do ourselves. So that’s like a dozen subs, 3-5 vendors each. A lot of calling and emailing and calling again. Yikes.

Last week I took a half day off to get a running start. I called 21 different contractors across 6 different trades and then sent building plans on to those that were interested in the work. Talking to an HVAC guy about how to ensure air quality in the basement workshop while also getting an inbound call from a drywaller and texts from a demolition man felt hectic, but also highly productive for just 3 hours work. A few things struck me as I was going through this process.

First of all, spending the morning in the building trades reminded me that IT or game development look like strikingly diverse fields by comparison. It was an unending parade of men aged 30-55, most of them with rural or small-town Midwest accents.

Secondly, they were almost all helpful and accommodating. With only a few exceptions, everyone I talked to was happy to work with an owner-builder and patient in talking through the project. One of the things I’d often heard as a caution was that owner-builders can’t get subs to work with them, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Material vendors and work crews alike have been respectful and responsive.  They don’t assume we’re clueless, but ask questions as needed. They dole out advice and expertise when asked, but haven’t tried to push anything either.

By lunch time I had good leads for several bids in half the categories and was feeling pretty good. Its the first time since we’ve been working on this where I felt like a true GC!